This week we are joined by Carlos del Rio from Agillian, who is based here in Seattle, WA. Carlos will discusses a method that will help you make great content by following 3 easy steps. After watching the video dive into the comments and discuss what your thoughts are on using CRO to make great content.
P.S. It looks like we might have also been joined by a fly, so please excuse him when he flies across the screen a few times....
Video Transcription
Hey Mozzers. I'm Carlos del Rio. I own a consultancy called Agillian, and I am the author of "User Driven Change: Give Them What They Want" and a "Strategic Framework for Emerging Media," which is kind of a mouthful. Even I have trouble saying it.
I am here today to tell you how to use CRO to make great content, and when I say to make great content, I mean for any portion of your marketing campaign. So, you need to make sure that you meet the most basic portion of conversion optimization. I mean the three things that are the most important for all conversion rates are a clear action, a clear purpose, and a clear value. That's what every landing page is trying to do. That's what every pay-per-click ad is trying to do. Tell a person what you want them to do, tell them what it is about, and communicate what the value they're going to get out of the interaction. So, "Buy tires cheap," or "Buy tires, free delivery." Something where they know what it is that they are coming for and that they get something at the other end. For example, if you are writing a piece of content for your blog, you want to be able to answer, "Is it clear what the purpose of this blog is? Is it clear what the topic is? Is it clear that there is a value for this person to share it with their friends?" Essentially if you are doing blog and content marketing, it is really for the links. We know that's what it's about. Same thing with if you're making LOLcats. Same thing if you're sending out an email to solicit a link buy.
So, in all of your strategies you want to know what is this particular campaign doing. Is it helping our users understand what they can do with us? Is it helping them understand who we are, or is it helping them understand what the value is? Each one of the individual pieces, like each piece of link bait or each email or each tool that you build is supposed to answer all three of these very clearly. You want to know exactly how to interact with it. You want to know what it is going to do. You want to know why is it of value to you.
So, if you take the example of, like, LOLcats, we've all seen these. The difference between the millions of LOLcats that nobody cares about and the LOLcats that end up being in your Facebook stream every 15 minutes are that the ones that get shared answer the clear action, which is share me; what is the purpose, this is a LOLcat; and what is the value, this is the funniest LOLcat that I've seen all day. This is the LOLcat that crosses over with my community. If I was to make a cat playing on a computer that said, "I'm up in your Internet messing with your title tags," you're going to find that funny because you are in SEO, but almost everybody else is going to be like, uh, lame.
If you were, say, This or That, Rebecca Kelley did a thing recently that was, "Does Justin Beiber look like Velma from Scooby Doo?" This enrages both people who like Justin Beiber and people who like Velma. So, what she is doing is creating a place where you interact with this piece of content, and she has two groups of people that want to interact with this type of content. They get to show what they think, and they get a value out of having you know what they think. When they pass this on to their friends who come in and do those three things to derive value for themselves, you get traffic, which you are monetizing.
It is the same thing with the LOLcats. Cheezburger makes money off of people coming to visit. They get people coming to visit by thinking about a clear action, a clear purpose, and a clear value from the perspective of their users.
In the same way, you are here in the Moz community, and they have two kinds of users. They have basic users and they have premium users. Well, they keep building new tools, and they have to think about: What is the action of this tool, what is the purpose of this tool, and is it going to be valuable to the community? When they write out to every one of the basic members and say, "We have this great new tool," they have to really go through this process twice. They have the process of does the tool meet these standards? Is it clear what I can do with the tool? Is it clear what the tool is going to deal with? Is it clear that I can get some value out of it? They also have to write an email that it's very clear what they want you to do, which is switch from being a basic to being a premium user. It has to be very clear what this tool is going to do for you, and it has to be very clear that you're going to derive value out of it. Otherwise, they aren't going to get a good conversion rate.
So, hopefully, these examples will give you something that's actionable for your business and let you take conversion rate optimization into all of the things that you're doing for your marketing.
I'm Carlos del Rio. Thanks.
Not very much upto my expectation, or may be Rand has modified WBF viewers' expectation level to highest standards (I agree that comparing Carlos del Rio with Rand isn't justice, but my point here is, this WBF seems bit sub-standard to me). Reasons why I did not like this WBF:
I may be expecting a lot but guys this isn't just anything, its WBF, it really passes GREAT value for loads of people associated to SEO industry. I am sorry to be very straigth but I am just trying to reflect my true gestures in a mannered way.
