Many business newbies have been told by so called gurus that the key to starting an online business is to create as much content as possible, as consistently as possible and your audience will magically grow while bringing in tons of money. 

Sounds simple, right? 

But, if that were true then why isn’t everyone an online business multi-millionaire from their efforts? 

The answer is because you have only got the first part of the equation! Content creation was the magic phrase about a decade ago when the Internet was still fairly new but now the name of the game is Content Promotion and what you do after the content gets published. 

<center> https://i.postimg.cc/fR73YccZ/jj-ying-465437-unsplash.jpg </center>
<center> Photo by JJ Ying on Unsplash </center>

More than 1 billion websites have been set up on the Internet and each website has content on it that is trying to vie for reader attention. Search engines choose what information is most relevant to readers based on search engine optimization protocols. 

How do you ensure that you get to the top of the pile of results?   

By establishing yourself as an influencer in your industry! 

## Step 1: Quality Content ## 
Most people fail because they are trying to put out quantity of content instead of quality content. If you look at the content that shows up on the first page of Google results, most of them are incredibly detailed and extensive reports that average 2,000 words. 

Choosing a topic and writing as much information as possible about that topic over the course of a few articles or posts is often better than writing as many short posts as you can, as often as you can. And this method can work for any business in any industry no matter the size. 

Oftentimes, daily content being pushed out with very little detail and many fluffy words doesn’t bring real value to readers and they are likely to not want to follow you anymore. You get limited options to make a good impression! 

## Step 2: Follow the Experts ## 
Content Creation Experts and Managers have formulas they follow in order to layout their strategy using marketing trends and SEO. If you ask any of them for their advice, they will tell you that they are able to get their content read first because so many content creators fail to promote themselves and their content. In a way, you are making it much easier for them to do their jobs by not doing yours properly. 

<center> https://i.postimg.cc/BbsZSyzK/rita-morais-108397-unsplash.jpg </center>
<center> Photo by Rita Morais on Unsplash </center>

## Step 3: Use Tools for Topic Ideas ##
When you work online long term, it can be hard to come up with ideas day after day, month after month, year after year that will keep your audience engaged with you. But, content creation begins even before you open up a blank document to begin writing. Choosing a topic and headline for your article is paramount to gaining traction. There are many tools available that help with choosing your keywords and topic. When doing your research, find 4-8 keyword search terms that can give you talking points within your article, you can even use these as subheadings for your outline. 

## Step 4: Provide More Value Than Your Competition ## 
I’ve talked before about [establishing your target audience](https://steemit.com/business/@ivyriane/successfully-building-your-brand-online) and how to do that. After establishing who your target audience is, you should establish a plan for how you are going to interact with them while providing incredible value to your readers. Because if you aren’t providing them with the value they seek, they will find someone else online that will provide them with it. You can take that statement as gospel truth. 

Before you write, research what kind of content already exists for your niche. Check Google for what websites are ranking high for the keywords that you want to target to see what article titles are being used, how long their articles are, and what call to actions they are using to interact with their audience. If the strategy is working well for your completion, then what’s to say that it wouldn’t work well for you too? 

Should you do everything that your competition is doing for the online content promotion and marketing strategy? Of course not! But, seeing what works for them and what doesn’t work for them may be key to finding your own sweet spot for your own strategy. And being able to pivot your strategy as time goes on may be key to your success. 

The industry that you are working in will oftentimes determine what you need to do in order to connect with your target audience. If your competition has already done the research then why not use that as a baseline to get started? Not everything that works for them will work for you because every single business is different, so play with the numbers and with your approach to see what works best for your niche. 

## Step 5: Promote, Promote, Promote ## 
After writing a gold article chock full of great info that your audience wants and needs to read from you, publish it and promote the heck out of it to get it in front of the eyeballs that you want to have in your audience! 

If it’s a great quality article written specifically for your target audience and you get in front of your target audience then engage with them by answering their questions and comments, your audience will grow. If you have done your job right, that is. Monitor your metrics and make changes as needed if your strategy isn’t working. Metrics and measuring your goals will help to see if what you are doing is working. 
Building your audience on social media is as important as the content that you put out because you can write a Nobel Prize worthy piece of content but if no one reads it then what is the point of your hard work? 

If you have a WordPress site for your business, consider using effective backlinks to build your credibility and link to other popular sites. This aids in building your SEO rankings. This doesn’t mean that your entire article should be comprised of backlinks, that is actually the quickest way to the bottom when it comes to SEO. 

This particular method is actively being employed by top content creators and promoters online. Find your own success by learning how to play the game like they do and at least start to level the playing field. Would love to hear your thoughts on content promotion as well as how to grow your online business! 

Thanks for reading,
## Ivy ##