Elon Musk wants to turn us into cyborgs within the decade. Thing is, we’re already half-computer and we can use the right tech and software to better manage and create our content.
What do the ramblings of a real-life Tony Stark have to do with building a business blog?
Musk was a guest on Joe Rogan’s podcast, where two the discussed AI, social media and how to stave off the robot apocalypse. (HINT: We’re all doomed.)
Our phones, laptops, and tablets make us smarter. Much smarter. And in the case of our phones, they’re attached to us. New software and tools give us unprecedented abilities to research, publish and share content widely.
Here are a few that may revolutionize your content strategy.
Create a Company Content Wiki
You may have a style guide. A list of guidelines for guest post submissions. Then there’s your content calendar and FAQs. Let’s not forget about the instructions for working on your CMS.
Keeping track of everything can be a nightmare.
Tools like the New York Times Library lets companies of all sizes create wikis to improve collaboration. The newly launched open-source content platform gives small teams the power to create powerful wikis. Save time and improve productivity by bringing in key content guidelines into the portal. The cool things about the New York Times Library
You can try a demo here.
(Note: I haven’t used this tool yet, and I can’t see an immediate need for it in my content production process. I’m sharing it because I do think it can be immensely valuable for content teams.)
The point of a new tool is to make your process easier and more streamlined so you have more time to focus on coming up with engaging ideas and writing helpful content.
A new service shouldn’t stress you out. And you don’t need to feel pressured to use something because it seems like everyone else is.
If the idea of a separate tool to keep track of your content guidelines isn’t appealing, why not store everything in Google Docs? Create a drive and drop all the documents into one folder. You can also control access, e.g. guest contributors may not need access to the entire folder. The purpose of any system is just to make it easier for you and your team to run and manage your content.
Get Your Digital Content Web-Ready
When you write for the web, you probably have a few go-to tools.
- A readability checker to make sure your audience can easily understand your post
- Yoast to check SEO things like keyword density in WordPress
- A headline analyzer to score your headline quality
Now, imagine a dream tool that performed all of these functions inside Google Docs.
The SEMRush Writing Assistant is like a web content tool unicorn.
I was looking for a better tool to check keyword density and a client suggested SEMRush Writing Assistant. I was immediately obsessed.
Check keyword density, reading time, readability quickly and simply from inside Google Docs with this free assistant.
I noticed that SEMRush’s readability scores vary wildly from those provided by another tool, the Hemingway Editor. It might be a good idea to test the services to see which is better fit for your needs.
Cloud-based Competitive Intelligence
Tools like BuzzSumo, Ubersuggest and Moz give us access to advanced competitive intelligence.
Now you can access detailed insights like:
- How many times has a specific URL been shared on a specific social network?
- What articles are popular?
- What key points are missing?
- What are my competitors writing about and how are they covering these topics?
- What keywords are they ranking for?
- How can I create more
indepth content than my competitors?
These free platforms can answer all of these questions. They’re ll free free, though some like Moz and BuzzSumo have limits on their free plans.
Power Your Content With Podcasts
They call it a “revolution”, an “explosion” and it’s only getting bigger.
It’s podcasts, baby.
So, I am a total podcast stan. I do a daily commute to get my boy to school, and I always make sure I cue up a few decent podcasts. (The quiet time commences when he mercifully tires of playing “I Spy”.)
I enjoy podcasts on writing, creative entrepreneurship and inspirational content.
But even when I’m listening to fiction or folklore (please check Lore if you like creepy, urban legends), I always come away with a new perspective or content idea.
I doesn’t matter whether you’re using Android or iOS, you can listen to podcasts from your device, wherever you are.
I’m going to be watching this space closely. Brands are increasing their ad spend on the medium as listenership continues to soar, according to eMarkter.
This means if you’re in digital content, you may want to explore the world of podcasting within the next few years. By consuming podcast, you get the bonus spin off of getting to know the meidum better, too.
Tools are shiny and lovely and fun. Finding an awesome new thing is thrilling! But they’re not the panacea to living your best content life. Come up with a process to get valuable content out consistently and let the tools make it easier, quicker and cleaner to get the job done.
If you’re keen to start using tools in your content strategy, I’ve written about the relationship between tools and solid systems in this post.
