Content Marketing is deemed the basis of any good inbound marketing strategy. There is increased competition in online businesses for brand building, search engine optimization, referral traffic, and lead conversion. Marketing content is an essential part to all of these. There are 10 necessities listed below to achieve successful online content marketing.

1. Blog: A blog is an extremely flexible way to publish content on the Internet. Publishing about your current domain will increase your ability to rank well in Google’s Search Engine Results Page, making your business more accessible to the public.
2. Publish a Schedule: A schedule has three functions. First, to create deadlines for content producers. Second, to establish the number of submissions required per week. Third, to set up an accountability system.
3. Advanced Content: Hook visitors in to your website by publishing case studies, white papers, tutorial videos etc. In order for a visitor to gain access to this content they will “trade in” their email address. This visitor has just entered into the top of your sales funnel. You can then nurture them into a lead email campaign, with the idea of nudging them down the funnel.
4. Calls-to-action: These are billboards that will lead a visitor to the advanced content located on your website. They should center in on convenience, value, and solving problems.
5. Landing Pages: Pages that will be awaiting your visitor once they have clicked on your call to action button. While drawing your visitors to fill out the form on your page, your business must look trustworthy and have a clear message of value.
6. Quality Content: The content published on your website must either solve problems, or entertain. These are the only two reasons people have for using the Internet. Focusing on yourself or the company will not draw in visitors.
7. Social Media Distribution: Creating social sharing buttons on your website will maximize public visibility of your content.
8. Subscription: Provide an easy way for your visitors to subscribe to your blog. Have both email and RSS available to fill out. This will also prove to be a good way to monitor the popularity of your published content.
9. Analytics: Being able to track the popularity of certain content on your website will help you gauge what kind of content is most important to your visitors. It will also define the content that is consumed right before a visitor becomes a costumer. When this is identified the same content can be offered up to new visitors in hopes that this will bring in customers faster.
10. Syndication: Once a blog has been out their for a while and your content is considered valuable, other blogs may request to republish your posts. If you can confirm that this doesn’t damage your brand, then accept. Syndication can lead to greater exposure of your business and increase the number of referring leads.