When your private equity firm is ready to create quality content, there are two factors that matter most.  Being able to codify your firm’s knowledge & get it into production. Truly, this is where the excitement begins.

We’ll fill you in on how to get the actual content creation in motion by determining who writes, incorporating keyword research, working with your Subject-Matter Experts to shape headlines, and getting materials into the writer’s hands, all so that production can begin right away.

You have plenty of headlines for content pieces from Step 1. With all of them vetted by your content strategy team, you can truly be confident in your strong starting direction! Here are some guidelines upfront for approaching content creation.

  • Your posts should generally be short-form, especially to start. Think somewhere from 950 to 1100 words. Of course, if you can think of a really great idea for a piece that requires a longer-form post, don’t hold yourself back. Always let the topic dictate the length and the amount of detail you need to go into. Use the number of words you need to cover all of the ideas you want to convey on a specific topic, rest assured, your readers will thank you for it.
  • From your list of headlines, prioritize your first post and several subsequent posts that optimize specific content themes.
  • Let keyword research inform your published content and how you position your articles.

On the subject of keyword research, before you flee at the mere thought of SEO, we’ll walk you through how to go about it the right way.

Keyword research to create quality private equity content

1. Basic Prep & Keyword Research

Keyword research may come off as overwhelming but don’t let it be. Time-wise you don’t need to go crazy here. Let the tools do the work for you and make informed decisions from there. We have seen firms do very little with the keywords research component and relied more on their gut and still have performed well. Your best bet is a combination of gut and research.

Take the headlines you plan to use for your initial posts, along with your keyword research, and discover how to structure your content based on what people are actually searching for.

Presumably, there should be a few of your headlines that relate back to a general keyword. We call that the “Seed Keyword.” With that keyword, go incognito and do a Google search.

  • Check out the top three articles and do an analysis of other terms they’ve used, along with the general content of the piece.
  • Also, look at the related terms from your search and take note of ones that match the theme of your keyword.

From there, head into a keyword research tool. One of these will work:

For the post you’re working on, determine a primary and secondary keyword. You’ll have ideas to start with, but as you test them in the tool you’re using it will confirm whether you’re going in the right direction. What are the indicators, you ask? We’ll show you, beginning with the seed keyword “Choosing a Private Equity Partner” as an example.

Start by looking at the volume measurement first.  Are people searching for your keyword? If so you’ll see a number under Volume. Or do your results look like this?

Make subtle changes to your keyword until you start to see the results in the “Volume” category creep upwards. Over time, it should look a little something like this:

As you can see for this new keyword, there’s high search volume and approachable keyword difficulty – both of which are definitely in the “win” column.

High search volume can be relative, though, and for any keyword you may consider you also want to look at the CPC (cost per click). That tells you how much money marketers are bidding for this particular term. In your case, look to use keywords that give you the chance to rank organically, rather than for words that marketers are paying for. Go to the list of keyword variations and see which relevant terms have good volume, lower keyword difficulty (especially since you are just starting out), and no CPC.

If the search volume is low on a keyword that fits with your strategy, consider using this “low-hanging fruit” as part of your strategic approach. Targeting less competitive keywords will help you establish yourself and register domain authority, essentially bolstering your entire website’s searchability.

Once you’ve gone through this process, settle on a primary and secondary keyword. These are the words to use in your article’s title (at least the primary keyword) and throughout your article, using a hierarchy for placement. If you use WordPress as your CMS, Yoast is a fantastic plug-in that will guide you through optimizing your posts for SEO. WordPress or not, you’ll find more tips in this article from Yoast about how to choose your keywords.

Before you move on to choosing your route for a writer, here’s one final idea for picking a headline. AI (artificial intelligence) is quickly becoming more and more prominent, useful, and efficient for marketing. With a tool like Writesonic you can run your working title through and discover other title suggestions that still include your keyword(s). You may be rightly content with where you are, but tools like this can help get the juices flowing and get you thinking outside the box.

2. Identify Your Content Writer

Below, we’ve detailed three options for determining your writer. Which one you use absolutely depends on your firm’s size and the capacity of your in-house team. Again, there’s no “one size fits all” approach to what we’re talking about here so always go with the route that makes the most sense for your goals.

