Creating Effective Content For Your Website
No matter what industry you are in, your website isn’t complete without content. Websites contain a variety of content, including written, videos, images and other media.
Each piece can play an important role in increasing your credibility, drawing in potential clients and improving your website’s search engine rankings. Yet many business leaders struggle to put out riveting content.
If you’d like to revamp your content strategy, there are a few tips to keep in mind. Here’s what you need to know about utilizing content marketing to help grow your business.
Build A Content Strategy
Content should be deliberate. While there’s typically room for spontaneous topics, stick to a general plan that matches your long-term goals.
Planning ahead of time gives you the opportunity to research and choose which topics will boost search engine placements. Strategize and choose topics in advance that match what your audience needs. These goals should derive from your marketing plan, which may encompass the following:
- Increase brand awareness and visibility.
- Improve search rankings.
- Boost organic traffic.
- Convert leads into regular clients.
With this in mind, optimize your content planning strategy or form one if you haven’t already. SEO research uncovers relevant topics and trends on the rise, as well as popular keywords. As a start, identify local towns to target. Consider income, population and other demographics that impact your audience’s needs. For instance, a cleaning company may wish to target areas with higher-income subdivisions where busy homeowners are concentrated. A higher number of search results indicates popular keywords. Take advantage of these tools as you develop a content strategy that suits your long-term goals.
See What People Are Searching For
Creating content that your audience actually wants to read is simpler than you may realize. Determine what your target audience is searching for and utilize that knowledge to create content that appears in those search results.
If you aren’t sure where to start, Google is an excellent resource. Test out your keywords to see what auto-populates in the search box. You might also search for popular questions asked by your target audience. Finding these answers can guide you as you come up with relevant topics.
Google sorts its search results so that the most reliable, useful information is shown first, so you’ll want to feature high-quality content on your website to increase visibility and generate more clicks.
Consider The Buyer’s Journey
As soon as a prospect lands on your website, you want to capture their attention. It’s unlikely they came across your content by accident. Most likely, they were searching for an answer of some sort. After all, according to one study, about 65% of consumers reported doing a “significant amount” of research before making a purchase, so content should act as a natural part of the buyer’s journey. As a refresher, remember that the buyer’s journey has three distinct stages in which the consumer:
- Becomes aware of the signs of a problem.
- Identifies the problem and potential solutions.
- Decides on a solution strategy.
Incorporating your knowledge of this process into your content can maximize its efficacy. Your content should ensure each visitor finds what he or she is searching for, whether it’s a solution, a realization or even a final purchase. Consider an HVAC company. Many individuals turn to Google when they discover a problem with their furnace or air conditioner. An effective blog might attract these individuals by outlining common HVAC issues and why they should be handled by a professional.
Deliver Value
Furthering the point that content shouldn’t be just fluff, think of written pieces as providing value. No matter how well-written, they will fail their purpose if you don’t provide something valuable to the audience, whether that’s an idea, addressing their questions or providing an open market where they can find a solution.
For example, a home improvement company may delve into the kinds of vinyl siding a homeowner may want to purchase, while a real estate agency might create blogs about the best neighborhoods in marketable towns. Cater to your target audience by providing information of practical use, and over time you’re likely to generate a loyal readership.
Appeal To The Reader
Content is about the reader. You want to maintain their interest and maximize engagement. As such, content should address the reader directly and serve their interests.
Connection in written content may be as simple as providing a solution to a problem, as mentioned with the possibility of using the buyer’s journey as a guideline. However, the problem may be far more nuanced.
Generating content that makes clients feel connected can be a challenge since your audience likely encompasses a wide scope of individuals. To create a unique voice, integrate your company values into your content. No matter what those values are — such as integrity, education or teamwork — emphasizing what your company believes is important emotionally appeals to your audience, which in turn earns their trust.
One method is to utilize a buyer persona. Think of the persona as your ideal client base — the ones that will turn into loyal customers. Since it might be challenging to grapple with a faceless, intangible audience, forming a buyer persona makes it easier to visualize who would be interested in your products and how they’d respond to various content. For instance, someone who’s in need of a new car will likely be drawn to a company that upholds honesty, so the client knows their investment is exactly what they expect it to be.
Use Content To Its Fullest
With the right preparation, content can be a powerful tool. Transforming the way you view content can help your organization provide engaging pieces that take your digital marketing plan to the next level.
Improved content can mean higher website engagement, a wider spread of brand awareness and increased trust on the client’s part. Once you have a plan in place, it’s easy to create engaging pieces that drive your business forward.
Create Engaging Content To Drive Your Business
Having an amazing website that correctly represents your brand and message is important. But, keeping a website populated with engaging and relevant content on a consistent basis requires time and energy. If you are looking to drive your business forward with effective content give The BLÜ Group a call at 608-519-3070 and see how we can help you and your business grow.
Source: Forbes