Merchants know that content material advertising and marketing can have interaction and retain prospects. However, figuring out a subject that prospects need to devour — learn, watch, pay attention — is commonly tough. But not for Kyle Boureston. His firm runs seven area of interest content material websites. He’s refined his matter choice strategies over time to have interaction guests from natural search.
He instructed me, “We begin with a key phrase or a subject to know what’s being searched. We largely use Moz to establish these well-liked themes. We’re on the lookout for key phrases with search quantity. Then we attempt to discover some grouping to create a number of items. Then we write it and costume it up.”
Boureston’s insights may help ecommerce corporations enhance their content material advertising and marketing efforts. He and I lately spoke, addressing key phrase sleuthing, freelance writers, SEO, and extra.
Our complete audio dialog is embedded beneath. The transcript that follows is edited for readability and size.
Eric Bandholz: You’re within the content material creation house.
Kyle Boureston: Yes, my firm is Boureston Media. We launched in 2013 with Mantelligence for males. Then we created Galtelligence for females. The Unbox is product and subscription-box critiques. Gamertelligence is for, nicely, avid gamers.
The Golden is for householders. We have two Spanish websites: Manteligencia and Feminteligencia.
Bandholz: So, seven properties?
Boureston: That sounds proper. Plus, we’re on YouTube for Mantelligence and Galtelligence.
Bandholz: Content is more and more vital to ecommerce. Walk me by means of your operations. How do you generate concepts? Who’s doing it?
Boureston: We are strictly content material. No ecommerce. We make cash primarily by means of promoting and a bit by means of internet online affiliate marketing. We begin with a key phrase or a subject to know what’s being searched. We largely use Moz to identify these well-liked themes. Surfer website positioning is useful, too. We’re on the lookout for key phrases with search quantity.
Bandholz: So you’ll have this idea. You’ll sort it in Moz and see what key phrases come up.
Boureston: Yes. Then we attempt to discover some grouping to create a number of items. Then we write it and costume it up. We attempt to give attention to higher-volume key phrases. For instance, we’d probably keep away from key phrases searched lower than 500 occasions a month. Some matters could solely have a couple of key phrases. Others have 40, 50.
The variety of items per matter is dependent upon the related key phrase quantity. Ten items per matter is an effective aim. And the size of every piece is dependent upon the subject. We shoot for 1,500, 2,000 phrases. Some are shorter. A product assessment, for instance, might be shorter.
Bandholz: You’ll assign it to writers after you’ve recognized the matters and key phrases. Is that it?
Boureston: Yes. Craigslist is our major supply of writers. I goal these advertisements to Austin, Texas. I’ve discovered good individuals in Austin, despite the fact that I didn’t all the time reside right here. Nowadays once I submit in Austin, roughly half of the candidates are exterior of the world, maybe because of websites that mixture job listings.
We attempt to discover individuals who match the voice in our writing, our type. We don’t give attention to a particular matter initially. If they’re capable of promote a product nicely, in the event that they match our writing type, in the event that they’ve gone to the web site and checked out our different product critiques to emulate, then now we have a dialog about their pursuits and what they need to deal with.
Bandholz: What’s the going fee for a contract author?
Boureston: We pay from 3 cents to 10 cents a phrase. Higher pay doesn’t all the time equal higher content material in my expertise.
If we submit the decrease fee on the advert, we’ll normally hear from junior of us who simply graduated school or of us with full-time jobs which can be attempting to get into freelance writing. We have lots of people who’re getting their toes moist. They’re all impartial contractors. We’re their start line, which does contribute to extra churn, sadly.
Bandholz: So you handle these freelancers. You give them the subject to write down about. They ship. Then you submit. What about pictures?
Boureston: We use inventory pictures from a number of sources. We’ll typically create our personal visible, corresponding to an infographic. We began including quizzes and, sometimes, a desk of contents. We attempt to costume up articles for higher engagement. We’ll use freelance designers if obligatory.
Bandholz: So how massive is your full-time staff?
Boureston: We don’t have one. It’s simply me. The relaxation are impartial contractors, all distant.
Bandholz: Search engine optimization. Everyone needs to crack that nut. You’ve talked about your give attention to natural key phrases. What’s the state of SEO in 2021?
Boureston: It’s chaos. Google releases an algorithm replace quarterly or extra. One quarter I’m doing nice, and the following I’m consuming ramen. Fortunately, we began early sufficient that now we have some authority as a basis. But it’s anxious.
Bandholz: You have many alternatives to develop your manufacturers. Where can individuals study extra about you and attain out?
Boureston: Listeners can go to BourestonMedia.com or Mantelligence.com. Both have contact varieties. I’m on Twitter and LinkedIn, too.
