Content Catchup: 10 Charts That Are Changing Content Measurement, Facebook’s Goodfellas Moment, and More Must-Read Stories

Here’s your requisite weekend reading for when you’re lounging in the park, half-heartedly hiding your bottle of wine from the cops:

Facebook’s ‘Goodfellas’ Moment

Contently VP of Content Sam Slaughter writes about Facebook’s move to restrict the organic reach of pages associated with brands. And he does it with flair:

“One metaphor I like in working with Facebook is like the famous f**k you, pay me scene in the movie Goodfellas. Publishers are all getting fat off the benefits of free Facebook traffic for now, but when Facebook decides it wants to start charging (and it will), they’d better be ready to pay up.” Read it.

7 Keys to Great SEO for Content Marketers

via Muppets Wiki

SEO is an acronym that can give a lot of marketers and writers flashbacks to the dark days of the mid-aughts, when they toiled for pennies on content farms. But SEO has changed a lot in the past three years. As part of our Contently.edu series, content strategist Dori Fern shares 7 secrets of how to make it work in 2014:

“1. Original, engaging stories always win. This is the first, second, third, fourth, and fifth most important key to SEO. Publishing stories that people are compelled to share, link to, and write about is simply the most organic path to great SEO.

Google’s practically begging you to do so. Last August, after discovering that a large share of users were searching for in-depth, original longform content, they gave high-quality, “in-depth” articles a prioritized place in search results.” Read it.

10 Charts That Are Changing the Way We Measure Content

The Content Strategist’s resident data sage, Sam Petulla, recaps everything you need to know about the “how to measure content” debate, which “came in like a lion [and] came out like a lion on steroids.” Read it.

What’s the Difference Between B2B and B2C Content Marketing?

B2C content case studies are well known—they’re what you’ll find lining the pages of Adweek and AdAge. But B2B content is a different animal and requires a significantly different approach. As part of our Contently.edu series, The Content Strategist’s Tessa Wegert digs into how you need to approach each:

“At a base level, B2C and B2B marketers approach their content strategies in fundamentally different ways.

B2B businesses have vast stores of industry knowledge at their disposal, and this information can be dispensed through any number of formats. By packaging expertise as thought-leadership articles, companies can offer crucial insight into the marketplace. A good B2B content strategy often boils down to simply being the most insightful source of information on the work you do.” Read it.

Bot Traffic Is Taking Over. Here’s How Brands Should Respond

The machines aren’t yet taking over our cities, but they are taking over our web traffic. Thirty percent of web traffic now comes from bots, and that number is only increasing. Sam Petulla breaks down what that means for brands:

“This should lead brands to one essential conclusion: Building up strength as a brand publisher will set you apart from the cheaters.” Read it.

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