In marketing eras past, a robust WordPress content strategy meant reams of keyword-stuffed ‘How-To’ articles released on a weekly WordPress blog.
While the value of keyword research can’t be brushed aside, 2020 demands more dynamic content strategies than ever before.
With so many companies migrating online, it’s easy to get lost in the deep dark crevices of Google.
However, thanks to the technological evolution in marketing channels, content strategies are taking shape in brand new ways.
Podcasting, Voice Search Optimization, and video marketing offer multisensory formats for marketers, while a thirst for online learning and expertise drives the success of instructional and education-based content marketing methods.
This article will break down 10 content strategies being implemented by the best WordPress sites out there.
Done-For-You WordPress Content
What Makes a Successful WordPress Content Strategy?
The art to building a successful content strategy lies in your definition of ‘successful.’ Only by defining and measuring marketing goals can you truly understand how fruitful your content strategy is.
Marketing guru and bestselling author, Seth Godin, hammers home the importance of goal-setting in his renowned book The Dip.
Urging readers to recognize that there is a ‘dip’ period of struggle before either prospering or quitting, Godin underscores the importance of goals as a measure of a marketing strategy’s achievement.
Hitting measurable levels of marked progress informs you whether you should keep going or pivot to a new content strategy.
The value of goal-setting in content marketing strategy simply can’t be understated. Stats show that marketers that defined their objectives were 376% more likely to report successful progress — with 70% of those respondents having reached their targets.
Marketers that defined their objectives were 376% more likely to report successful progress.
In this sense, successful content strategies need to have clearly defined goals and objectives. This enables you to more effectively devise content campaigns that specifically target these desired outcomes in a manner that’s accessible to your relevant sector.
General WordPress content strategy goals:
- Increase sales conversions
- Broaden social amplification
- Improve lead generation quality
- Heighten brand awareness, trust, and authority
Specific content strategy objectives that relate to these goals:
- Convert 100 social media leads to your WordPress plugin in 6 months
- Increase your blog’s mailing list by 1000 subscribers by the end of the year
- Rank on the first page of Google for a 500+ volume search term by June.
Now that you have a better understanding of how to measure a successful WordPress content strategy, let’s take an in-depth look at examples from 10 leaders in the WordPress space.
#1: Kinsta – Build Brand Authority with Topic-Focused Content
Kinsta is a WordPress hosting service that offers users an intuitive WordPress dashboard and tool suite to manage and maintain WordPress website.
Kinsta’s WordPress tools include bandwidth tracking, visitor statistics, SSL certificate management, and so on.
Example of Kinsta’s Content Strategy:
Kinsta’s approach to content marketing strategy is exemplified by its free resource center, comprising a library of comprehensive expert resources — such as the ebook above.
Taking a topic-focused content strategy approach, Kinsta positions itself as an authority on WordPress.
What Makes This a Successful WordPress Content Strategy in 2020?
In 2020, we’re recommending your business shift away from keyword-focused content to topic-focused content strategies.
This structured content method benefits companies in two ways.
Firstly, a high-quality topic-focused content approach works as a diversifying structured content creation strategy, boosting your ‘E-A-T’ rating across a web of topics.
What is your E-A-T rating?
Google search engine spiders rank brand content across all platforms. ‘Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness’ is one the criteria for which Google ranks brands and their content.
Killer content across a broad range of topics establishes brand authority across multiple consumer verticals, as illustrated by Kinsta’s ebooks.
For McDonald, cultivating brand authority is instrumental in developing brand trust and brand awareness.
By providing genuine help, you drive conversions through your marketing channels.
A topic-focused content strategy offers ample opportunities to push call-to-action (CTA) links to a spectrum of buyer personas — as Kinsta has done with its catalog of WordPress user guides.
#2: WPBeginner – Drive Success with Audience-Specific Video Content
WPBeginner is a free resource offering beginner’s guides to WordPress users.
Example of WPBeginner’s Content Strategy:
WPBeginner harnesses the power of video content marketing via target-specific YouTube tutorials for WordPress beginners.
