Blogging is so effective that there are over a billion blogs on the web.

Just think about that… that’s roughly 1 blog for every 7 people.

Sure, we don’t really need any more blogs, but people still create them because they can be such effective marketing channels.

And best of all, unlike social sites, the moment you create a blog that has an audience, you can continually reach them without having to worry about algorithm changes.

So, to help you with your content marketing efforts, I’ve created a free 4-week training course called Content Marketing Unlocked.

Introducing Content Marketing Unlocked

As I mentioned, over the next 4 weeks I am going to teach you all about content marketing.

Everything from the basics of content marketing and how it works to the advanced parts such as generating traffic and sales from blogging.

To get you started, make sure you watch the welcome video:

The welcome video breaks down what you’ll learn over the next 4 weeks and, under the video, you’ll find a goal worksheet and a course outline.

Then you’ll learn about the history of content marketing:

In that lesson, you’ll find 2 worksheets:

1. Content outline – this will show you how to outline and create content.
2. Content steps – this breaks down the steps you need to follow in order to write amazing content.

After you get the hang of writing content, you’ll want to learn how to rank your older (existing) content on your site.

And in that lesson, you’ll also get a list of tools that you should use and a master resource guide that’ll help speed up the process.

From there I teach you about the different types of content you can leverage to get more traffic. Believe it or not, there are actually 18 types you should be using.

Over time I will continue to add more lessons, but I don’t want to drown you in information by embedding all the lessons in this post.

So, what else will you learn?

The four lessons above are a great start, but there is much more to the content marketing course. This is what you can expect from Content Marketing Unlocked:

Week #1

Lesson #1: Getting Started

• Course Introduction
• Strategies You’re Going to Learn
• What Google Wants
• Content Production Strategy Overview
• Understanding the Algorithm & Updates
• The Right Mindset

Lesson #2: History of Content Marketing

• History of Content Marketing
• Fact & Fiction About Content Marketing
• Understanding Your Target Audience
• How to Find Keywords That Will Make You Money
• Refining Your Keyword Lists
• Content Examples

Lesson #3: Optimizing Your Existing Content

• How to Audit Your Existing Content
• How to Optimize Your Content the Right Way
• How to Re-Write Your Content So It Gets You Traffic
• Step-by-Step On-Page Optimization Tactics
• Content Templates to Rewrite Your Content

Week #2

Lesson #1: Major Content Types

• Credibility & Trust Through Content
• Types of Content
• Blogs
• Articles
• Infographics
• Videos / Visual Content
• Podcasts / Radio Shows
• Facebook Posts / Pages
• Courses / Digital Classes / eBooks / Checklists
• How-to Guides
• SlideShare / PowerPoint / Webinars
• Photographs / Graphics / Art
• Instructional Guides
• Magazines (Digital & Print)
• Streaming Media (Periscope, Facebook Live, Snapchat)
• Forums / Wikis / Groups / Resource Centers
• Whitepapers / Case Studies
• Memes (Twitter/Facebook)
• Testimonials / Reviews
• Content Templates for Different Content Types

Lesson #2: Pilar & Cluster Pages

• Turn Your Keywords Into An Outline
• How to Write Content That Gets You Traffic
• Topical Clusters
• Pillar Pages
• Cluster Pages
• Pillar & Cluster Templates

Lesson #3: Alternative Content Strategies

• Building Authority Through Guest Posting
• Content Production Tools
• Plugins to Use
• FAQ Schema
• Live Case Studies, Market Data & Field Reports
• Share Worthy Content
• Content Outline Templates

Week #3

Lesson #1: Marketing Your Content

• Site Structure
• Theme & Topic
• How to Rank Your Content Faster
• Promote Your Content on a $0 Budget
• Content Marketing Strategy
• Content Promotion Workflow

Lesson #2: Link Building Tactics

• What is Link Building?
• External Link Building
• Internal links
• Your Link Profile
• Advanced Linking and Off-Page Optimization Strategies
• How to Build Links from Authority Sites
• How to Launch Link Campaigns

Lesson #3: Tracking & Analytics

• Setting Up Google Analytics / Google Tag Manager
• Setting Up Google Search Console
• Must Have Content Marketing Tools
• Live Ranking Case Studies, Market Data & Field Reports
• Determining KPI’s
• Budget Planning

Week #4

Lesson #1: Ranking 1 Long Term

• You’ve Got Content & Links, What’s Next?
• Content Marketing in a Competitive Space
• How to Get Started if You Are New & Have Little to No Budget
• How to Scale if You Do Have a Budget
• Build a Brand Long-Term

Lesson #2: Media Outlets

• Getting on Huge Media Websites (Forbes, HuffPost, NYTimes, etc)
• Guest Blogging
• Podcasts
• Social Media
• Connecting with Influencers

Lesson #3: Omni-Channel Strategies

• Going Omni-Channel
• Back Office Infrastructure
• Analyzing and Measuring Results
• More Content Marketing Case Studies
• Become A Great Content Marketer
• Summary – How to Get the Most Out of This Course

How can I follow along?

You can go to the training section of this site as I keep all my courses there.

Every Monday, Thursday and Saturday I will be adding new lessons and content.

Each lesson is roughly 10 minutes in length and contains worksheets, templates, cheat sheets, checklists, spreadsheets, and more that will make your life easier.

In general, if you take the time to follow along each week and complete your homework assignments, it shouldn’t take you more than two to three hours each week.

Some weeks will be less work, but because this course involves writing and promoting content, you will have to put in a little bit more effort than some of my other courses.

As a heads up, I won’t be blogging about each lesson, so the easiest way to keep up is to subscribe to my YouTube channel.

Once you click the link above, you’ll see a subscription box popup on YouTube. All you have to do is click the “SUBSCRIBE” button.

Once you click “Subscribe,” you’ll notice a bell image next to the subscribe button. Make sure you click that as well.

When you click on the bell, you’ll be given a few options.

Click on the “All” option. Next to the “Subscribed” button, you should see a new bell notification:

This makes it so YouTube notifies you when I release a new Content Marketing Unlocked lesson.

Conclusion

I hope you enjoy Content Marketing Unlocked.

I created this course because content marketing is one of the best ways to market your business and compete with the large companies.

Best of all, you won’t have to spend a dollar on marketing.

Let me know what you think about the course so far.

And also, what free course would you like me to create next?

The post Welcome to Content Marketing Unlocked: Your Free Blogging Course appeared first on Neil Patel.