The world of content marketing used to be just an exciting new concept. But now it's an essential part of any business in any industry that has an online presence. If you feel like you’ve been somewhat neglecting the content on your business website and asking yourself if it's even that important, the short answer is a resounding YES!
The whole point of content marketing is to help increase the volume of quality traffic that arrives on your website, alongside generating brand awareness, quality sales, and leads. When properly executed, it's the content that has the power to keep pulling in new audiences to your site which will ultimately convert them into sales.
The easiest and most effective way to drive in this traffic is through the development and consistent upkeep of a blog, the higher the quality of the content you produce the more valuable it will be to your business.
Now, because there are so many different aspects to creating great content we're going to break it down into smaller sections but at the end of the day when it comes to any website, Content is indeed King!
When it comes to marketing, most people think of the traditional kind, through the forms of advertising, and telling the world that you’re awesome. Content marketing is still pretty much that but also showing the world you’re awesome at what you do too.
The actual ability to create good and engaging content on your website is such a powerful tool and often overlooked but now we’ve learned what content marketing is, so why is it important to your business?
Content marketing builds up your brand's reputation online, viewers can be provided with a wide range of content from blog posts, infographics, presentations, social media posts and so much more.
By offering this kind of value, we not only entice the viewer but begin to start building that relationship and overall trust. which is why these are the following main things to start taking into considerations when looking at the content your website is producing.
Content is pretty much at the heart of any strategy which is implemented, as it’s down to this being able to connect and support all the elements that build up the overall strategy.
The content you create can be used for your blog, email marketing, social media, or PPC campaigns, and if powerful enough, binding these together you deem best to achieve your overall marketing goals and achieve those targets.
Online organisation tools like Trello are useful to use when planning out content ideas and schedules.
Search engines such as Google pretty much only work because of content. The stronger the content, the higher mass and quality of traffic due to search engines having a clearer idea of the purpose of the business.
SEO (Search engine optimization) is just a more technical reason to start creating great content, as it acts as the line that connects the dots, the dots being your business, and your next sale.
Always keep in mind that search engine algorithms are forever chopping and changing. They’re constantly improving their ability to deliver relevant content in response to specific queries, meaning rewarding good quality content and punishing poor quality!
Did you know that content marketing is less expensive than any form of traditional marketing, and far more effective as well?
While it’s more time-intensive and can sometimes take a while to see the results of your efforts, when it comes to quality content, a little can go a very long way. In a lot of cases if businesses don't see improvements within the first couple of weeks of new implementations they will assume it’s not working. That approach does not tend to work in the likes of content marketing and SEO, it’s very much a marathon and not a sprint but will help you out massively in the long run both looking at your time and money.
If you don’t have trust in a relationship, that also applies to your website and its visitors, then you don’t have anything.
Consumers will read your content, and gain an understanding of your business, your values, your brand, your story. While they read, they are building up a mental picture and opinion and will align with your brand if they like how you are presenting yourself to them.
This will help you establish a positive brand reputation before they’ve even purchased from you. Developing initially good content helps build your brand's credibility but of course, once you start, you need to maintain that consistency.
There is an ongoing challenge for businesses when it comes to the competitive landscape. If you’re a smaller business it’s essential for your survival that you try and differentiate yourself from the competition.
Content marketing is the perfect tool for this purpose and can be a highly effective way for smaller businesses to set themselves apart within their niche or industry, and also should be used as a creative exercise of showcasing your consumers who you are.
Is your brand fun, playful or caring?
Is your company active within your local community?
These are all qualities that could set you apart from the rest and ones that your audience would like to know about. Think about your content as an opportunity to develop thoughtful insights into your company’s culture and values as consumers don't just buy a product they buy from the brand itself so this is your time to differentiate your business from the rest.
Have you ever bookmarked a web page to return later? Every time you create something powerful on your website you increase that likelihood on your web page being that bookmarked link and become a trusted resource. This not only builds up your credibility but also the opportunity for greater website traffic and conversions.
The very best example of this practice is trying to form a community around the content you produce. However, to do this you need to identify a specific need, being committed to it, and consistently generating great content around it. It’s no easy job, but if accurately executed could be a game-changer.
Any new customers will want peace of mind and that will come naturally if they know they’re dealing with experts. A good stream of well thought out content helps demonstrate your expertise by providing empowering knowledge, helping consumers make more educated purchasing decisions.
Your great content will reaffirm your leadership position for your new leads and potential customers, and the consistent production will build up your brand's trust and authority. As your brand authority increases you will see this by the quality of organic traffic being directed to your website. The more traffic, the more people consuming content, and more likely to convert to customers.
These consumers get continual reminders just how much you know about your industry and niche so when it comes to that time for them to make that purchase who will they be wanting to turn to... You.
In today’s business world, showcasing yourself as a credit to your industry and niche is what’s going to win you your next sale and the only way you're going to showcase this is by shouting and showing your abilities.
Therefore, your next digital marketing strategy and specifically the quality of your website's content will attract and convert new customers to your business.
Thankfully there are some very easy ways to help you produce this type of content and that is through the likes of a CMS on your website. These allow the production of content far easier and means you will be able to keep producing it as we know that consistency is key. If you don’t know much about CMS’s or why you should be using one for your business check out our 'What Is A CMS' blog post to help you in the right direction.