What Makes This a Successful WordPress Content Strategy in 2020?
The way in which buyers are consuming content has changed. In 2020, a video SEO strategy is vital.
When it comes to driving organic search results, video content is 50 times more likely to succeed than plain text content.
This is especially important for your social media content strategy. Buyers like videos best when consuming brand content on social platforms. So, encourage consumers to nurture your organic traffic through social sharing.
Since 48% of consumers are keen to see videos about products they own or are interested in, video content provides a stellar opportunity to market your WordPress products and services to your niche target audience.
This is what makes WPBeginner’s entry-level WordPress YouTube channel such a successful WordPress content strategy.
#3: WPForms – Capture Leads with an Overlay or Pop-up Offer
WPForms offers WordPress users a drag-and-drop WordPress form builder tool.
Example of WPForm’s Content Strategy:
WPForms uses a delayed pop-up overlay with a well-crafted valuable offer to capture client leads.
What Makes This a Successful WordPress Content Strategy in 2020?
While pop-ups aren’t new to 2020, they are still surprisingly effective. Well-crafted pop-ups have conversion rates of nearly 10%.
But what’s the key to a great pop-up?
Firstly, as WPForms demonstrates, you need a clear goal — in this case, capturing leads. Next, create a valuable offer that funnels your target demographic toward that goal.
Statistics show that…
- Two-thirds of buyers will make an unplanned purchase based on a discount or voucher alone.
- 80% of consumers feel inspired to make a first-time purchase from a new brand with a good offer.
But it’s not just the offer that makes this WPForm pop-up a successful content strategy. The pop-up itself is a timed overlay.
92% of the most effective pop-ups appeared after a 4-second delay. This gives users a few moments for the WordPress site to load, before being surprised with a high-value offer.
Well-designed and properly timed pop-ups can lead to conversion rates as high as 60%.
This can prove to be a fruitful content strategy for capturing leads since users feel they are being given an offer for free.
#4: ThemeGrill – Boost Engagement With Minimalist Visuals
ThemeGrill sells premium responsive WordPress theme plans.
Example of Themegrill’s Content Strategy:
Though primarily a WordPress theme provider, ThemeGrill recognizes that WordPress users have other website-associated pain-points.
ThemeGrill delivers audience-specific content that decodes complex queries in a simple format. This topic-focused content is littered with key search terms.
ThemeGrill teams this content strategy with easy-to-digest minimalist graphics, alt-tagged with key search terms.
What Makes This a Successful WordPress Content Strategy in 2020?
Firstly, minimalist graphics help to convey tricky ideas in an easy-to-digest way. ThemeGrill’s example does this beautifully with simply a lock, computer, and copyright sign.
When it comes to explaining complex concepts, Hick’s Law dictates that the fewer the visual processes that need to occur, the faster mental processing will be. This is why minimalism has become popular in online graphic design.
Consider ThemeGrill’s image in Google’s image search results. The simplicity of the visual content offers clarity, which draws the eye and makes you want to click it more:
To support this, ThemeGrill bolsters both its visual and written content with keyword search terms.
What makes this a successful WordPress content strategy is the harmony between Image SEO and Content SEO.
ThemeGrill’s keyword research in the article cooperates with the alt tags on the visual content. This means that both the article and image searches rank highly for key search terms.
Synchronized Content SEO and Image SEO increase visibility and brand awareness.
#5: Sumo – Build a Sales Funnel With Niche Content
Sumo for WordPress offers WordPress tools to drive conversion of their user’s site visitors.
Example of Sumo’s Content Strategy:
Sumo uses targeted, persuasive CTAs to lead customers down a strategically-crafted sales funnel. This sales funnel builds a use case, captures leads, and drives conversion rates.
Firstly, Sumo embeds CTAs into the subheadings of engaging, topic-focused WordPress content. These CTAs are bold, relevant, and persuasive.
