Many building materials manufacturers follow the “publish and pray” approach to content marketing. 

That is, they feel that as long as they are writing consistent blog posts, the SEO traffic will automatically come. 

If you follow this approach, you may generate some traffic via social media, your email list, and search engines, but over time, that traffic (and the leads that came with it) can fizzle out completely.

Suddenly, the content that you have spent so much time on is no longer working for you and it’s back to the drawing board.

The 4 Step Epic Content Formula for High-Volume Traffic and Endless Leads

It’s time to put the “publish and pray” strategy to rest. 

Instead, you will learn the key to epic content for building materials manufacturers: 

Creating “evergreen” content that kicks your traffic into overdrive and converts that traffic into sales.

With the 4 Step Epic Content Formula, you can create content that’s read by 100’s, 1000’s, or even tens of thousand of visitors per month, and turn those visitors into paying customers.

Let’s get started.

Step 1 – Choose a High Volume Keyword

Data > Assumptions

When most manufacturers try to write “SEO content,” they rely too much on assumptions as to what their audience is searching for. 

That stops today…

There is no need to rely on assumptions when there are keyword research tools that help you find exactly what your target audience is searching for, how often they are searching for it, and uncover other ways (variations) they might be searching for it as well.

Epic Keyword Research Tools to Find High-Volume Keywords

You can use your assumptions to first guide your keyword research, but ultimately, you want the keywords that you use to be supported by data.

If you are doing your own keyword research, the best approach is to utilize thorough SEO tools to ensure that 1) your audience is, in fact, searching for these terms and 2) the keywords have a high amount of search volume.

These keyword research tools will help you find the best, high-volume keywords to target in your SEO content.

SEMRush Keyword Magic Tool

The Keyword Magic Tool from SEMRush is an extremely user-friendly tool that allows you to search your target keyword and pull up data around search volume, related keywords, and more.

Even if you aren’t the most savvy in the practice of SEO, this tool makes it easy to see whether or not people are searching for the term, and if so, how many.

It will also provide you with related keywords that you can then target in other content pieces.

From this information, you can then build out a list of keywords that have traffic and are related to your business.

For example, if you are a manufacturer of custom countertop materials, you may think to target the term “quartz countertops.” 

Upon searching for “quartz countertops” in the Keyword Magic Tool, you see that this term gets 110,000 searches per month. This is a solid amount of search volume.

The data also shows you related terms, such as “quartz vs granite countertops” and “installing quartz countertops.” Both of these keywords could be turned into epic content pieces.

Google Keyword Planner

Google’s Keyword Planner works similarly to the Keyword Magic Tool in that you can search for your target term and the tool will show you the search volume, competition level, related keywords, and more.

While the Keyword Magic Tool is super beginner-friendly, Google’s tool has a few more limitations.

For one, you need to have a Google Adwords account in order to use the tool. You also need to meet their requirements for ad spend in order to have full access to the tool.

If you are running Google ads and are spending a decent amount of money on advertising, this is a great tool to use. 

Both tools help you determine which keywords are worth targeting in your content, as long as they align with your sales funnel, a.k.a. “The Buyer’s Journey.”

Aligning Your Keyword Research Strategy with Your Sales Funnel

Not only do you want to find keywords that carry a high search volume, but you want to be sure that those keywords match what your audience is looking for at different stages of The Buyer’s Journey.

The Buyer’s Journey refers to the three stages of your sales funnel: Awareness (Top), Research (Middle), and Action (Bottom). 

These stages define whether a potential customer is first becoming aware of a certain topic, researching that topic to find more information, or are ready to buy a product.

Each keyword you choose should align with one stage in your sales funnel. 

That way, whether a user is simply learning about building materials, is comparing two building material manufacturers to each other, or is actually ready to buy materials, you can create content that catches them at every step of the process.

Stage 1 – Awareness ( Top of the Funnel )

The first stage of your sales funnel aims to capture “cold traffic,” or users that are first becoming aware of a topic.

