Learning Content — A roadmap on creation, strategy, and leadership

Want to learn more about content marketing but aren't sure where to begin? Or maybe you've been in the industry a few years and don't know what skills you should focus on building next?

This was my dilemma. I couldn't quite make sense of the amorphous career path that is content marketing. So, I learned. Inspired by Aleyda Solis' work on Learning SEO, I sought out experts, guides, and paid to pick the brains of industry leaders. The result was a library of resources I could dive into whenever I needed clarity on what to do next.

Now, you can too.

Below is a collection of 150+ items organized into 5 categories:

The goal of each is to present visitors with a starting point by pointing them to the most essential subjects presented by the most trusted authorities. My hope is that it will help you make the internet a better place by equipping you to publish the best content possible.

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Is there a resource you think should be included on this page? Send me a message on Twitter.

Infographic showing five levels of content marketing skills and resources

Before you begin, I recommend giving this glossary a look. Marketers love their terminology 😎, so learning a few key terms upfront will help you better navigate the resources below!

Content Creation

The first step is to learn how to make content people want to read, watch, bookmark, and share. To help you accomplish this, these resources will guide you from generating a great idea through the process of bringing it to life.

Ideation

17 Untapped Ways to Find New Content Ideas
Article by Backlinko

How to come up with great blog post ideas, every single time
Article by Ghost

How To Decide Which Ideas To Pursue
Newsletter by For The Interested

Content Arbitrage: Shopping at the Thrift Shop of Ideas
Article by Animalz

Creator Stories
Collection by ConvertKit

Multimedia

How to Determine What Formats to Use in Your Content Marketing
Article by Marketing Insider Group

A Brief Primer for New Podcasters
Podcast by Wavve

The Ultimate Guide to Video Marketing
Article by HubSpot

Audience

Content Marketing Personas: How to Reach Your Target Audience
Article by Animalz

How to Attract Your Ideal Customer with Perfectly Positioned Content
Article by Copyblogger

1,000 True Fans
Article by The Technium

Authority & Trust

Why Readers Can Smell Fakes a Mile Away
Article by Animalz

Understanding the Trust Equation
Guide by Trusted Advisor

4 steps to building trust with your customers
Article by Ghost

E-A-T: Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness
Article by Lily Ray

Keyword Research

How to Do Keyword Research for SEO
Guide by Ahrefs

Doing Content Right
Book by Steph Smith

Keyword Research Tutorial: 3-Step Process (for Beginners & Pros)
Video by Semrush

Niche

The unexpected (but proven) way to find your niche in the creator economy
Article by Ghost

How to Find a Niche for your Online Business
Video by Ahrefs

What is a niche market?
Article by Shopify

Content Optimization

The second step is to optimize what you’ve made, which means two things: people can find it easily, and it accomplishes the goals you’re after. We do this by implementing search engine optimization best practices, learning the basics of data analysis, and topping it off with a bit of conversion psychology.

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Looking to level up your optimization? Reading Google's own Quality Rater Guidelines can give you an in-depth perspective of how to make your content rise above the competition.

On-page SEO

On-Page SEO: Complete Beginner’s Guide
Guide by Ahrefs

The Ultimate On-Page SEO Checklist
Video by Nathan Gotch

Images

Image SEO: 12 Actionable Tips (for More Organic Traffic)
Article by Ahrefs

SEO for Google Images
Video by Google Search Console

Internal Linking

How to Use Internal Links to Rank Higher in Google
Video by Ahrefs

Internal Linking for SEO
Guide by Backlinko

Topic Clusters

Topical Authority in SEO
Video by Jaume Ros

How to Build a Topic Cluster in 10 Minutes
Article by Ahrefs

Importance of Topical Authority: Semantic SEO
Case Study by Oncrawl

Analytics & Measurement

How to Understand Content Marketing Analytics and Prove Your Impact
Article by CoSchedule

Google Analytics 4
Course by Google Skillshop

10 SEO Metrics That Actually Matter (And 4 That Don’t)
Article by Ahrefs

Conversion

Pain-Point SEO: How to Produce SEO Content That Drives Conversions
Article by Grow & Convert

Copywriting Psychology: Persuasive Writing 101
Guide by Nick Kolenda

Top of Funnel Content Creates All Kinds of Problems—But You Should Create It Anyway
Article by Animalz

Advanced Optimization

Visualizing SEO: Technical SEO Illustrations
Collection by Sam Underwood

Keyword Cannibalization: What It (Really) Is & How to Fix It
Article by Ahrefs

How To Optimize For Google Featured Snippets: A 12-step Guide
Guide by Search Engine Journal

The Beginner's Guide to Structured Data for Organizing & Optimizing Your Website
Article by HubSpot

Content Management

Next, it’s time to build systems around your processes. These will ensure that you make better content, faster. This section starts by offering tips on the most popular CMS tools, moves into assets that will make it easier to plan and delegate, and closes with instructions on how to document your approach.