I agree with you.
<Removed inappropriate comment - Jen>
--Ssan, I think what we have to remember is that there are all levels of SEOs that read SEOmoz. For Ssan, myself and other SEOs that have been in the game for a while, this might be basic (but a good refresher, as sometimes we get caught up in the advanced tactics and miss the simple things), but for others just starting out this could be some groundbreaking content advice.
I think SEOmoz has done a great job of presenting a diverse set of knowledge. Thanks for a good WBF Carlos.
--pwpaneuro, I think that was a slightly off topic and unprofessional thing to say. if you would like to address the video's content IMO that's what we are hear for (to have a discussion), but attacking the presenter is just unprofessional.
I removed his inappropriate comment.
:) The community thanks you.
I agree with you @CriticalMassAgency. I might be expecting too much from WBF (as I mentioned in my comment) without realizing the fact that all levels of SEOs are welcome here.
Just wanted to note that someone down below asks "What is CRO" so we do have many viewers who are new to the field and this topic is quite helpful for them. Please respect the fact that not only are we delivering content to users with varying degress of skillsets every day, we also try to help and promote our community by giving them the chance to be a part of Whiteboard Friday.
I think Carlos did a great job, and I hope to have him back again. :)
I asked the same question in my head and figured it out once I started watching the video, but to be fair the phrase "conversion rate optimization" wasn't said until near the end of the video. There's a lot of TLAs (three-letter acronyms) swimming around the soup that is my brain (watching this pre-coffee on a Monday morning probably didn't help either). But it's just good presentation skills (and good SEO) to say, "I am here today to tell you how to use CRO, or Conversion Rate Optimization, to make great content."
I'm with CriticalMass, refreshers are never a bad thing. At worst you "wasted" 6 minutes reafirming something you already know and hopefully practice.
Overall, awesomesauce Carlos!
Nate
I should have been more explicit at the begining. This was my third take. I'm a little surprised that I remembered to introduce myself.
lol, right on. You'll get it next time!
You got it Carlos, it would have been quite interesting one in that case. Hope to see some detailed oriented WBF from you in future.
so... what is CRO? and doesn't the fact that people have to ask that after watching a video titled 'using CRO...' tell you that there's something wrong here?
CRO = Conversion Rate Optimization. This was my third take and I forgot to spell it out at the beginning. Conversion = transaction (purchase, download, contact, etc.). Essentially the success of all of your content follows the same rules as the transaction for your business.
Upon listening to this take of WBF I realize there is another point that should be added:
When you consider each of the three categories you should be able to answer the question in one sentence. If you are using the word AND you may be headed in the wrong direction. There are some cases--like suit AND tie--that are conceptually linked, but if you are using AND you may be opening your viewer up to confusion and friction to action.
AND you have really said it all.
Thanks for the great advice.
I don't know what all the fuss is about. I want information on WBF not a show. I really appreciate this content. Thanks Carlos for the time.
This gives me very clear actions steps I can take into my todo list tomorrow.
This was a great piece. even this piece of content served the three points. Someone said that geniuses can put complex concepts into simple laymans term and Carlos nailed this one!
I like the thought process!
One thing that I have struggled with is finding people who can develop content for super technical industries (other than the client). Any suggestions?
Well you need to hire the expert from those field. You are not going to hire lawyer to write about the Pneumonia.
Our suggestion go for the final year students of such stream and you will get the contents at low price. (Select them according to their grades).
You won't find them online.
Almost any technical industry is going to have copywriters that work in that industry. Finding a technical copywriter will make it easier to find someone that is open to making the topic less dry.
Guys, sometimes less is more!
Carlos, I really enjoyed it! Keep up the good work ;-)
Thanks Carlos man defo gives me a lot of food for thought - the part about Justin beber - makes me think, ive come up with some clever content however didnt think of writing to get interest from both partys before hah seems easy now ya said it so thanks dude - stay cool !
Thanks for the WBF Carlos. Although it is a basic concept, it's so foundational that I think some content creators/webmasters often forget this because it seems like a "given". I think the concept can be taken even further, within the content itself, to produce great titles, great subsections, great calls to action, etc.
Great content is often a combination of great clarity, great organization and great presentation. Thanks Carlos!
