Building Effective Content Marketing Strategies to Sell Training Courses Online

Marketing your course is key to making it profitable and expanding your reach. After all, even the best courses need effective marketing to attract students. A dynamic content marketing strategy helps you connect with the right audience, engage them, and turn their interest into sales.

This article will show you how to leverage content marketing strategies with essential SEO tools to boost sales and compete in the market.

What Is Content Marketing?

Content marketing involves creating and sharing valuable content to attract and retain a clearly defined audience. For education institutions, this could include blog posts, videos, infographics, eBooks, webinars, and more. The key is to provide content that addresses the needs and interests of your potential learners.

Step-by-Step Guide to Effective Content Marketing Strategies

1. Identify Your Audience and Goals

   In content marketing, knowing your target audience and goals is vital. Define your ideal students by considering factors like age, profession, education, what motivates them, and what deters them. On the other hand, your goals might include increasing website traffic, generating leads, or boosting course enrolments.

2. Conduct Keyword Research

   Keyword research is the foundation of any successful content marketing strategy. It helps you understand what people are searching for online and what courses are popular and trending. Once you know what people are searching for, you can create in-demand courses, market them to the correct audience, and drive traffic to your site.

   Ready to find keywords and search phrases related to your training offerings? Here’s how to conduct keyword research using free SEO tools with high search volume.

   KeywordTool.io

   This is a robust SEO tool that provides keyword suggestions, search volume data, and cost-per click estimates. You can also conduct competitive analysis for various search engines and platforms, including Google and Bing. It will help with your keyword research by identifying high-performing keywords with significant search volume and low competition. Functions include:

   • Enter Your Main Keyword: Input a primary keyword related to your training courses. For instance, if you offer digital marketing courses, you might start with ‘digital marketing training.’
   • Analyse Suggestions: The tool will provide a list of keyword suggestions. Look for keywords with high search volume and relevance to your courses.
   • Export Keywords: Export the list of keywords for further analysis and integration into your content plan.

   Google Trends

   This SEO tool analyses the popularity of search queries over time, providing insights into search trends, seasonal variations and regional interest. Google Trends identifies trending topics with their public interest, allowing you to create timely and relevant content that resonates with your target audience. Its features include:

   • Enter Your Keyword: Input a keyword relevant to your courses.
   • Analyse Interest Over Time: Review the interest over time to see how the popularity of the keyword has changed.
   • Explore Related Queries: Scroll down to see related queries and topics. These can provide additional content ideas and reveal trending topics in your field.

   Google Keyword Planner

   Google Keyword Planner is an SEO tool offering keyword suggestions, search volume data and competition levels to help you plan your content. If you don’t have a Google Ads account, you’ll need to create one to access the Keyword Planner tool. The good news is that creating a Google Ads account is free, and you can start using the Keyword Planner without running any ads. Here’s a step-by-step guide to get you started:

   1. Create a Free Account
      Visit the Google Ads website and create a free account. You might be prompted to enter billing information, but you don’t need to worry about being charged as long as you don’t activate any campaigns.
   2. Access the Keyword Planner
      Once your account is set up, click on the wrench icon (Tools & Settings) in the upper right corner of your Google Ads dashboard. Under the ‘Planning’ section, select ‘Keyword Planner.’
   3. Discover New Keywords
      Click on the ‘Discover new keywords’ option and input keywords related to your training courses. For instance, if you offer leadership training, you might enter ‘leadership development’ or ‘leadership skills’. Google will generate a list of keyword ideas along with search volumes, competition levels, and suggested bid amounts.
   4. Select Relevant Keywords
      Look for keywords with high search volumes and moderate to low competition. These are typically the best keywords to target because they have significant search interest but aren’t overly competitive. You can then download the list of keywords for further analysis and integration into your content plan by clicking on the ‘Download’ button. Now you’re on your way to generating keyword ideas for your website.

   Ubersuggest

   Ubersuggest is a free SEO tool that provides extensive keyword suggestions, content ideas, backlink data, and site audit features, suitable for small businesses and individual marketers. Here’s how to navigate it:

   1. Input a keyword related to your topic or business into the search bar. For example, if you offer online marketing courses, you might enter ‘online marketing’.
   2. Choose the location you want to target from the dropdown menu. This ensures the data is relevant to your audience.
   3. Click the ‘Search’ button to generate keyword data.
   4. Review the results page, which includes:
      • Search Volume: Indicates how many people are searching for the keyword.
      • SEO Difficulty: Estimates how difficult it would be to rank for the keyword.
   5. Click on the ‘Keyword Ideas’ tab to see related keywords, their search volumes, and competition levels. This helps identify additional keywords to target in your content.
   6. Click on the ‘Content Ideas’ tab to find popular content related to your keyword. This can inspire new content topics and show what type of content performs well.