For example:

A user at the Awareness stage may be searching broad terms such as “house siding” or “roofing materials.” 

They may not know what the different kinds of siding are, where to find them, or which manufacturers make these materials.

You can target these broad, Awareness-type keywords in blog posts in order to attract traffic to your site.

Some Awareness level blog post ideas may be:

• 50 Stunning House Siding Ideas
• 13 Modern Siding Ideas
• 10 Roofing Materials for Homeowners

Stage 2 – Research ( Middle of the Funnel )

The second stage of the sales funnel focuses on users who are actively researching a topic, brand, or product.

They may be actively seeking solutions to a problem they have, comparing building materials, or searching for reviews of manufacturing companies.

These keywords are oriented around informational intent and research.

Some example Research keywords are:

• “Vinyl vs fiber cement siding”
• “Low maintenance siding options”
• “[your brand name] vs [competitor’s brand name]”
• “[competitor name] alternative”

It’s best to target these terms in blog posts that address their main questions and concerns. The more value you provide, the more likely they are to see your business as the solution.

Some Research-level blog post ideas may be:

• Fiber Cement Siding vs Vinyl Siding
• How to Choose the Best Low Maintenance Siding Options
• Review: [your brand name] vs [competitor’s brand name]

Stage 3 – Action ( Bottom of the Funnel )

The final stage of the Buyer’s Journey is where the user is ready to buy a product, but needs that extra push to determine the right product or business to go with.

These keywords have a commercial intent (i.e. “money keywords”) and help users find the best company for them.

These Action keywords may be:

• “Where to buy vinyl siding”
• “Cement board siding”
• “Steel siding contractors atlanta”
• “Best steel siding company near me”

This is where you want to create content that puts your business in front of their eyes and convinces them that you are the best fit for them.

For that reason, content that targets Action keywords are typically service pages, landing pages, product directories, and other web pages on your site.

Some examples of pages that may target an Action keyword are:

• Product page for cement board siding
• Home page for “steel siding contractors in Atlanta”
• Where to Buy Vinyl Siding web page

Choose High-Volume, Relevant Keywords for Your SEO Content

You want to create a list of keywords that have both high search volume and relate directly to one stage in your sales funnel.

Then, you can brainstorm content ideas that target each term and go on to choosing an epic content type that will resonate with your audience, drive traffic, and attract links.

Follow along with the 4 Step Epic Content Formula to learn how to turn your keywords into epic content.

Step 2 – Pick an Epic Content Type

Before we dig in, let’s discuss what content marketing is. 

Content marketing is the process of creating and promoting content in order to drive traffic, attract links, increase social shares, and generate leads.

SEO Content vs Attraction Content

Building material manufacturers need a content marketing strategy that focuses on 1) SEO / Keyword Focused Content and 2) Attraction Content.

SEO Content targets informational and commercial keywords (i.e. the Research and Action stages of the Buyer’s Journey) to drive traffic via search engines.

Attraction Content, on the other hand, is content that is highly valuable and enticing, and targets those Awareness-level keywords. Attraction Content generates traffic through active promotion to social media, content publishers, businesses in your niche, etc.

While these two methods can be used separately, some content pieces may use both SEO Content and Attraction Content together.

Visit this post to learn more about Content Marketing for Building Materials Manufacturers.

Epic Content = SEO Content + Attraction Content

Creating an epic content piece for your building materials manufacturing website involves combining the keyword targeting of SEO Content with the attraction methods of Attraction Content.

By doing so, you can drive traffic to your site via search engines as well as other channels, attract backlinks, encourage social shares, and generate new leads for your business.

What Are Epic Content Pieces?

Epic content (also known as linkable assets) are proven content types that are designed to do the following:

1. Effectively target your chosen keyword.
2. Acquire quality backlinks.
3. Increase social sharing and virality effect.

Creating epic content pieces for your website works way better than the “publish and pray” approach of writing content and hoping for the best. 

