So you think no one’s reading your website, eh? Why worry about what words you use when no one’s paying attention to what it says? You’re probably right, except that you’re also wrong. Not many human beings go to a website to read at length. However, there is one thing that’s reading your website, and that’s Google (and other search engines).
Why you need a content strategy
Any business owner or techie will tell you the importance of having a website. It’s a digital footprint for your business where potential consumers can go to learn more about you before they invest. They can find where you’re located, what your mission, vision and values are, what you have to offer, and so much more. But are they able to find it?
There are a lot of pieces involved in the content strategy puzzle, some of them being:
- Website content (written, visual, audial, and interactive)
- Branding
- Sales funnels
- Key channels
All of these elements and more help to ensure that your website and, therefore, your business is actually able to reach the intended audience, engage them, and effectively inform and guide them through the sales process. Without intentionally factoring in these concepts, you risk missing a large chunk of potential users, buyers, clients, or whatever you’re name for them is. Google (and other search engines) won’t rank your website high enough on SERPs, your social marketing strategy will stretch too thin and/or fall flat, and your bounce rates will out-weigh your conversions.
So, what can you do to mitigate these risks?
Building a content strategy that works
There are a variety of things that can be done to ensure that you not only have a beautiful website, but that you have a site that’s findable and actually does what it’s supposed to do: make you money.
1. Focus on the length of your text
“Less is more” is a really good rule of thumb when it comes to writing content on your website. Like the first paragraph of this article stated, people generally aren’t visiting your site to read everything that you’ve spent the time to write. They’re looking for a very specific piece of information and your job is to make sure that information is easy for them to find, otherwise they’ll bounce.
Specific pages to pay attention to are your landing pages. What pages are they mostly likely going to land on from Google? Once you have that figured out, you can make sure that content on those pages is easy for them to sift through. Ways you can accomplish this is with:
- Bulleted lists
- Short paragraphs
- Short, well thought out CTAs
If you’re worried that they will need more information than the 300 characters or less that’s written on the landing page, give them the option to “learn more.” Blogs, content-heavy pages, and FAQs are great for ensuring they get their questions answered when they have them.
2. Internal pages specific for content-heavy information
There are most likely going to be times when people do need to do a little bit more reading to learn more about some aspect of your business before they’re ready to buy in. These pages are great to have, but you shouldn’t assume that everyone will need to sift through this information either.
Giving people the option to access further information than the little bit that’s on the landing page will improve user experience. All while still providing more in-depth information and targeted keywords without creating confusion or disturbing regular traffic.
3. Utilize keywords
It’s important to be both intentional about how you’re writing as well as what you are writing. Google analyzes the content on your website to determine the relevancy of it based on what other users are searching. If you strategically include words that are often being searched for, Google and other search engines will reward you for this effort by ranking you higher on SERPs. Do it poorly, and you will be flagged by search engines as fake or problematic. Here are some things not to do: https://yoast.com/keyword-mistakes/
Performing quality keyword research will ensure that you’re using these words in your headings, body texts, and CTAs.
4. Have intentional and informational headlines and CTAs
Being intentional about your headings and CTAs means a few different things. It means that it’s concise and catching, while still informational and helpful. It also means implementing keywords organically (if it doesn’t work in your heading, it doesn’t work in your heading and you can find other ways to include them).
Another thing to keep in mind is your CTAs and your buttons. A good rule of thumb for buttons is that they’re no more than two words and they successfully inform users where they’re going to go when they click on it. Remember: a confused user is an unhappy user and unhappy users leave. Similarly, your CTAs should be short, sweet, and informative so users know exactly what their next steps are.
5. Be consistent across platforms
This comes into play when developing your brand and brand story. Once you’ve established how your brand should look, feel, and sound, you can implement what you do next effectively and easily. In order to effectively implement a content strategy, it’s important that your brand identity and voice is the same no matter where you’re implementing content. If you sound different between your ads, your website, and your social media platform, users aren’t going to trust you or know what to expect when it comes time to convert.
6. Distribute content evenly and continuously
According to Elementor, there are three different spaces that you can capitalize on content distribution. These are:
- Paid Channels (Pay-Per-Clicks, ads, sponsored content)
- Earned Channels (Shares, likes, mentions, reviews)
- Owned Channels (Website, blog, social media)
Once you’ve established the right keywords, the voice of your brand, and well as branding itself, you will be able to dish out content in all of these areas in a way that’s both strategically done and consistent from all angles. No matter where users find or interact with your brand, it should always feel and sound the same. Pick the modes of communication and advertising that make the most sense for you and be as consistent as you possible can across those applications.
Getting started with The Cultural North
All of this sounds well and fine, but actually coming up with a strategy and implementing it might not fit in with your current capacity. If you need a partner in your marketing strategy, then get connected with us!
Learn more about all of your available services here.