Marketing leadership has specific themes they want to focus on for the coming quarter. Organic content needs to align with these themes – and, as always, get the readers and search engines to pay attention.

Adam Patton developed a way to meet both challenges at once.

(Adam is a Senior Content Strategist and Analytics Lead at Megawatt Content.)

The play

If we can leverage relevant content from the existing library, we can streamline content production, make more informed decisions in the content planning process, and see quicker results in search.

The strategy

We’ll approach the task from the lenses of subject-matter as well as performance data.

Search the existing library by keyword

If you’ve got an extensive library, this audit might feel daunting at first. Adam uses Ottimo to identify the relevant pages in a few minutes.

Go to the Library view
Enter key terms in to the Search bar

This will show every page on the website with that term in its title tag.

Copy that filtered list with Ottimo
Paste it into a spreadsheet

(The pasted list will also include some simple performance data for each page.)

The content team can use this list to identify topics that the company is looking to refresh for the coming quarter.

Choose pieces that show promise for performance

Looking at the entire library through the performance data lens will show us which subjects are resonating with readers and which pieces of existing content can provide quick wins in the coming quarter.

Adam uses the performance buckets in Ottimo to generate these ideas. Adam scans each through each one with an eye for thematically resonant pages.

Looking for pages that can be refreshed:

Wallflowers are pages that have already proven to be engaging with readers. They just need to be optimized for distribution.
Sloths already have some traction in search. They need some fine-tuning to improve engagement. This is way more efficient than creating new content from scratch.
Declining pages show content that is slipping in performance and warrants an investigation.

“I look at Sloths for lighter-lift refresh opportunities. We’ll retool the call to action, make sure the internal linking is up to snuff, make the content more aligned with wherever it's sitting in the funnel.”

– Adam Patton

Looking for ideas that have proven value with the readers:

Stars are already successful pages. These pages shine a light on talking points that have proven interest with your audience. They’re a great jumping off point for new content.

“The Stars bucket is also great for finding pieces to promote on channels beyond organic search. If any Star page has a thought leadership element, or we have reason to believe would resonate with a client's audience on LinkedIn, their customer newsletter, or a community forum, that's a great place to draw from.”

– Adam Patton

The perks

The play here is basically a thematic audit of the entire library. This has some perks on the planning and strategy side:

Identify gaps in the content funnel
Cut down on redundancy in the library
Make more informed decisions for new content

By refreshing old content for the coming quarter, we’re able to streamline content production and performance:

Speed up content production
Actively prune weak content from the library
Reduce lag time between publication and measurable performance

How Ottimo can help

Ottimo syncs up with your site’s existing Google account, showcasing only the data that content marketers need to maintain healthy libraries. Review historical trends and monthly performance for your entire site, or drill down into your library and and search for the page or topic that you care about. (For free. Seriously. No strings attached.) Set up Ottimo for your site with a few clicks and start taking control of your content analytics.

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(Having doubts? Here's a recent issue.)

Aligning existing content with strategic themes
The challenge
The play
The strategy
The perks
How Ottimo can help