Approach content marketing like a cat approaches life
and you’ll find it easy, fun and rewarding!
Illustrations by Allison Carmichael
Cats are the spirt animal of the internet, have a laidback approach to life and don’t have time for any tedious or boring SEO strategies, preferring to play and sleep. We consider 9 lessons from some of the most famous cats on the net and how you can apply these same lessons to your content marketing campaign. Despite being light-hearted, this article contains plenty of serious advice based on solid research.
Look great to attract attention
Cats look great and this is one of the things that makes them alluring.
Your website also needs to look great. If your site looks amateurish or doesn’t have a responsive, user-friendly design, then it’s less likely that other bloggers will want to link to it. It’s also bad for SEO, as Google have several algorithms that evaluate ‘good design’ and sites that are mobile friendly, not too advert heavy, easy to read, etc. get an SEO boost. There’s also an indirect benefit in that if visitors stay on your site for longer, your position in the search results will go up over time. A beautiful, distinctive design means you look great and will win and retain your visitors’ attention.
Know your territory
Household cats prowl a small territory, going a similar route every night.
Like your cat you should take the time to know your territory. Instead of catching mice, learn about Pandas and Penguins (Google algorithms) and take the time to find what leading SEO experts say the best SEO strategy is based on solid research. SEO changes regularly, however keeping up-to-date on the basics and knowing your territory is essential. When evaluating what different content marketing or SEO companies offer, don’t be enticed to stray by offers of large volumes of links at the expense of quality, it’s a strategy that simply doesn’t work anymore and wandering off the path will just get you lost. Your territory does not need to be huge, it needs to be relevant and fit your needs.
Aim for high places
Cats love climbing trees and trying to reach the top spot
Everyone wants to reach the top keyword position, however when I talk about aiming for high places, I don’t just mean aim to be first (that’s a given), I mean aim to have your content on top authority websites. We recommend sites with a minimum Domain Authority of 25; however, every industry (particularly service industries) will have leading websites that are known for their expertise in a given field. An article from one of these sites will give you ten or a hundred times the benefit compared to an article on a less well-known site because they are read by many more people and because Google values them far more highly.
How do you find these websites?
Simple! Instead of searching for “Keyword + submit guest post” or similar phrases, just search for the keyword, or perhaps “Keyword + blog” or “Keyword + article”. The sites you want will be on the first 1-3 pages of Google.
To obtain these high authority links, you have to have something truly meaningful and unique to offer. Start by ensuring that your own site had a blog and aim to link to a great blog page on your own site, rather than a sales page. Next create content that is well researched and says something unique about your industry. Finally, create at least one original image to submit with the article, so that it helps grab their attention (or if you’re sharing an infographic, write at least 300 words of original text to go with the infographic). Remember the first cat rule, “Look great to attract attention”.
Sleep on it
Cats sleep for 15 – 20 hours a day.
After you’ve approached a major site, relax! It’s unlikely that you’ll get an immediate response. Allow at least a week before you send a chaser, or approach another authority website with your article. Sleeping on it also helps the creative process and means you can review your article / infographic with a fresh perspective.
Keep clean to avoid predators
Cats are the epitome of cleanliness and groom themselves for up to 50% of their waking hours. One reason for this is that it helps remove their odour, which might alert predators to their scent.
In the SEO world Pandas and Penguins can be dangerous predators and using keyword stuffing, overly optimized anchor text or links from spammy websites can get you penalized by Google. Focus on links from good sites and keep yourself clean.
Only drink when it’s flowing
Cats don’t drink stale water and prefer to drink when it’s flowing
Placing links where there’s action is another good content marketing strategy. When you’re considering whether a site is good, check whether there’s new content, if posts are shared on social media sites, etc. A link on a stagnant website won’t give you any benefit.
Be playful, it makes it interesting!
Cats love to play!
For content to reach as wide an audience as possible it needs to be either useful or playful (or both!) There are so many ‘how to do content marketing’ type articles out there and the same is true for other industries. To stand out from the crowd you need to say something unique, use up-to-date research or be playful! Injecting some fun into an article makes it all the more interesting, so long as it’s appropriate.
Dive right in
Cats like to dive right in and don’t hesitate to make their needs known
Make sure that your content is relevant and addresses the needs of the specific blog where your guest post or infographic appears, or is of interest to a Facebook group if you’re sharing it on social media. Summarize your topic at the start of your article so readers know what to expect and to encourage them to continue reading.
Be curious; it won’t kill you
We know the saying ‘Curiosity killed the cat’, but that’s just a myth!
Be curious. Read other blogs, websites and books on the subject you’re promoting. Keep up-to-date with the latest changes in the industry and if you don’t understand something, dive in and learn how it works. As you educate yourself, your content will get better and better.
In conclusion – Cats do content marketing with quality
Cody, the high class cat
Focusing on quality, not quantity is the cat’s strategy to content marketing. Start by writing a truly inspirational article or infographic and placing it on a top blog in your industry. In the long run it’s less work, more fun and much more rewarding in terms of direct traffic, improved SEO and branding, enabling you to go back to your cat naps and some serious grooming!
The recommendations in this article are based on best content marketing practice and on Indigoextra Ltd’s review of 7,900 marketing experts and 1,000,000 Google search results to identify the best SEO strategy. Unfortunately, all the experts surveyed were human; apologies to our feline friends.