   AnswerThePublic

   AnswerThePublic is a visual keyword research tool that generates question-based keyword suggestions, prepositions, and comparisons. It’s an excellent tool for building content marketing strategies based around actual user queries. To use it:

   1. Input a keyword or phrase related to your topic or business into the search bar. For example, if you offer coding courses, you might enter ‘learn coding’.
   2. Choose the appropriate location and language from the dropdown menus to ensure the data is relevant to your target audience.
   3. Click the ‘Search’ button to generate the results.
   4. The results are displayed in a visual format, organised into different sections:
      • Questions: Common questions people ask related to your keyword, grouped by question words like who, what, where, when, why, and how.
      • Prepositions: Phrases involving prepositions such as ‘for’, ‘with’, ‘without’, etc.
      • Comparisons: Comparisons people make related to your keyword, using terms like ‘vs’, ‘and’, ‘or’, etc.
      • Alphabetical: Keyword suggestions organised alphabetically.
   5. Use the visualisation to understand the types of questions and phrases people are searching for. This can give you insight into the needs and interests of your audience.
   6. Switch to the ‘Data’ view for a text-based list of the results, which can be easier to scan and use for planning.
   7. Click the ‘Export CSV’ button to download the results for further analysis and integration into your content marketing strategy.

3. Create Valuable and Engaging Content

   With your keyword research complete, it’s time to create content that resonates with your audience. Here are some content types to consider:

   • Blog Posts: Write informative and engaging blog posts addressing common questions and challenges faced by your audience. For example, ‘Top 10 Digital Skills in Demand in 2024’ or ‘How to Choose the Best Online Training Program.’
   • Videos: Create video tutorials, course previews, and student testimonials. Video content is highly engaging and can help build trust with potential learners.
   • Infographics: Use infographics to present complex information in an easy-to-understand format. Infographics are highly shareable and can drive traffic to your website.
   • Webinars: Host webinars on trending topics in your field. Webinars provide an interactive platform to showcase your expertise and engage with your audience in real-time. Discover how you can leverage webinars to boost promotions.

4. Optimise Your Content for SEO

   To ensure your content reaches a broader audience, it’s essential to optimise it for search engines. Here are some SEO best practices:

   • Use Keywords Strategically: Incorporate your chosen keywords naturally throughout your content. Be sure to add them to your H1 heading, first paragraph, and subheadings. It’s equally important to incorporate them in your meta title and meta description, which is what search engines serve up to web users to get them to click on your content.
   • Stick to 5 Keywords or Less: Aim for keywords that logically group well together or are synonyms of one another. It’ll be difficult to rank for a heap of keywords that vary greatly.
   • Write Compelling Meta Descriptions: Craft concise and compelling meta descriptions that include your primary keyword and entice users to click on your content.
   • Add Internal and External Links: Include links to other relevant content on your website (internal links) and reputable external sources. This improves your content’s credibility and SEO.
   • Optimise Images: Use descriptive file names and alt text for images to enhance their search engine visibility.

5. Promote Your Content

   Creating great content is only half the battle; you also need to promote it effectively. Here are some promotion strategies:

   • Social Media: Share your content on social media platforms where your target audience is most active. Build a community of potential students, engage with your followers, and encourage them to share your content.
   • Email Marketing: Send newsletters and email campaigns featuring your latest content and nurturing your subscribers. Here are some tips to improve your newsletter marketing strategies.
   • Guest Blogging: Write guest posts for reputable websites in your industry. This helps you reach a wider audience and build backlinks to your site.
   • Collaborations: Partner with industry influencers or other organisations to co-create and promote content.

6. Measure and Refine Your Strategy

   It’s essential to measure your marketing effectiveness. Use analytics tools to track metrics like website traffic, engagement, and conversion rates. By identifying what works and what doesn’t, you can refine your content marketing strategy to better meet your audience’s needs and achieve your goals.

Conclusion

Now you know how to create effective content marketing strategies that attract and convert students while scaling your courses. By following the steps outlined in this guide and leveraging free SEO tools like Google Trends and Ubersuggest, you can utilise data to refine your strategies and drive results.

Remember, the key to successful content marketing is consistency, value, and a deep understanding of your audience’s needs. Start creating and sharing relevant content today and watch your business grow.