This is the second of our three-part series on the importance of building page value for your website, and the three strategies you can implement to begin seeing more visitors and more conversions.
In the first part of the series, we talked about the concept of domain authority, and how this all-important score can provide your site with much-needed credibility and authority, not to mention increased visitors and conversions.
Now it’s time to take a look at the significant role that content plays in building page value.
What Is Content?
Content includes everything on your website, including videos, articles, podcasts, live streaming sessions, product pages, and shopping carts.
In other words, when visitors clicks on your company’s URL in a search engine, what do they see on that landing page?
What do they see when they click to visit another page on your website?
Your website content must be compelling, because you have a short period of time to engage visitors and grab their attention.
You are competing in a very small space for your piece of the pie, so your content must offer something valuable that can help turn a prospective customer into a customer who actually buys something from your business.
Things To Consider Before You Create Content
Some things to think about before you create content, include:
- Determine what makes you different – how are your products and services different than what your competitors are offering? What niche are you filling? What problem are you solving for your customers?
- Identify your target audience – who would most want the products and services you are selling? How do you reach them? You can answer all of these questions by creating what are known as customer/buyer personas. That’s a process by which you create profiles of the people or groups that most need what you are offering. But notice how you can’t begin creating these personas without first knowing what makes your company different?
Content strategist and marketing consultant Rhonda Hurwitz believes that “your entire content marketing strategy rests on the buyer persona you create. Being off the mark, can be a very expensive mistake.”
- Tailor your content to prospect temperature – ‘prospect temperature’ refers to how cold, warm or hot your audience feels about your business. Cold audiences know little to nothing about your company. Warm audiences know a little about your company, but aren’t fully sold and have not become customers. Hot audiences are customers whom you must continuously engage so that they remain customers and buy other products and services.
Ideally, you should offer content that appeals to each of three prospect temperatures. For example, blog articles, FAQs and your ‘About’ page are great for cold prospects, because they can answer the basic questions these prospects would have about your products and services as well as about your industry in general.
For warm prospects, content such as a free consultation, free e-Book or free webinar can help push them over the edge into becoming a customer. Hot prospects have already made a purchase from your business, so they are more likely to respond to content about related products and services.
- Hire outstanding writers – in many instances, you will have to hire an outside agency to create your content. Remember that every piece of content must adhere to the vision of your company. What is that vision? That unique thing that we previously mentioned that sets your business apart. Every piece of content you create must serve that thing, and more importantly, every piece of content must either solve a problem for your reader, or fulfill a want or need. That is the definition of ‘valuable,’ and it is something you can never forget.
Where To Promote Your Content
So what happens after you’ve created content and it’s up and running on your site?
You have to find ways for people to know that the content is there, or you have no chance of building page value.
It’s not enough to create outstanding content on your website, you must also promote that content on other platforms to drive visitors to your site.
But remember one thing: not all platforms are the right ones for your content.
In other words, you can’t implement a one-size-fits-all strategy when it comes to promoting your website content.
For example, a law firm would likely want to promote its content on a platform such as LinkedIn, which is known as a social media site where professionals gather, and is more likely to be attracted to legal content.
But a site like Instagram may not be as beneficial for a legal firm, whereas an ecommerce site that sells affordable jewelry aimed at Millennial’s would find that platform to be quite advantageous because of its focus on imagery and short videos.
If you’ve properly targeted your audience, you’ll know the platforms where they gather, and you will post enticing offers that will drive them back to your site.
Content Builds Long-Term Value
You simply can’t build page value without creating content that your visitors find valuable, day after day, week after week, and year after year. Chances are, any website that you think is outstanding is probably outstanding because it offers great content that is relevant, timely, constantly updated, informative and entertaining.
It doesn’t matter if you’re selling computer software, accounting services or rare books, your job is to create website pages that turn every subject or topic into something that is exciting, and that will generate the kind of attention that will increase traffic to your site.
For more insight into content marketing plans, please contact us today to schedule a consultation.