This week, I’ve been reading about editorial tips and tricks – from the best type of content to create to how to measure its success, and how to optimise editorial creativity. Here are my key takeaways from three articles to help drive productivity and results within your editorial team.
What’s New in Publishing: Evergreen content drives up to 40 per cent of publisher traffic: “20 in 20” and other strategies to create consistent traffic drivers
What’s New in Publishing takes a look at the traffic generated from evergreen content for technology publication Wired and US news source The Atlantic. At Wired: 40 per cent of their traffic comes from stories posted more than one week ago; At The Atlantic, more than 50 per cent of its traffic comes from editorial not produced in that month. The Wired even refreshes and includes year-old articles in its e-newsletters to give them a new lease of life.
Key takeaway: It seems like a no-brainer – non-timely content will continue to reap rewards into the future if it is quality editorial. Magazine publishers are likely to have editions full of largely non-timely content – if it isn’t being uploaded to your website within a digital friendly format, it should be.
Publishing Executive: Getting more from Google Analytics: 3 tips for editors
Keenan Media President Rob Keenan provides his top tips to help editorial teams get the most out of Google Analytics. These include: using the ‘Page title’ function to view article performance, use UTM codes to how traffic is landing on a particular article, and using Google Analytics’ ‘secondary dimension’ to delve deeper.
Key takeaway: I like these tips because they are easy to implement and straightforward enough for editorial teams to manage without needing to be too ‘techy’.
Inc.com: How digital distraction is killing creativity and what to do about It
This article discusses how being constantly plugged in to digital sources can zap productivity and creativity, and offers solutions for dealing with this as noted within digital anthropologist Brian Solis’ book Life Scale. The main solutions involve stepping away from digital distractions to boost creativity, and clearly define your purpose so that you don’t succumb to distractions that fall outside your goal.
Key takeaway: I’ve been a part of editorial teams that have fallen apart due to digital distraction – whether its been distraction from social media or the overwhelm of too many news sources or opportunities to deal with. Unplugging from digital in a role where you need to be plugged into the world at all times is hard. I’m not sure what the total answer is, but providing a workplace culture that allows brainstorming at a computer-free desk or at a cafe could work for some. Let TMSN know your tips in the comments below!
Interesting….I was just thinking about this. I’m getting waysided on Facebook at the moment dealing mainly with disinformation. Its definitely a balancing act between needing to know what’s going on there as it links to my newsletter and when to shut something down, maybe not literally, but I guess goes back to scheduling my time, project management..
It’s so tough isn’t it! I often find that I need to unplug to write unique content – but get frustrated that I don’t have all the information at my fingertips when I do… Definitely a balancing act.