Content Is Not King Unless You Distribute It

So, you have killer content and you have optimized that content for search engines and what users would search. (And by “optimized”, I mean your titles and meta tags are search friendly and you have done your keyword research to determine the best key phrases to target).  So now what?  Well, the old adage “content is king” doesn’t just work magically on its own. Content is not king unless you distribute and syndicate it. You can have tons of the greatest content in the world, but that won’t get you very far if you are not distributing it.  Writing, creating, and optimizing content won’t do you any good if you don’t find ways to get that content in front of users and search engines.

Following are a few ways to get your content in front of search engines:

1. Bookmarking - submit your new posts or pages to bookmark sites.  Don’t spam the bookmark sites with only pages to your site or you may get blocked.
2. Sitemaps – create a sitemap page on your site that includes a link to all your internal pages.  This will help search engines crawl and find your pages quicker.
   
3. Google XML site maps – create a Google XML sitemap that includes all your pages and submit it through Google Webmaster Tools.
4. Backlinks – work on getting other relevant sites, blogs, etc. to link to you and your pages.
5. Submit to feed directories - create an RSS feed that includes your latest pages/posts and submit the feed to feed directories.

Ways to get in front of users:

1. Social networks – join social networks such as Twitter and Facebook and share your latest posts, news, etc. in your Twitter stream or your Facebook page.  You don’t want to flood your followers with only your stuff because they may run away.  Share other relevant useful information too.  And only follow or friend people that you feel will be interested in what you are sharing.
2. Post ads on classified sites - if you sell products or offer services, posting ads to classified sites can be a great way to place your product and services in front of thousands of web users.
3. Tell people – if you have great content that can be useful or beneficial, don’t be afraid to talk to people about it.  If the opportunity comes up and you can pitch your site naturally in a conversation, do it.

So, if you have great content, that’s a good start. Remember, though, that your content won’t be “king” unless you distribute it around the web for others to find!