Here are the potential directions you could go for selecting a writer:

a. In-House

Let’s face facts: it sure would be nice if you had a dedicated content marketing specialist on staff. Someone who wrote and handled SEO, published, and kept everything organized could really be an asset to your firm.

A House

However, there’s a good chance that is not where your firm is. That’s okay, and quite honestly, you likely don’t have to hire a full-time staff to execute content strategy, even as you get further into this pursuit.

Nevertheless, it is still an option. Here is the case for why this could be the best avenue for you:

  • An in-house person will get to know your company and audience better than an outsourced writer.
  • They’ll be there to talk strategy, brainstorm, offer up new ideas and help put them into action – essentially, they’ll have greater investment and ownership, which always leads to higher quality.
  • Your firm’s tone and voice will come more naturally, which will give your audience an authentic sense of who they could be working with.
  • Content strategy is a long game and so investing in a full-time staff person will be a serious move in making that commitment which will pay off.

b. Use a Marketing or PR Partner

Are you already working with an agency for the firm’s Marketing or PR? If so, you already know their work, so it might be wise to pursue them for this new opportunity.

A partner that specializes in marketing should also have SEO expertise, so they can take care of publishing and make recommendations along the way. You will get them the basics, and they will take care of the hard work – I’m sure that sounds appealing to many of you. It certainly does to us.

Now, if you aren’t working with a marketing partner already and you are getting serious about content, then research some prospects. Investigate and talk with agencies who have content marketing in their wheelhouse. Even if you don’t end up going with one particular partner, those conversations will at least provide some guidance.

c. Online Content Creation Community

A writer’s community, like WriterAccess, is a direction we love using at our agency. Even if one of the first two options is in the arena for you, this still may be worth exploring for a number of important reasons.

Here is what hiring a writer will look like working with WriterAccess – other agencies exist, but they all have fairly similar structures.

  • You’ll make an account, which is free, and start looking for someone with high ratings and expertise in your field.
  • You’ll want someone who is familiar with finance, investment and, with a little digging, may even find someone who is niched out in private equity.
  • When you find some hits, there will essentially be a resume, along with reviews, examples of work, and pricing per word. The cost for a 1,000-word article from a 6-star writer will come in at $100. Keep that in mind when setting your budget.
  • Another obvious factor you’d be looking for is turnaround time, and we find 1-2 days to be the standard from most we’ve worked with.

Here’s a look at a freelance writer found on WriterAccess who has experience writing for Private Equity. He has the platform’s top ranking of 6 stars and over 30 years of experience as a writer. You can also see badges, specialties, reviews, and samples of his work. This could be your guy!

Writer who can create quality private equity content

Although you may be hesitant about this style of doing business, we can assure you that it can work. Not only that, but it’s also low risk – and who among us doesn’t love that? Once you find a good writer, the relationship builds, and they can be someone you turn to again and again.

WriterAccess is certainly not the only platform out there, mind you. Here are a few other sites dedicated to helping you find freelance writers:

  • UpWork – They offer all types of marketing talent, including writers. If you have other needs for your marketing efforts, it might be worth getting a plan through this platform.
  • Textbroker – They offer similar features to WriterAccess, but quality could vary more.
  • Content Guppy – Their focus on SEO for B2B is certainly worth exploring.
  • Verblio – Very popular, we’ve heard great things about it.

Having this piece of the content equation nailed down as early on in the process as possible will allow you to plan out the timing of your creation. It will also provide an expectation of turnaround from whomever you are using.

At this point, you can head onward to the next step: interviewing your Subject-Matter Expert. No matter which of the recommendations you use for choosing your writer, this next part will be essential for equipping them with the materials they need to get writing.

3. Interviewing Your Subject-Matter Expert

Now, it’s time for 20-30 minutes of collaboration between your content strategist (or someone on their team) and your subject-matter expert for the respective post.

A virtual meeting on Zoom will make the conversation easy to record. Then, just upload to your video platform of choice and pass along the link to your writer so they have plenty to refer to.