The Epic Content Formula is a data-driven approach to creating content that’s made to increase your rankings and drive conversions.

Why Does Epic Content Work So Well?

UTILITY!

Epic content works so well because it gives other websites a reason to link to your website!

This type of content gives your audience and other websites so much value that they can’t help but click on it, link to it, and share it.

5 Proven Epic Content Types

There are many different content types you can use to create epic content that combines SEO with attraction content writing. 

For simplicity, we are going to cover the top 5 epic content types for building materials manufacturers:

1. In-Depth How-To Guides

In-depth how-to guides cover one specific topic from head-to-toe. This type of content appeals to both your audience and other publishers because it is so extremely valuable.

For example, if someone is in the Research stage of the Buyer’s Journey, they may be searching “how to build a roof.” An in-depth do-it-yourself guide on roofing would probably be a super epic thing for them to come across.

Further, other websites in the roofing niche would love to link to something like that, as it would be highly beneficial to their audience as well.

This “Do-it-Yourself Roofing Guide” resulted in 100+ social shares and 40+ quality backlinks, and continues to drive traffic to their site. 

Not too shabby!

2. Extended List Posts

This content type creates a state of “awe” for readers with just the sheer volume of ideas presented by the content piece. 

Extended list posts present a vast list of project ideas, best building materials, best tools for contractors, etc. These are posts like “45 Cabinet Ideas for Your Kitchen” or “28 Most Eco-Friendly Home Designs.” The more options in the list, the better!

The extended list content piece above ranks #1 in Google for “wood cladding,” resulted in 1,000 social shares and 20+ backlinks, and gets 2500 organic search visitors per month. 

What could your business do with THAT kind of traffic?

3. Ego Bait Content

As the name implies, ego bait content intends to “bait” the ego of other sites and publishers by mentioning them in your content. 

These are posts like “Top 50 California Home Builders” or “The Best Interior Designers of 2018.”

This content type plays on the psychology of other website and business owners in order to get them to share and link to your content. Those that were mentioned in the piece will be happy to share, and those that weren’t mentioned will be begging to be in it!

It also creates a relationship where your sales team now has an “in” to contact these people and introduce them to your business and products in an authentic way.

The ego bait piece above led to 100+ social shares and 10 backlinks to this building materials manufacturing website.

4. Online Tools

Online tools are simply great because of the utility they provide to your audience and other websites.

By creating a great tool, you invite others to promote your tool on their websites, share it on social media, and more. 

This example of a “Drywall Calculator” helps users measure the dimensions and costs of their project. Promotion of this tool led to 50+ backlinks and drives 10,000+ website visitors per month!

5. Infographics

Infographics combine epic content with interesting graphics to deliver valuable information to your audience.

The component of incorporating graphic design into the content makes the content more attractive, click-worthy, and share-worthy. Other websites love to link to infographics because they provide so much value.

The snazzy infographic above resulted in 300+ social media shares and attracted 47 links to this manufacturing business website.

Pro Tip: In promoting your infographic to publishers in your niche, offer to provide a unique article or intro along with the infographic. This takes work off their plate when it comes to publishing the content on their site, thus making them more inclined to use it. You can then add a contextual link to your website within the content to the page of your choosing.

Step 3 – Promote Your Content

The goal of this step is to get as many eyeballs to your epic content as possible and build quality backlinks to your content. 

Through strategic promotion, you will drive traffic and leads to your website, and improve your rankings over time.

The process is broken down into 3 steps:

1. Social Promotion

Social promotion involves sharing your content through your social networks: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, etc.

Don’t forget about other online communities like Facebook Groups, LinkedIn Groups, and Forums. You can find groups related to construction, homeownership, interior design, landscaping, and nearly any other category in the building materials niche.