Sumo’s CTAs lead to landing pages with well-engineered narratives that build a use case for WordPress. In doing this, Sumo shows brand authority to new users.
Another direct CTA in Sumo’s funnel captures leads for further marketing opportunities.
Below the signup link, Sumo presents targeted offers for tools as a final CTA.
What Makes This a Successful WordPress Content Strategy in 2020?
Sumo’s sub-heading is a lead-generation mechanism, while the signup landing page works as a lead capture technique.
This moves potential clients down the sales funnel, while collecting email leads for future email marketing campaigns.
The persuasive narrative builds a business use case that glides users into the bottom of the sales funnel, where you can present a deal.
Sumo segways nicely into ‘Featured Offers’ directly below the signup CTA.
#6: WebsiteSetup – Amplify Brand Trust With Investigational Content
WebsiteSetup is a free educational resource center for beginners to learn web development and WordPress design.
Example of WebsiteSetup’s Content Strategy:
WebsiteSetup’s most successful content strategy takes the shape of long-form investigational content.
Oriented directly to the specific niche of beginner WordPress users, WebsiteSetup’s investigational guides help consumers to make decisions by doing the exploratory legwork for them.
To enhance SEO, the content targets pain-points identified by key search terms — in this case, WordPress hosting performance + features + cost.
(Image Source)
To build brand trust, the content is an informative and comprehensive deep-dive presenting hands-on solutions.
What Makes This a Successful WordPress Content Strategy in 2020?
The quickest way to build trust with potential and existing clients is to solve their problems.
By first identifying customer issues, this demonstrates that your company hears buyer concerns.
Since 92% of consumers think that brands don’t listen to them, targeting customer-identified pain-points gives you a competitive edge.
When it comes to building brand trust, 90% of B2B content marketers advocate quelling your customers’ informational needs over pushy promotional messaging.
We’re all about creating high-quality educational content at a premium price. Learn more about our Done-For-You WordPress content creation.
#7: TemplateMonster – Increase Your Tribe with Voice Search Optimization
TemplateMonster is a WordPress design firm that sells WordPress templates, themes, and plugins.
Example of TemplateMonster’s Content Strategy:
(Image Source)
TemplateMonster’s ‘Brain Food for Creatives’ podcast is geared toward designers. The audio content offers helpful tips, tools, and solutions for using WordPress, delivered by top WordPress experts.
What Makes This a Successful WordPress Content Strategy in 2020?
TemplateMonster is a web design firm, and its podcast strives to establish the brand as an authority in the WordPress plugin and web design field.
The rise of podcast popularity provides brands with a newly-hot channel on which to deliver advertising messaging. The Google Podcasts platform exemplifies this trend, having now indexed over 2 million podcasts.
Since 54% of podcast listeners would consider the brands they hear on podcasts more than others, this seems like a golden marketing opportunity.
Not only are podcasts an entry into voice search optimization, if harnessed correctly, but podcasts also boost SEO rankings across multiple formats.
Primarily, TemplateMonster releases the audio podcast and supplementary written content on podcast platforms, such as:
- Google Podcasts
- Apple Podcasts
- Mixcloud
- Soundcloud
- Spreaker
However, secondarily, TemplateMonster releases the audio content on video platforms, like YouTube. This pushes SEO through different search channels to reach new audiences.
Combining audio, video, and written content, TemplateMonster’s content ranks top for articles, podcasts, and videos on key search terms. This creates a wider market reach, attracting new tribe members from all directions.
#8: YoastSEO – Magnify Credibility by Harnessing Social Proof
Yoast is the number one WordPress plugin, offering SEO optimization services to WordPress users.
Example of Yoast’s Content Strategy:
Yoast’s testimonial page — quaintly named ‘Yoast Fans’ — pulls user-generated content from various sales channels. This serves social proof of Yoast’s good service received by its multifaceted client base.
What Makes This a Successful WordPress Content Strategy in 2020?
According to world-renowned psychologist Robert Cialdini, ‘Social Proof’ is one of seven key psychologies of persuasion.
