057: Why Your Website Should Be the Foundation of Your Content Plan

In this episode, Jules dives into content planning, explaining why your website should be the foundation of your marketing strategy. With the start of a new year, many people are focusing on content creation, but often this revolves around social media. Jules highlights the importance of prioritising your own domain as the hub of your content efforts and offers actionable tips for tying your website into your overall content plan.

Key Takeaways:

• Your Website as a Content Hub: Discover why your website should be the cornerstone of your content planning and how it helps you build authority and attract the right audience.
• Core Topics and Subtopics: Learn how to identify your business’s core topics and break them into subtopics to streamline your content strategy.
• Connecting Content to Your Website: Understand how to ensure that everything you create ties back to your website to build credibility, increase traffic, and boost sales.
• Creative Ideas for eCommerce and Service Pages: Find out how to make your product and service pages more engaging and aligned with your core topics.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Episode 012: Why Creating Content for Your Own Domain is Key to Long-Term Marketing Success
• Episode 002: Why You Don’t Need to Keep Chasing the Algorithm
• Episode 009: Why You Need a Content Strategy as Your First Step to Website Success
• Episode 056: Podcast SEO Audit with Donna
• Free Guide to Discovering Your Core Topics: Download this free resource and host your own post-it note party to plan your core topics and kickstart your website content strategy.

Let’s connect:
Share your core topics or text the show using the link below! Don’t forget to subscribe for more insights on optimising your website and SEO.

Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction and Content Planning Overview
• 1:35 Importance of Website Content
• 4:37 Core Topics and Content Pillars
• 7:40 Creating Subtopics and Category Pages
• 11:29 Implementing Core Topics on Your Website
• 14:23 Final Thoughts and Additional Resources

Transcript

AI-GENERATED TRANSCRIPT - MAY CONTAIN ERRORS

Introduction and Content Planning Overview

Hello. Happy Friday. So today I want to talk about content planning and just remembering that our website is an important part of that.

It's something that a lot of people think about. Obviously, it's the first week, first proper week back to work in January. I think a lot of people are thinking about content planning, thinking about how you can just be a bit more strategic about what you're creating.

Normally, we think about it in terms of social media, but you know, I love to go on about why creating content for our own domain first is so important. And actually, you can go back and listen to episode 12 of the podcast, where I talk about why creating content, creating your own content for your own domain first is key to your long-term marketing success.

It really does make a big difference. So if you want to find out why this matters so much, pop back and listen to that episode. You can also listen to episode two.

A really early one talking about why you don't need to keep reading the algorithm. So how you can use your existing content to show up in searches. So check those episodes out.

Importance of Website Content

Hopefully, they're helpful in terms of actually why this matters so much, but I'm going to dive into this today and really focus on if you're creating content, or you're thinking about starting to create content for this year, how tying it back to your own website can make all of your marketing so much more effective, really.

The most important thing I would love you to take away from this episode is that your website should be the foundation of your content planning. It's the only online space that you fully own.

And it's where your audience goes to actually take action and to buy from you or book an appointment or to spend more time learning about you in a way that you control. You're connecting with them not just when they're scrolling, not just trying to capture their attention there.

If they can find your website when they're actually searching for a solution to their problem or searching for a particular product that they want to buy or a service, then you connecting with them at that point is so powerful. And that's why just spending a little bit of time there and focusing a little bit of attention on that before all the social stuff is just going to help to really build your authority.

It will build you up as that expert in what you do, which is going to help you then to get more website traffic and make more sales and have less reliance on social media and paid ads, really. A big part of everything I do is about just making that easier for you, making it easier for you to actually get traffic and sales through your website.

And it doesn't have to be a whole big project. I think often our websites can feel like a big project, whereas we would think of social media, getting content for social media, we think of that as an ongoing thing that we need to do anyway. Whereas actually I like to think of my website like that as well.

This is something that's not done and then I forget about it. It's something that needs to be; the content needs to be created or improved over time. It's not something that you would just do in a day and it's done.

It's something that you're going to keep creating content for whenever you're creating content. Just start with your website first, because then that way your website is the hub that links all of that other content together. As I say, it's then the place that you own.

That content is the place where actually no algorithm can then take that away from you, really. So I think when I've heard in the groups that I'm in, I've heard people talking about creating your content plan and the ways to do it, and it's very rare that I hear them mention websites within that. Often it is just social media that people are talking about.

Sometimes it's email newsletters as well. Sometimes people will mention that within content planning, but I think this is all part of the big plan of your content. You know, this is all, it all ties it all in together.