These communities are often overlooked, but you need to make sure that you follow the rules and do it right. This strategy works best of you take the time to get to know the community and provide consistent value, without spammy self-promotion.

2. Paid Promotion

You’ve worked so hard on this content piece, therefore, paid promotion is a must! Even if it’s just $50. 

The goal here is to use Search Engine Marketing (SEM) and Social Advertising to put your content in front of your target audience that may not be following you via social media.

You can promote your epic content through:

• Facebook Ads
• Google Search Ads
• Google Display Banner Ads
• Pinterest Ads
• Reddit Ads
• And more

Pick a platform, set your targeting, determine your budget, and promote your content! Over time, you will see what kinds of content and topics get the most engagement, which will help in future content marketing.

3. Outreach & Link Building 

This is perhaps the most critical step out of the promotion process, but also the most overlooked. 

If you plan to target a competitive keyword that is searched for thousands of times per month, you can bet that other websites will be targeting that keyword as well.

To separate yourself, you’ll need to actively build backlinks to your content.

Here’s how to do it:

• Email Industry Publishers: Create a list of publishers in your industry to make them aware that your content exists, and communicate how it is valuable to their audience.
• Email Authors with Similar Content: Find websites and bloggers that have published similar content to see if they would be interested in linking to or sharing your content. If you have a post of theirs in mind, be specific, and explain how your content is beneficial to their visitors.
• Resource Page Link Building: Look for sites that have a “Resource” page or “Best of” page to see if you can get featured as a resource. This is a great approach if you are promoting an in-depth how-to or an online tool.
• Guest Posts: Find sites that allow for guest posts and offer to write a blog post for them that’s related to your content. Then, add a contextual link to your content piece.
• Press Releases: This approach is rarely used but still an option for building materials manufacturers who want to promote their content across their industry network and communities.
• Blogger Roundups: Bloggers often write “roundup” posts of their favorite products, websites, brands, etc. See if you can find an industry-related roundup post to get featured in.

You can use multiple methods to promote your content – in fact, it’s highly recommended! Make that content work for you by getting it in front of as many eyeballs as possible. It is definitely worth the time and investment.

Step 4 – Convert SEO Traffic Into Leads

If you’ve successfully followed Steps 1 – 3, your new epic content piece has the potential to acquire 100’s, 1000’s, or perhaps even tens of thousands of visitors per month.

Now it’s a matter of turning those visits into leads!

You can use one of the following strategies to increase conversions:

• Content Upgrades: When someone comes across your content piece, you can incorporate what is called a “content upgrade” to collect their email address. This could be access to a tool, a free ebook, or even opting into your newsletter. When the person follows through on your call-to-action, they will then be added to your email list.
• Google Remarketing: Create a Custom Audience of visitors who hit your content page and remarket to them with an ad that pushes traffic to a specific landing page related to the article. 

For instance, if your audience just read a list of “40 Fiber Cement Siding Exterior Design Ideas,” then remarket to this specific audience with a banner ad that takes them back to a landing page with a product guide PDF downloadable on your fiber cement siding product.

• Facebook Retargeting: This strategy follows the same steps as Google Remarketing.You will cookie website visitors with the Facebook Pixel on your website so that you can retargeted them with different types of content. This could be a whitepaper you have put together, a product brochure, a sign up for a webinar, etc. 

While driving traffic to your website is a worthy goal, the ultimate purpose is to turn that traffic into leads. 

Every time you create a piece of epic content, then, you want to incorporate some kind of conversion strategy to ensure that those visitors don’t just bounce off, never to be seen again.

Use the 4 Step Epic Content Formula for Your Building Materials Manufacturing Business

It’s time to ditch the “create and they will come” approach and start using a strategy that works.

By following an SEO and attraction-focused approach to your content marketing, you can be sure to drive high-volume traffic, attract quality backlinks, and, ultimately, generate more leads for your business.

Epic content will put your manufacturing business on the map!