As a website owner or manager, you’re no doubt aware of the importance of content to your site. But having that knowledge rarely translates into action. Many businesses, particularly small and medium enterprises (SMEs) don’t have the skills or the manpower to ensure their content is really working for them.
From blogs and social media posts to infographics and video, fresh, original, and accurate content is, I believe, the most critical component to having a successful website. But is your content doing its job? Here are a few tell-tale signs that you may need to tweak or completely revamp your web content:
The Wrong People Are Signing Up
Let’s say you start offering a 7-day free trial for your product on social media. Fortunately for you, your post gets a lot of action, and many people are signing up.
While this may seem like a “win”, it really depends on who is signing up for that free trial.
The idea is to convert these leads, not have them test your product and take off. Your content should be attracting your ideal clients – people who will actually buy or invest in your product or service.
That isn’t to say that there won’t be outliers. You can and should target people outside of your ideal buyer persona. But if 50% of your content isn’t attracting those who are within your target market (i.e., targeted interests, geographic location, industry, income level, etc.), your content marketing strategy has got to change.
No One’s Sharing Your Content
Effective content is shareable content. If no one is sharing your content, then that is a clear sign that your content lacks quality, isn’t engaging, and really isn’t doing your brand any favours.
Should you be fortunate enough for your content to go viral, great! But even getting a few shares amongst customers or others in your industry will be a nice exposure boost. More exposure means more leads and more leads, of course, means more conversions.
Your Leads Are Asking About Services You Don’t Offer
Yes, there will be the occasional prospect who will reach out and ask you about a product or service you don’t offer. But if you find this happening on a regular basis, it’s your content that’s usually to blame.
The content you create should be directly tied to your business, your industry, or your interests. For example, if you’re a dog walker by trade, you shouldn’t produce articles on dog training or grooming.
As a rule, stick to topics and sub-topics that are immediately related to what you do. Otherwise, you’ll not only confuse visitors, but you’ll be wasting resources on leads who aren’t interested in what you have to offer.
Your Search Engine Ranking Is Tanking
Producing engaging and interesting content related to your interests or industry that people love is just as important as writing content that the search engines love. In fact, the two are so closely linked that 76% of marketers who have a strategic search engine optimisation (SEO) campaign in place will invest in the creation of quality content.
Backlinks, keywords, and other SEO methods are crucial for the success of your web content. If your website has been steadily moving down the ranks – or if it hasn’t moved up at all – then your content isn’t working as hard for you as it could be.
Help With Written Content
Regular blog or social media posts are so important to delivering relevant and accurate information to your ideal clients. They demonstrate your area knowledge, expertise, and willingness to share that expertise. If writing isn’t your thing, and your staff are focused on actually carrying out your business, then 2020 is the year for you to enlist the help of a writer to take that burden from you.
I invite you to contact me to discuss how I can help.
Kerry
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