If you feel like writing website content is intimidating, you’re not alone. Most business owners struggle with this task, even though most are subject-matter experts in their fields. Truly strong content is not only interesting – it ranks well in Google, it gets viral traction through social media, and it converts readers into buyers. How can your content measure up?
The tips below will get you up to speed in no time.
1. Think about your audience.
One of the first and most important exercises involved in marketing any business is identifying a target audience. This exercise gives a lot of business owners trouble, because most want to believe that their products, services, or content are useful to everybody. But in reality, the more you focus on the very specific audiences you serve, the more useful your content will be. Drawing your ideal customers in with content is extremely effective – 79% of companies with a blog report a positive return on investment – so this is definitely a worthwhile exercise.
Ask yourself – who, specifically, is mostly likely to buy your products or services? How old are they? Where do they live? What is their life like? How do they spend their days? Where do they hang out online? And most importantly, what are their specific pain points, and how can you solve those? The more details you can fill in, the more likely you will be to create content that will be sought after and read by exactly the people you want to sell to.
2. Use the right keywords.
Now that you have an idea for site content that is perfect for your target audience, you have to make sure it will be found. Not including critical keywords and phrases in your copy will keep it from being found in search engines. So think about exactly what your ideal customers will be searching for when they find your content, and then make sure to use those keywords. Don’t overdo it – that can get you in trouble with search engines, which are finely attuned to poorly-written content intended to trick their algorithms. But do use your keyword throughout – 4-5 times per 500 words is a good target range.
It’s generally considered a good idea to focus on one keyword, but it’s also great to use other words and phrases that may be important to your audience. Most importantly, make sure that your copy flows naturally and doesn’t seem like it was written by a keyword-generating robot. You will avoid ranking penalties, and your readers will appreciate the effort.
3. Make sure your site content is useful, interesting and actionable.
Even with the best strategy in place, if your content is boring or not useful, no one will read it. Aim to write original content that isn’t regurgitated from your competitors or other industry sources, and make sure it’s engaging. The important question here is why would people come to you for this information, as opposed to anyone else?
It’s also a great idea to make sure your content is actionable – after all, people came to you looking for an answer, and you ultimately want them to do something or take action in some way. Even if that action is simply buying something from you – or especially if it is – make sure you drive your readers toward a solid goal with your site content.
4. Make sure your content is well-written.
If your content is poorly written, don’t expect that people won’t notice. A poorly-written article will damage your credibility, so make sure that all your site content is well-written, thoroughly proofread, spell-checked and professional. It should also communicate your subject-matter expertise and authority. When people feel like you’re the authority on a subject, this breeds confidence – which will both bring them back for more information and ultimately ease the path to purchasing.
5. Add images and videos
This one is pretty simple. Add images and videos to your content wherever it seems natural to do so. Total views increase as much as 94% when articles have a relevant photo or infographic. And articles with an image every 75-100 words will get double the number of shares on social media.
Writing strong site content can be a daunting task, but if you follow these guidelines, you’ll find yourself ranking strongly and leading the pack as a subject-matter expert in no time. From there, it’s a hop, skip and a jump to a sale.