Newbie marketers and seasoned vets alike are probably sick of the “content is king” cliche, aren’t they?
The fact remains that content can be the difference-maker when it comes to your inbound marketing efforts; however, not all content is created equal. There’s a gulf of difference between a slew of poorly researched, keyword-stuffed articles and well-crafted, actionable guides, for example.
In fact, long-form educational guides are arguably the most important type of content that any given business could possibly hope to create. While it might seem easier to craft bite-size blog posts from time to time, creating an ultimate guide on behalf of your business is a wise investment for any given business.
But why go through the effort of crafting a long-form guide in the first place? What are the benefits? Consider the following four reasons why ultimate guides most definitely deserve your attention.
You Target a Highly-Specific Audience
Simply put, ultimate guides are fair game for just about any industry. From the world of marketing itself to learning how to play poker or trade stocks, marketers can craft guides based on anything they could possibly imagine.
Tim Sykes’ tips and training on penny stocks are an awesome example of ultimate guides in action. In essence, Sykes has become the go-to resource for anyone and everyone looking to learn the ropes of penny stocks. Even though this may seem like a microscopic niche, Skyes has made millions selling his education and training to others.
As such, your guides should ideally focus on something you’re passionate and knowledgeable about so you can excite your target guidance and create something of legitimate value. Targeting a smaller niche may seem like backwards advice, but laser-targeting your guides makes them that much more enticing to relevant readers.
You Score More Opportunities for Links
Whether you create an ultimate guide in the form of an e-book for a series of blog posts, long-form content results in serious link-building potential and an SEO goldmine. As noted by marketing guru Neil Patel, long-form content gets more links in general and therefore ultimate guides poise themselves to be linked to by others in your niche. The idea is simple: if your guide is actionable and valuable, people will link to it organically.
You Get More People on Your Email List
Ultimate guides also represent amazing lead magnets for those looking to build up their email lists. By offering a piece of your guide on-site and the remainder via email, you qualify who your hottest leads are and therefore know you’re growing an email list full of hungry subscribers that want to hear what you have to say. Even if you don’t have anything to sell them quite yet, you can always craft offers for them down the road as your guide sows the seeds of long-term cash.
You Signal Your Authority
If nothing else, ultimate guides signal your authority within your niche. Think about it: if you have the chops to write thousands of words on any given topic, you obviously boast some serious knowledge in your space, right? This sort of authority builds trust which can increase your conversion rates and ultimately make your brand look more attractive to visitors at a glance.
Ultimate guides represent an investment of time and energy that are totally worthwhile. Regardless of your marketing goals, having such a guide as part of your inbound strategy is a great way to grow your traffic, qualify leads and signal your authority.