As I said in a recent post, thought leadership is primarily a function of content marketing. And, for all the benefits of video and audio content, the Internet (that is, Google) still loves words. So… everyone produces words: blog posts, articles, SEO fodder, sales copy, deep content posts, encyclopedic entries on Eastern European Easter eggs…

Is all this content, since it is all words, approximately equivalent? Should the intern or outsourcer you’ve hired to post links on Twitter be the same person who writes your weekly blog post?

Obviously, the answer is, “of course not.”

In The Social Bootstrap guide to DIY Thought Leadership, I discuss 6 different kinds of text content that a thought leader needs on their website: articles, blog posts, sales copy, information, SEO filler, and hidden text.

So, who should be doing what?

If you are bootstrapping, you’ll probably do all of them yourself. That’s actually a really good thing, because once you are ready to begin outsourcing or hiring, you’ll actually know what needs to be done.

Here is a breakdown of the different hats you’ll wear (if you do it yourself), or the different people you’ll hire (if you can afford it).

Articles

Straightforward informational articles, like “What Is a Living Trust?” or “Notes of the Melodic Minor Blues Scale” can be written by any knowledgeable person. It helps if the writer has subject matter expertise, but with things like Google and Wikipedia, that isn’t really necessary. What helps the most is the ability to explain things simply, and an understanding of online search behavior.

This is the sort of thing entrepreneurs frequently outsource to content mills. That’s understandable, since they don’t expect this to be “thought leader content,” but rather, they often think of this as primarily search engine schlock. That’s not the best way to think about it.

Your potential clients, whether they show up through a search engine or from a business card, are going to check out your website. They are very likely, if they’re in the mood to buy something, to check out lots of other people’s websites as well. Good informational articles are not primarily about search engines. Good informational articles are about those people who are trying to learn about your service or pop-ups, and who would buy your products or services if they were well-informed enough. Obviously this means that your product or service needs to be good enough that a well-informed buyer would choose you over anybody else. Assuming that your product or service is good enough, actually educating your buyers about estate planning, or piano scales, or what ever, is a huge benefit.

Therefore, informational articles should not just be something that you push deep into your site, hoping search engines will pick it up (they won’t), but rather something that people can find easily from the front page of your site, if they have a mind to be looking for it. And so therefore, good informational articles should be written well by someone who knows how to write well.

That might not be you. But, it should be someone that you hire or oversee. It could be a freelance writer, or an intern, or your husband-but a content e-mail or a bolt article purchasing site is not the way to go.

Blog Posts

You should write blog posts your self. Blog posts are the public face of your company, at least online. Blogs should be written by the person whose voice they are in. That is, employees should write blogs as themselves, not as you. And you should not outsource blog writing if you can at all help it. Blogging, and all social media, is about authenticity and interaction. If you can’t find time to blog, and are thinking about hiring someone else to do it, considering hiring someone else to do all the things you’re doing currently, so that you’ll have time to blog for yourself.

Sales Copy

Words that are directly a part of your sales funnel (“Buy now!” or “Sign up today for a free demo”) should be written by a professional copywriter. Blogs can ramble. Informational articles can be a little bit confusing as long as everything works out in the end. But sales copy needs to be efficient and effective.

Is there a difference between “learn more,” and “try a free demo?” How would you know?
A professional copywriter, along with deliberate use of Google Optimizer, will get results far and above what you will be able to do yourself. If you are selling things online, and you do not have previous verifiable success doing so, a professional copywriter who understands e-commerce and A-B testing should be an early investment.

Info

Basic information, like your address, your phone number, and even your name and occupation, you should be able to write yourself. As I mentioned in my book though, understanding how people structure searches in Google can help you turn basic information into yet another attraction marketing opportunity.

SEO Filler

You should have good basic informational articles that are easily accessible from your home page. Those are not SEO filler. SEO filler is when you have 10 or 15 different articles explaining “The Basics of Prenuptial Agreements.” Nobody who is searching for information on your site needs all the different permutations: Prenuptial Agreements for Beginners, Understanding Prenuptial Agreements, Newly Engaged Person’s Guide to Prenuptial Agreements, What Is a Prenuptial Agreement?, An Introduction to Prenuptial Agreements.

No, no. No human cares that you have 15 different versions of that article on your site. However, assuming they are different enough, Google prefers that sort of thing. You are creating more opportunities for someone to land on your site.

These don’t absolutely have to be as well-written as your primary informational articles. A content mill is an okay way to go (assuming they aren’t duplicating content, and assuming the content is written by native English speakers), but probably not the best way. Bulk article purchasing sites, especially like those that cater to attorneys, are especially not the way to go because you are usually buying a set of articles which they have also sold to 100 other professionals. There is no search engine benefit to duplicate content.

Your best option here is probably to hire freelance writers yourself through something like craigslist.com or elance.com. This takes a little bit more hands-on management than a content mill, but there is no additional profit margin above the writer. This allows you to either save money or spend the same amount of money and get higher quality writing.

Just make sure that before you hire or purchase, you have done good keyword research and understand how search engine optimization works.

Hidden Text

Hidden text is all the stuff on your website that humans never see, or at least never look for. URL structure, metadata, file names, hover text, alt tags, link titles…

If you retain an SEO firm or a web designer, all that should be their job. Otherwise (and even then) you should have an understanding of what all these things are, and you should have the ability to correct them.

The most important thing here is preplanning. You could always add another article later. You can reformat your information. You can try new sales copy. But it’s very difficult (well it can be) to change your URL structure after your website has been running for several months or years. It can be damn near impossible to change your file structure on your server. You will never ever go back and add alt tags to all of your images. The more of this that you can do ahead of time, the better.

Learn More, Teach More

You can learn more about text content for Thought Leadership in my book, The Social Bootstrap guide to DIY Thought Leadership, which you can purchase at Amazon or read free online. (See Chapter 5: Words, Words, Words)

Or, even better than learning more from me, is teaching me and other people what you already know. If you have a little bit to say, leave a comment. If you have a lot to say, write your own blog post and a link to it in the comments, so the rest of us can find it.