Robyn Rivera
Content marketing is a key part of visibility online. But, unfortunately, not all content is made equal, and the wrong kind of content can actually hurt your online visibility.
In order to figure out how to create the right kind of content online, you need to learn how to avoid creating the wrong kind of content.
There are a lot of reasons to create content — to drive traffic to your website, to connect with social media followers, etc. — but there’s only one reason that should matter, and that’s to meet the needs of your audience.
When you create content, you should always do it with your audience first and foremost in your mind. And, the best way to do that is by letting the data guide your content.
Don’t just throw topics out there hoping one will stick. Figure out what questions your customers have that you can answer. Also, monitor the results of the content you’ve created in the past so you know what works and what doesn’t.
The phrase, “content is king,” is a common one in the SEO world, so common, in fact, that many small business owners operating online are also familiar with it.
Savvy small business owners know how important it is to build organic visibility online, and that content marketing is a critical aspect of that organic visibility. Therefore, they aim to add content to their website on a regular basis.
This is a great first step, but it’s important not to get so caught up in making sure that you post that you end up producing subpar content. Mediocre content doesn’t do anyone any good, and since Google values quality, it probably won’t do you much good in terms of organic rankings, either.
Producing content regularly is good, but only if that content meets a need and provides value to the people searching for it.
Blogging has dominated content marketing and the world of SEO for a long time now. And, it’s undoubtedly a great way to add content to your website on a regular basis and keep it fresh. However, you shouldn’t limit yourself to just blog posts when it comes to content marketing.
The truth is that there’s an endless amount of content you could be creating for your website. Here are a few types of content you could add to your website that aren’t blog posts:
Mix it up by creating all kinds of content for your followers. Not everyone wants to read a blog, and the better you can connect with your audience, the more successful you’ll be online.
As I’ve already emphasized, value is important when it comes to creating content. Unfortunately, most of the content out there provides very little value. It’s not because the people creating it don’t really care about adding value. It’s because they haven’t taken the time to get to know their audience.
Valuable content is content that meets a need. But, you can’t meet a need if you don’t know it exists.
So many businesses make the mistake of writing for the buyer’s persona they have in their minds. While this persona may be somewhat accurate, it will never replace the value of getting to know the real people you are targeting with your content.
So, you’ve done your research, written your article, and had someone on your team edit it for grammar and readability. Finally, the time to publish has come, your content has been created, and your job is done — right? Wrong!
Effective content marketing goes far beyond simply publishing content. It’s also about getting that content out there with the right distribution strategy.
To put it bluntly, building content that no one will see does no one any good, not even your website! Don’t publish and then forget about your content; promote it where your audience will see it.
A lot of small business owners are under the impression that, if they write a single blog post or social media post, they’ll automatically rank on page one in the SERP (search engine results pages) or gain thousands of followers. But, it doesn’t work that way.
Content marketing is a key part of online visibility, but it’s not a strategy that yields overnight results. It’s a strategy that takes consistency and time.
The danger of believing that you’ll see immediate results is giving up too quickly. If you’re not seeing results in a couple of weeks or months, it’s easy to think that your efforts and time are wasted.
Don’t make the mistake of giving up too soon. Keep at it, and realize that, though it may not seem like it now, your efforts will pay off in the long run.
Building content is, ultimately, all about promoting your business by making it more visible. But, no one wants to read or watch content that’s solely promotion-based, and it’s not the value ad that it should be.
There’s a time and place for promotion, but it should only be a small part of your content building strategy.
The best kind of promotion comes from producing content that people want to see and that provides value for your people. With this kind of content, you’re not just selling them on a product or service; you’re establishing trust and selling them on your brand. That goes a lot farther in the long run.
Building your website is just the first step toward building an online presence for your business. You also need to make your website visible, which, in part, is accomplished through content marketing.
In addition to building content, organic visibility depends on a number of other factors, from website responsiveness to site speed. Start building an SEO-friendly website for your business today!