And actually, if you can create that with your website in mind, first and foremost, then that is that place that can bring that all together for you, really. So, you might be thinking, how do I even kind of get started with planning content for my website? It all feels a bit overwhelming.

Core Topics and Content Pillars

And I would say to start with your core topics or your content pillars. You might've heard of content pillars. You might've heard of core topics.

Certainly, I talked about core topics before. And I tend to describe them that way as like your core topics rather than content pillars. Content pillars can sometimes mean, have different meanings for social media.

You were talking about it from a social media point of view, but I feel like they do kind of mean the same sort of thing, essentially. It's your, like your core topics are your foundations of your business messaging. So it's your website structure as well that ties into those core topics.

Essentially what it is, it's like the three to five key themes that represent your business's expertise and the value that you bring. So it can guide not just your content planning, but also how you're positioning yourself as an expert online.

As we move into more AI searches and AI-delivered content, this is going to be more important than ever that we are that trusted expert. So if you're thinking about what you do, and how you work with your clients and what you deliver for your customers, what are those things? What are those core things?

Like three to five, as I say, it's good to sort of break it up to that real high level, the top-level things of, okay, breaking it into these sections. What are those things that you need to be known for in your industry and in the world, basically? So for me, in my business, my core topics are SEO, search engine optimisation, CRO, conversion rate optimisation, and content optimisation.

So everything I do, whether it's creating a podcast, creating a live here in the group, writing website copy, working with clients, everything that I'm doing ties back to one of these areas. So they're like the core content pillars of my business.

If you're a spa, so if you're a spa retreat, your core topics might be something like wellness and relaxation or skincare expertise. Or you could have it slightly different. You could have your core topics as luxury products, beauty services, wellness services.

For a hair salon, you might have hair health, hairstyling, and hair colouring. And if you sell products online, you might have something like at-home self-care, solving skin problems and wellness supplements. And there's not really a right and a wrong way to do this.

Like, essentially, you could approach it from different angles and you might tackle it slightly differently. But it's what you are sort of thinking is those top-level things that everything can come under those brackets, really. So it's sometimes, this might not even necessarily be what you describe it publicly.

It might be something that this is almost your internal categories of what you're talking about, really.

Creating Subtopics and Category Pages

So, once you've nailed down your core topics, you can then break that into subtopics as well. So that helps you then to work out what content you need to create within those topics. So those might be like frequently asked questions that you need to create within each of those core topics.

So like for me, there's lots of different areas that I could break down SEO into, like SEO for podcasts, local SEO, SEO for AI, YouTube. There's so many different things you could do within that. Um, but then you can also then say frequently asked questions, blog posts, social media posts, all those kinds of things.

But within that everything that you create falls within those core topic areas, really. If you were like an e-commerce store and your core topic is solving skincare problems, your subtopics might be that you dive into the specific conditions, so it might be like rosacea, anti-ageing, dullness, or maybe you would approach it differently.

It could be, you could do your subtopics based on ages or skin types or things like that. So there's no real right and wrong way with this. It's essentially just thinking about those themes within your business.

So if it was the e-commerce business as an example, and you had the rosacea, anti-ageing and dullness, you could then create category pages within your e-commerce store. So you create category pages around rosacea, around anti-ageing, around dullness.

And you could also then still do that same thing of creating some category pages for 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s or whatever the age ranges of how people would search. So it's sometimes just getting a bit creative around that & thinking about the different ways that people might be searching and how you can kind of create categories around that.

But yeah, you can create category pages on your e-commerce site. And you don't necessarily then have to create blogs. Not everything has to be blogs. I think often there's this feeling that we have to just create loads and loads of content in terms of blog posts.

But if you have some good category pages on your website that then dives into a little bit more than just a list linking into each of the products, then that can really help. Those category pages can be great for then showing up on Google or wherever people are searching, if you just build it out with a little bit more content that shows why you are the authority on rosacea, for example.

And then you can have things like frequently asked questions on those pages, and you can expand that then, you can expand that into podcast episodes that talk about rosacea or social media content and everything then all links back to your website, but your website becomes the hub of everything that you're talking about in terms of that particular subtopic. All of that would then link into that main topic as well.

So the main topic is solving skin problems within that, those subtopics link in with that as well. So if you're selling wellness products online, but product pages are essentially just a list of ingredients or a very basic description of the product, or it's focusing more on the features rather than the benefits, then it's not necessarily talking about how you are the expert in self-care.

