Sandra Wallace has already done her niche research and has created a relevance strategy in order to optimize her SEO efforts.

Both of these strategies take a fair amount of creativity and critical thinking. In order to stay current with her competitors she will need to take advantage of this type of creativity so she can constantly evolve her marketing. From building links to creating content, Wallace is going to need to employ her own creativity and that of her SEO team to gain an edge on her competitors and increase her search performance.

Creativity in her SEO will empower her to combine all the elements of her strategy into a cohesive and actionable plan. We will cover a few SEO strategies in this article and examine how creativity and “thinking outside the box” can elevate Wallace’s brainstorming, strategy development, and implementation.

Building Links

Convincing other websites to link to her domain is a great signal to Google that her site is relevant, authoritative and provides value to its visitors. Building links is also a great way to get the creative juices flowing in order to “sell” her site, whether it is the homepage for Wally’s Hobbies, or a specific blog post that is relevant to the target’s resource page.

She should focus on three types of link building tactics, and infuse these strategies with her creativity and knowledge of her niche. Since fresh mentions do not employ much creativity, we will go over resource links and guest posting.

Resource Links

Resource links are harder to acquire than fresh mentions, as you are asking someone to add new content (and a link) to a page. Wallace will have to persuasively pitch her homepage or blog post to a webmaster, clearly and concisely demonstrating value. Many of these webmasters get hundreds of link requests daily. Wallace will have to find creative ways to rise above the noise and catch their attention.

She should never use a template for outreaching resource link targets. While some templates are generic enough to apply to many different URLs, Wallace should create unique outreach that a webmaster doesn’t see every day. There are numerous outreach techniques, so let’s go over a few.

One great tactic is to find broken links on a resource page and email the webmaster to notify them of the broken URLs. Wallace can then offer one of her resources as a (functional) replacement. This way she is helping out the webmaster and their audience, while also pitching her resource.

Another creative way to promote her website or resources is to find competitor’s broken links through competitor backlink analysis. Wallace learned about competitor analysis during her keyword research. She can use programs such as Majestic to find a broken page on a competitor’s domain, and find all the pages that link to the broken page. This way she is finding broken links, not resource pages, which is often more efficient.

Creating Content

One of the best ways to unearth content opportunities is to examine what is missing. Adding to existing conversations can be beneficial to developing onsite and offsite content. If Wallace is doing proper niche research, she can discover which topics are missing, and craft evergreen content that covers a unique topic. In other words, she should work to fill “content gaps” in her niche.

A great way to fill content gaps is through newsjacking. Newsjacking is the process of taking advantage of topical trends and current events by creating content that piggybacks on to the existing conversation. For example, Wallace can newsjack a story about drones where people have been getting in trouble with the law for not abiding by RC Drone regulations.

She can use some critical thinking and creativity to create related content. She can also fill any gaps that aren’t currently being covered on the Internet.

Wallace can create onsite content outlining the FAA’s regulations for all leisure drone hobbyists. She can take it a step further and work to create a captivating infographic that is easy to read and aesthetically pleasing. Typically, people have short attention spans, and by choosing the more creative route of an infographic, she will be able to keep the attention of her niche, and create easily shareable content.

If Wallace is struggling to think of ways to take advantage of current news topics, she could search the web to find ideas. Everything from apps, politics, and even particular controversies can provide ample fuel for content ideation.

Check out how these various businesses and even a school were able to capitalize on current events by newsjacking trends, and creating content that is unique and interesting. None of which could be achieved without a fair amount of creative thinking in order to apply current trends to a specific niche.

SEO and Creativity

Much of SEO is combining technical aspects with creative application. Creativity is more abstract than building relevance or discovering a niche. It is something that ties all of Wallace’s SEO efforts together, creating a deliberate, thought-out plan of action with the goal of increasing rankings and hopefully, conversions as well.