Carlos -
I like this video because you're getting at intent. You're not just worried about getting users to the page (that's comparatively easy), but now you're talking about what to get them to do when they get there. When you get this, and understand your demographic, then you can create content around it that can target them. Your outline/process of thought here is very helpful.
Cheers man! Hope to see you around the Internets more!
Great concept-sounds familiar though...The premise here is based on a 2000 year old Japenese poem writing concept called Haiku. When I first got in to paid search I was getting kicked around real bad and THEN...I found some old books on Haiku and it turned my company around. I study this art more and more and I get better and better at writing ads and making money.
Excellent Article of the three steps I think a good idea, and will follow your advice to work, best regards.
Great WBF Carlos! Very interesting, very smooth. Not as energetic as Rands, but he was born for the spot light. But was a really nice change for my monday morning lol
Great work.
If it was a 1 min video it would be worth watching, my friend you keep repeating the same thing again and again however Good try.
It was a bit fuzzy 'til you got to the SEOMOZ tools exemples .. then all seemed very clear to me. Clear, Clear, Clear.
I appreciate the content and information Carlos, thanks for this WBF, it's a good reminder for me when writing content for clients.
Great video. People might not like it, but for the wrong reason. By taking a few steps back, it forces you to remember the sole purpose. If you can narrow down all of the complicated reasons people have to do or not to do something to one thing, you can complete the goal...or become a successfull politician or lawyer.
For me, I had forgotten that I only have one purpose for every page of my site which it is to get someone to call my phone number. It is not about how smart or creative or pleasing my site is. If they call, I win. One purpose. Everything else is to reinforce that one purpose.
That my seem simple and easy, but that is why I lost focus.
Couldn't concentrate. Nose was stealing the limelight.
I don't think my nose is that big.
It was the nose ring that distracted me, but you have to admit he has one AWESOME beard.
Thanks! Casey told me he was afraid that I was too pretty to do White Board Friday. I told him I thought it would be okay.
True statment, you are a handsome man!
Dear Sir,
I must say its Simple and very effective method But I Still wondering is it possible to achive mush traffic this way or to achive better sale .... ?
Search engines are very focused on assessing what Purpose (what is this content about?) and Value (links, social mentions, citations, domain value) content has.
Simple but effective advice! Thanks!
Good WBF!
Carlos, you go awesome when you come up with the example of SEOmoz tool (its not because of SEOmoz but the example was very clear and most of the people here can relate to it!)
You point out some important stages of visitor behaviour when they come on any website or blog. Points you mentioned are really important to consider before you actually clicking the publish button, because if you don’t have value in the content you are actually wasting user’s time...I believe going through this funnel will help in better conversion rate.
Very true, and there's definitely a great advice in those articles - thanks!
Great vid! Real value = traffic ... Simples :D
After having written a piece of content it is really useful to show if - before launching it to the public - to some persons who are e.g. not familiar with that theme. Like that you can eliminate, correct or add at once some content which will help the user to understand the 3 goals of action, purpose and value - and probably convert.
Further on I think the holy grail of CRO is testing, testing and testing.
Thanks for this WBF. I just wanted to point out that this idea can become extremely complex. Especially when it come to the value part of it. In resepct to SEOMoz they create a tool that has incredible value. They then have to decide if that value is worth a PRO membership or if it is something that the whole community should have. If you make everything a paid service then you devalue the free membership. If you give away a great product for free then you devalue the paid member. Determining value can be a difficult challenge, especially if you are trying to provide worth to everyone who uses your service. It can become an extreme balance game.
Thanks again!
You have to step out of yourself for a second when you ask the value question. It is very likely that you are not the intended consumer of the product or service. You have pretend that you are the recipient and answer "Why is this good for me?"
CRO? Stands for what?
CRO = Conversion rate optimization
I think I need more coffee for this one
Thanks for the WFB, I think I get your approach that you're outlining
At our organisation we spend 1000's of pounds/dollars creating content, we feel now based on our keyword ranks that our content has a healthy balance between what we write about and the requried call-to-actions on each page we create.
Below are two links one story for the UK and one from the US, I welcome any comments/ideas on these to see if the communty think we have the balance right inline what is being presented in WFB.
Best David
UK https://www.instantatlas.com/national_obesity.xhtml
US - https://www.instantatlas.com/Texas_Sch_PH_Story.xhtml