“Whether the question is what to do with an empty popcorn box in a movie theater, how fast to drive on a certain stretch of highway, or how to eat the chicken at a dinner party, the actions of those around us will be important in defining the answer.”
Leveraging social proof is key to marketing. Social proof is the phenomenon where people follow the behavior of their peers, especially those they revere.
Consider that today, 88% of consumers trust online user reviews as equally as they trust personal recommendations. Testimonials provide credibility and elicit brand trust using accounts of positive user experience.
Now, combine this with the fact that testimonials positioned next to adverts drive up conversion rates on expensive items by 380%. This makes the clear case for harnessing social proof as a successful content strategy to enhance credibility, build brand trust, and increase conversions.
Yoast’s testimonial page is a testament to flaunting social proof as evidence for the quality of its product. By showcasing positive feedback from customers in all different vectors, countries, and networks, Yoast builds trust in its value to its broad community.
#9: WordFence – Build a Case for Your Business with Education
WordFence offers users a suite of WordPress security tools and resources.
Example of WordFence’s Content Strategy:
WordFence’s WordPress Security Learning Center is an online education academy to teach WordPress users how to manage WordPress security.
What Makes This a Successful WordPress Content Strategy in 2020?
Education-based marketing is one of the top 2 content strategies used today, with over 77% of organizations employing this content marketing method.
Free educational resources help users to fix problems, using your brand as an authoritative mentor in that process. By providing expertise in a complex subject, you establish brand authority, which builds a business case for your solution.
WordFence teaches WordPress users the complexity of WordPress security, which boosts its E-A-T rating and enlightens WordPress users to the precautionary measures needed.
In this sense, WordFence uses education-based marketing to build a business case for its preventative WordPress security solution. This feeds sales down the pipeline.
#10: Modern Tribe – Illustrate Your Solution’s Value with Case Studies
Modern Tribe builds premium custom websites and applications, including WordPress sites.
Example of Modern Tribe’s Content Strategy:
Modern Tribe proudly displays prominent client case studies on its homepage as a form of social proof. The web design firm shows off its most well-known brands such as Harvard Law School and Pharrell Williams.
However, more than testimonials, case studies serve as a detailed, solutions-centric form of social proof. Each of Modern Tribe’s case studies pinpoints the customer issue and identifies (in a step-by-step guide) how Modern Tribe solved this pain-point.
What Makes This a Successful WordPress Content Strategy in 2020?
Not only does this content strategy leverage celebrity endorsement and social proof, but the solutions-oriented approach builds a value case for customers.
Use cases have become such an effective tool for content marketing due to their storytelling nature. Storytelling is the number one marketing trend in 2020 for a reason. Customers can empathise with stories. By inserting themselves into a storyline, customers begin to understand the value of your product.
Modern Tribe’s use cases identifying customer pain-points and guide readers through the solution process. For clients with a similar issue, these use cases make it easy for them to picture Modern Tribe’s problem-solving process.
This enables customers to imagine their problem being solved, demonstrating Modern Tribe’s value and evidencing it with social proof.
Content strategy in 2020 is evolving away from vast quantities of keyword-stuffed long-form written content. Instead, diverse multimedia topic-focused content strategies reign supreme.
As New York Times Bestseller, investigative reporter David Epstein says, ‘the important collaborations will be interdisciplinary.’
Final Thoughts
Structure a networked multi-topic content strategy that spans all platforms and formats to establish brand authority, trust, credibility, and value.
The top WordPress content strategies right now:
- Topic-focused content to improve your E-A-T
- Video content marketing
- Timed pop-up offers
- Synchronizing Image SEO and Text SEO
- CTA-Driven sales funnels
- Investigational content
- Voice Optimization and Podcast SEO
- Social proof and user-generated content
- Education-Based content marketing
- Case Studies and Storytelling
Most importantly, remember that goal-oriented content marketing tactics that connect with humans and harmonize with SEO spiders make the most successful WordPress content strategies of 2020.
Done-For-You WordPress Content