During the interview, you’ll be hashing out the key elements of your post and taking notes. Squeeze all that you can out of this conversation so that your writer can tap into the essence of the post. Here’s a template for taking organized notes during this meeting that provides an outline for your writer:

  • Working Headline – Your content strategist should bring this with them based on your keyword research.
  • The Main Idea – Clearly state WHY you are writing this post and offer any high-level backup that supports your case.
  • Pain Points – Think about all the problems you’re not only bringing to light and demystifying, but also offering solutions for that nobody else can match.
  • The Story – This will be your highest volume section. Brainstorm and fill it up with bullet points for the meat of your post. Consider any links to projects, photos, videos, and other elements that will enrich your message. Specific devices or phrasing that will set the tone and exemplify your voice are going to be key here.
  • Usable Takeaways – This is pretty much the entire ballgame, folks. What are you offering that is useful and actionable to the reader? Understanding this will help give your firm the credibility you’re working to build. Any takeaways should always connect to the main idea.
  • Call to Action – Do you want to hear from your reader? Is there a place they can sign up to get on your distribution list? Let them know that and make it really easy for them to get in touch with you.

If you play your cards right, you may even leave this meeting with more ideas or insight on which post should come next – which is exactly the way this type of thing is supposed to work.

4. Your Writer Writes

You’ve picked who is going to write – now it’s time for them to get started. Whether it’s someone in-house, through an agency, or a freelancer, you will share with them the notes and video from your conversation with your subject-matter expert. If you are outsourcing this role, providing points of direction (like your firm’s tone and voice) should be shared as well.

If you’ve hired someone through Writer Access or a similar platform, they are in most cases only there to write for you. They may have other services in their wheelhouse, but those wouldn’t be included in the writing fee. A marketing partner could do more, but you will have a hand in doing a final pass, and spritzing it up with some final strokes.

Here are a few ideas for other elements that you could include in the finished piece to really bring those words to life:

Image and Videos
Images/Videos – A header image that resonates with your headline is the minimum for this. Including additional images and videos will invite readers in and kick your content up a notch, including optimizing your post in search.
Charts
Charts – If you’re presenting stats or data, an infographic to support your claims is useful.
Links
Links – These are helpful for driving readers to other articles or pages on your site, or connecting them with outside resources. This is something your writer may do as they conduct their own research for the post.

As you get going, this process may take a little longer than you expect. But when the writer hands off their first pass, it’s essential to do a run-through and be absolutely certain it makes sense. As time goes on, you’ll spend less time reviewing because your writer has a better sense of the tone. Look for tone and clarification on details to make sure your piece matches the objectives of your outline.

Loading Content into Your CMS

Loading content into your CMS isn’t necessarily going to be difficult, but it does require you to keep a few key things in mind.

Format

At our agency, we have an unpublished blog post we call the “kitchen sink” that acts as a reference guide for anyone on the team publishing a post to our site. This way, whoever is responsible for uploading a post is clear about formatting.

Focus Keyphrase, Window Title & Meta Description

Using the Yoast tool as an example, here is how we would fill in the focus keyphrase, window title and meta description

  • Focus Keyphrase – This will likely be your primary keyword.
  • SEO/Window Title – This is how your title will appear in searches. Google will only include 50-60 characters, so make sure you keep it at that length. Yoast will allow you to preview how it appears before publishing, which is helpful so that there are no surprises. This title doesn’t necessarily need to be the same as the title that appears with the post on your website, mind you. If you do switch it up, make sure it still includes the primary keyword and is clear on the post’s purpose. Include your firm’s name to follow, putting a pipe (|) divide between it and the title.
  • Meta Description – Consider this your chance to make a deeper first impression with people who find your posts after asking specific questions in Google.

Slug – This portion of the URL clearly defines what a page is about, and in the case of your blog it can be the title of your article. Each word of the slug gets separated by a dash, for clarity.
Yoast Tool Window to help create quality private equity content

Here’s one of our top blog posts for a better idea of what an optimized post that yields high traffic and engagement looks like.  Go through and identify each of the elements I’ve outlined above.

When you take a final pass of your post, having a checklist of what you’re doing for this process is not a bad idea.

All clear? Terrific! Now, you’re ready, click “Publish…”

Hands Raised in Celebration

BAM! That first post is out there in the world, ready for your potential clients to find it. You just took a big step in your content strategy – nice work! There’s more to publishing than simply posting to your site, of course, and now we’ll guide you through what comes next.

Next – Step 4: Distribute & Promote