The Value of Content Engineering

The Value of Content Engineering

by Andrew McDermott

12.16.2021

Have you ever read content like this?

Want the best digital camera for your agency? Our digital cameras are the best money can buy whether you’re a seasoned pro or beginner. We offer digital camera brands like Canon and Nikon and all of the digital camera accessories you need.

This reads like gobbledygook.

And it is.

Seasoned SEOs will point out that it’s gross, keyword-stuffed content that won’t generate revenue, and they’re right! But it’s actually a sign of a much deeper problem.

Poor content engineering.

What is content engineering?

Michael King, Founder and CEO of iPullRank, sat down with Jason Barnard, CEO of Kalicube, to discuss The Value of Content Engineering. He shares why this neglected practice is actually an essential part of content marketing success.

Content engineering includes what most people call semantic search.

The whole idea with semantic search is that content is built around topic clusters rather than simply focusing on keywords. The change came with Google’s Hummingbird update.

Google wants topical authority.

They want to see that you’re the go-to resource or subject matter expert for a particular subject area. Take Backblaze, for example.

According to their website, they sell “Scalable, low cost cloud backup and storage services.” They understand the value of topical authority.

Here are a few highlights to show you what I mean.

• Q3 2021 Hard Drive Failure Rates
• Drive Failure Over Time: The Bathtub Curve is Leaking
• Using Machine Learning to Predict Hard Drive Failures
• Hard Disk Drive (HDD) vs. Solid-state Drive (SSD): What’s the Diff?
• Are SSDs Really More Reliable Than Hard Drives?

Why should you care?

Here’s a brief excerpt from Dave Davies, from his post at Search Engine Land.

This is powerful.
Yet, in 2021, we’re still seeing established brands create one-off content that’s heavily dependent on outdated strategies like keyword stuffing.

You’ve probably seen this.

A copywriter creates thematically relevant content but doesn’t include any of the brand’s target keywords. This is, of course, a non-starter; executives want to see performance moving up and to the right.

This tactic doesn’t work anymore.

But semantic search already has a name? Why would we need to give it another one with something like content engineering?
Because semantic search is a small part of it.

You’re asking key questions:

• Who is our audience?
• What specifically do they want from us?
• Who are our customers?
• What are the behavioral drivers of each group?

This, in turn, provides you with:

• The clarity your team needs to structure your wireframes, content experiments, and information architecture properly, maximizing conversions.
• Crucial data you need to optimize usability.
• The know-how needed to expand your digital footprint.
• Strong rankings; you’re creating the content your audience and your customers want to see.

The secret to a successful content engineering package

Your content engineering package includes the relevant data that we’ve discussed earlier. The aggregate data would be overwhelming for any one person. It’s a good idea to share information with the team on a need-to-know basis.

To do that, you’ll need four things:

1. Content engineering package.
2. Content engineering brief.
3. Content plans.
4. Information plans.

Why are these necessary?
Because our perspective is — there’s no such thing as “SEO content;” there’s simply content that performs or content that doesn’t.

Content engineering isn’t the future. It’s here, now

Content engineering is more than semantic search. It’s an A to Z emphasis on the three most important people in a brand’s life. Their audience, their customers, and Google. As it turns out, all three groups want the same thing.

They’re looking for subject matter experts.

With content engineering, you’ll have the data-driven approach you need to drive traffic and generate revenue quickly.