Why Content Development Needs to Be Imperative

“We will now discuss, in little more detail, the struggle for existence.”

– Charles Darwin, The Origin of Species

I have a business book on my shelf by Evan Schwartz called “Digital Darwinism.” He wrote it in 1999. He likened the nascent business web environment to an ongoing evolution, with mutations and species that thrive and species that don’t. I believe his metaphor has stood the test of time and is still relevant, perhaps more so than ever.

Customers are the natural selectors, and in order for them to find you and trust you, you now must provide them (and Google) relevant content, and lots of it. The latest algorithm update from Google is clear: relevant, unique content is what is in large part driving organic search results.

So, businesses are awakening to this new prerequisite for internet marketing: you must be willing to mutate a publishing arm. All kinds of content are acceptable: text (like blog posts and whitepapers), videos (and transcriptions), infographics (great for sharing), podcasts (again, with transcriptions), etc. But have no doubt, savvy competitors have already been pumping out relevant content on their websites (and others, via thoughtful guest blogging) and therefore achieving higher search results for those keywords that you aspire to rank with as well.

To quote Seth Godin – “Content marketing is the only marketing that’s left.” If you’re not doing it, there is a distinct possibility that your business will not survive. Don’t be the dodo bird in your industry.