What Is A Content Hub and Why You Need One
Online competition is getting more intense, especially with larger companies having budgets for SEO, social media promotion and email marketing. With all these resources, the bigger companies have more content and a hub for relevant tropics, making it easier for Google and users to find them. And they further consolidate this by employing content marketing services.
So, in a bid to scale competition, and get an edge over the big boys, you need a place where all your closely related topics can be found, which also entails the use of a great content strategy. It also means securing the services of a content marketing agency. The smartest way to do this is to build a content hub, where you have a focused topic and a set of contents around the same topic.
An example of a brand that does this is HubSpot. If, for example, your search for a post about email marketing on the same page, you’ll find related content – maybe five or more on the same topic.
A content hub is an online archive for focused content where you can offer thought leadership on a particular industry or topic. It’s like a marketplace where buyers know where to find a particular item. A content hub makes it easier for users to interact with all the articles you have on a subject matter, and by doing so you will garner a reputation for thought leadership and content expertise.
Website visitors find curated, user-generated and other niche-related content at the content hub. It’s an online platform on your site where visitors find their preferred information in the form they want. A content hub filled with value is the easiest way to keep your audience coming back to their favourite topics.
Picking a topic important to your audience is the first step to creating a content hub. You must think about the questions you want to be answered, the problems that need to be solved and the key phrases your audience is likely to search for when they use Google. When creating the hub, it is imperative to also see what your competitors are doing – this will help you plug the holes they are not filling.
Here we have laid out the key benefits of having a content hub:
#1 Visibility and Traffic
Search engines are beginning to focus more on topics, with Google’s new Hummingbird algorithm that is designed to look for contents that answer user queries in the best possible way. If you don’t organise your content around a central topic, Google may not rank it highly. It is very important to have a content hub if online visibility is a priority for your brand. Accordingly, a content hub strengthens the search visibility of your brand’s website and allows your content to show up when Google is searching for relevant topics.
#2 Thought Leadership
Your content hub needs to become the destination to communicate your brand stories, share expert insights and visitor engagement analytics. The Neil Patel blog is a good example of a content hub offering expert commentary – Neil Patel provides the platform for external contributors to add their perspective of content marketing. A content hub also increases the chances of successful sales conversions, as consumers tend to trust you as an expert to resolve their problems.
#3 Engagement
Content hubs will foster engagement to your site, because users won’t just skip past your blog. Even when they stumble on your content, the hub will keep them reading, sharing, signing up for newsletters and possibly becoming a customer. Your content hub creates a digital environment where people always come for quality content, compelling industry case studies and insight from your blog posts and articles.
#4 Marketing Insight
A content hub will give your company detailed marketing insight. It will be useful in gathering metrics to inform your content team on what excites readers and what doesn’t. These insights will make you a more valuable and effective publisher. Without a content hub, you will be in the dark regarding the type of content that your readers are interested in.
#5 Leads
When HubSpot started putting all related content on a particular page, its marketing blog earned more followers from salespeople, digital marketers and users interested in the topics. Having a content hub will grow your network, build partner relationships, and create more opportunities to collaborate.
A content hub is a forum where you can publish all the content that your audience likes – video, slides, articles, audio or any online content. You will appeal better to a wider range of consumers if you put in other mixes of media in your content. It might take time to build a content hub, but trust us, the effort will prove worthy when you become the Wikipedia of your industry.
A content hub is the go-to-place for influencers and thought leaders in your industry to draw up inspiration for their own content. Do not build your content hub with just your internal team – curate content from partners, influencers and users, and don’t forget to share on social media to drive traffic to your site.
If you need help with your content marketing or content strategy, please get in touch with us today. We’d love to hear from you.