Then even just adding a sentence or two in there that relates to self-care or relates to why this particular product fits into that bigger picture of wellness. Something like, "This aromatherapy oil helps to reduce stress and recreates a spa-like experience at home." There's lots of things you could do within your product pages as well that could make a big difference.

Implementing Core Topics on Your Website

So if you were thinking about getting started with this and you wanted to start thinking about, okay, my website, I want to start creating that as part of my content plan, I would say to start by writing down three big themes that you think define your business.

So thinking about your business as a whole and thinking about those three themes. So as I say, coming back to my business, mine is SEO, CRO, content optimisation. Then look at your website and think about which pages actually mention those themes and which really dive into it as well.

I think we're often guilty of this; we create loads of content. We create a tonne of free content on social media. And I see this time and time again with clients where they'll have amazing social media presences, but then you come back to their website and they're not actually talking about the problems that they solve for their customers or the challenges that people might be facing or even who they are actually trying to attract.

They're just not really talking about that. There's a real lack of content there on their own website. So yeah, look at your website and just think about for each of those core topics, even just start thinking about which pages of your website even mention those core topics or subtopics within that.

Then look at which of those pages would be the best result because it's always good when you're thinking about your core topic, thinking about having a real cornerstone piece of content. So which of the pages on your website is the one that is the real page about that core topic?

And so for me, it would be if I'm thinking about the content pillar of SEO or the core topic of SEO, my blog post on "What is SEO? A beginner's guide" is probably what I would consider as my main page around the topic of SEO. And then all of the other blog posts and podcast episode pages that I've got on my website then link back into that.

And they're more like those subtopics within that as well. And then check if your product pages and your service pages also reflect those core topics as well. And if they don't, if nothing in those pages talks about the core topics or links into it and links to the other pages, then that's somewhere to start thinking about what kind of content you need to create on your website that shows that you are an authority in each of these core topics, really.

And it's not going to be perfect. This is a starting point, really. If you're starting to think about creating content, if you're trying to create a content plan for the next few months or for the year, just think about your website and think about everything that you're creating within that content plan. How does this tie back to my website?

How is this going to help to build the authority of my website? Have I already talked about this on my website? And if you haven't, just thinking about what can I create for my website there, and then use that as a starting point for everything else that you're doing, really.

Final Thoughts and Additional Resources

When you're thinking about your core topics, it's as I say, it's not always easy, necessarily, to actually decide on your core topics. So if you're thinking about this and thinking about how do I even work out what my core topics are? Think about what are the key problems that you solve for your clients? What topics come up the most in conversations with your customers?

What services or products are your signature offers? For example, if you're a beauty salon, your core topics might be skincare for sensitive skin, non-invasive or anti-ageing treatments, things like that. Um, and think about also the overlap between what you love to do, what your clients want and need, and also what you want to grow in your business as well.

So if you have a particular part of your business that you're trying to grow, then having that as maybe a core topic or certainly one of those subtopics within that, you can focus on as you're creating your content plan as well. So take some time this week to consider your core topics and how your website addresses that.

And when you're creating your content plan, just make sure that your website is part of it. As I say, that's my key advice for this week, really. You can also check out episode 9 of the podcast, which is about why you need a content strategy and why that's your first step to website success.

I talk a little bit more about core topics in that episode as well. I also have a freebie that I'll link to in the show notes where you can download my free guide to discovering your core topics. You can treat yourself to a Post-it note party if you want to, so you can finally get it sorted and just start making a plan about it, really.

So thank you so much for listening. I'd love to hear what your core topics are for your business, so let me know either in the comments if you're in the Facebook group or you can text the show; you'll find a link to do that in the show notes. And I hope you have a lovely weekend.

Ah, Donna's got hers in there already, fantastic. Podcasting made simple, profitable podcasting, powering female voices, new pages coming soon. I love that Donna, that sounds amazing. And actually, if you want to hear Donna and I talking more about podcast SEO, listen to episode 56, which is the last episode that came out, where Donna joined me for a podcast SEO audit, and that was really good fun.

So check that episode out as well. So yeah, I hope you have a lovely weekend. It's really cold. Uh, we've lived here for 10 years and I've never seen frost on the window. I don't know if you can actually even see it. It's starting to go now because the sun's coming out, but we actually had frost that had formed on the outside of the window, which is, um, different.

I will be swimming this weekend, as usual. It was about 5 degrees in the lake last weekend, which was amazing, really cold. I always want to cry when I first get in, but it's just so good. I feel so good for the whole week afterwards. So I hope whatever you're doing, you have a lovely weekend and I will see you soon. Bye!