It takes a lot of work these days to keep your website ranking well in the search engines. The days of simply having the right keywords in your website are gone. Websites that are dominating their markets on the web are creating content specifically to reach their target audience. This presents a challenge for most businesses who want to be found in the search engines but don’t understand or have a content strategy.
Content strategy is nothing new, news publications have been doing it for centuries. A Content Strategy is knowing who you want to reach and creating content to draw them in. A fitness center would produce content to help enrich the lives of those interested in fitness. They could have their trainers post articles on stretching, meal planning, and the best ways to fit a workout into a busy lifestyle. An insurance agent could post articles on how to avoid the most common claims. I think you get the idea. By creating content to share with customers you are not only making it easier for them to find you on the web when they are searching for an answer to their problem, you are also creating trust because you are giving away information.
Here are 5 Tips for Creating Great Web Content to help you keep your current customers and reach new ones through the web.
1. Curate: The easiest way to create content is to create lists of information that your potential customers would find interesting. Lists are great, you’re reading one now! It’s easy to find valuable information on the web from sites like Inc.com, Fastcompany.com and the like. You can create a list of articles from these sites that you believe are relevant to your customers and post them to your website with a short introduction paragraph. This also shows that you are a proactive company who is always learning and seeking out the latest industry information.
2. Case-Studies: Most of us are in the business of providing a product or service that has an end result or effect. Follow up with some of your best customers using your services and write a short case-study on how they are using your product or services. Keep it simple and to the point. Start with the problem Company X was having, discuss how your company proposed to fix it and then share the results they have been having. Most companies are more than happy to be used as a case-study because it gives them exposure as well.
3. What’s Trending: Most industries these days move pretty fast and that means there is always fresh trending news or topics that you could talk about. Everything is public these days so it is likely that your customers are also hearing about these trends through the internet or an industry publication. You can post your companies take on the trends and how you feel they will effect or not effect your customers. Helping your customers understand the news that comes at them each day will make them feel more secure in their decision making.
4. Best Practices, Tips & Tricks: Your service or product is most likely offered by other service providers. The world is full of sellers who like to provide a service and leave the customer to figure it out on their own. If you are providing insight on how to get the most out of your product and service, those lost and confused customers of your competition will land on your content when they search for help online. Next time they need assistance, who do you think will be on their mind?
5. Outsource it: Writing is not everybody’s thing. It’s not really mine either, but I love sharing information and helping my clients so I find a way to make it work for me. If you do not have the time or do not enjoy writing, you can outsource it to a writer. There are some great copywriters in the Central Valley who freelance or you can contact your web designer and ask if they know of someone to recommend. The goal at my company is to reach more people for our clients and that often means creating content for them. If you simply mark out an hour per week to write content for your website you will be surprised how much great information you will shared after a few months.
The key to creating great web content is to keep it conversational. If your article reads like an instruction manual, people will most likely put off reading it or lose interest. If your content reads like a conversation it will be more engaging and hopefully more likely to be shared with others.