Content Management Systems

Getting Started with Ghost
Guide by Ghost

WordPress SEO Guide for Beginners (Step by Step)
Article by WPBeginner

The complete Wix SEO guide
Guide by Wix

Shopify SEO Overview
Video by Shopify

A marketer’s guide to SEO in Webflow
Article by Webflow

What Squarespace does for SEO
Article by Squarespace

Content Calendars

How To Create An Effective Content Calendar
Article by CoSchedule

Behind the Scenes of SPI's Editorial Calendar
Video by Pat Flynn

Audits

Content Strategy for the Web
Book by Kristina Halvorson

The Step-by-Step Guide to Conducting a Content Audit
Article by Semrush

How to Increase Organic Traffic with a Content Audit
Video by Ahrefs

Keyword Mapping

Keyword Maps for SEO
Video by Moz

How to Create a Content Map: Traditional Way & Ahrefs’ Way
Article by Ahrefs

How to Leverage Keyword Mapping for SEO Success
Article by Search Engine Journal

Lifecycle

Republishing Content: How to Update Old Blog Posts for SEO
Article by Ahrefs

Content Pruning: Remove Low-Quality Content to Improve SEO
Article by ContentKing

5 ways to repurpose content like a professional
Article by Ghost

Distribution

Content Promotion Checklist for Beginners
Video by Ahrefs

The Ultimate Guide to Content Distribution
Article by Semrush

How I share my content
Case Study by Harry Dry

Budgeting

How Much Does Content Marketing Cost
Article by Siege Media

Content Marketing Budget Examples For All Business Sizes
Article by Content Harmony

Standard Operating Procedures

How To Document Your Content Marketing Workflow
Article by Content Marketing Institute

How To Create Functional SOPs (That Your Employees Actually Use)
Article by DigitalMarketer

How to Create the Perfect Content Brief
Article by Semrush

Building an efficient marketing machine: The fuel & the engine
Newsletter by MKT1

Content Leadership

Are you ready to start thinking bigger? These leadership resources will help you grow your skills, team, and reach beyond what you thought was possible. A strong content leader must strike a balance between being a strategic marketer, a data-driven decision maker, and a talent amplifier. But rest assured — every one of these skills can be learned.

Strategy

They Ask, You Answer
Book by Marcus Sheridan

Content Marketing Strategy That Gets Leads and Sales
Video by Ahrefs

4 Content Marketing Goals That Really Matter to the Business
Article by Content Marketing Institute

Your Blog Is Not a Publication
Article by Animalz

The Art of Content Roadmapping
Newsletter by MKT1

The Barbell Strategy for Risk-averse Content Marketing
Article by Alex Birkett

ROI & Reporting

Is SEO Worth It?
Newsletter by SEO MBA

Content Marketing ROI: How To Measure Your Success
Article by Semrush

Steal Our SEO Report Template
Template by Ahrefs

Hiring

How to Manage a Content Team
Course by Superpath

Everything you need to know about hiring a content marketer
Article by Grow & Convert

Planning to Hire an Agency? Here’s How to Be a Great Customer
Article by Animalz

Agency vs. In-House Marketing: Pros and Cons to Help You Decide
Video by WebFX

Stakeholders

Executive Presence
Course by SEO MBA

Building Killer Relationships: 10 Lessons on Stakeholder Management
Article by Content Marketing Institute

Product Marketing 101: Internal and External Stakeholders
Video by Henry Wang

Scaling

How to Scale Content Creation
Video by Ahrefs

8 Ways to Scale a One-Person Content Team
Article by Entrepreneur

How to Scale Organic Traffic (Without Writing a Million Blog Posts)
Article by CXL

Content Resources

The world of content is always evolving. Use these links to stay on top of it all while moving your career forward. Whether you want more responsibility, creativity, or money, the opportunity is available if you know where to look.

Career

Become a specialist if you want a career in digital marketing
Article by Kevin Indig

Content Career Pathing
Chart by Contentment

Navigating an SEO Career
Newsletter by SEO MBA

The 7 Skills That Help Content Marketers Thrive at Work
Article by Superpath

$100k Club
Collection by Superpath

Don’t Let Content Marketing Be a Dead-End Career
Article by Content Marketing Institute

Job Boards

Communities

Superpath
Free and paid group on Slack

Traffic Think Tank
Paid group on Slack

Software

Tools I use regularly

Ahrefs — Suite of SEO tools
Google Analytics — Site metrics
Google Search Console — Webmaster tools
Grammarly — AI editor
Jasper — AI writing
Semrush — All-in-one content marketing tool
Sparktoro — Audience research
Surfer — Content optimization

The Best Content Marketing Platforms, Software & Tools For Better Results
Article by CoSchedule

Additional Learning

Conferences

Newsletters

Podcasts

YouTube Channels

Online Courses

Content Marketing Certification by HubSpot
SEO Certification by HubSpot
Blogging for Business by Ahrefs
How to Write Thought Leadership Content by Ryan Law
Become a Content Strategist by LinkedIn Learning