Creating an Online Content Strategy
You must attract search users if you want to grow your customer base. To do that you need to show up in search results so that customers see your business when making their purchasing decisions.
Content marketing is an underutilized but highly effective tool in your marketing mix. It’s underutilized because creating content requires thought, writing, and/or producing. You can leap ahead of competitors who are unable or unwilling to bother with content creation.
Adding content such as blog posts and videos to your website and regular posts to your social sites helps you get found on search, demonstrates your expertise, and puts your business in front of a highly targeted audience of potential customers.
Content For SEO
“Not only should content be part of your local SEO plans, but SEO should be part of your content strategy.” – Nick Ponte, #1 Hawaii SEO agency.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) means optimizing your content for search results and linking to your website pages from your other online media. It also requires writing your website title pages and descriptions to match the content on the page. SEO affects where your content appears in search. It goes hand-in-hand with successfully leveraging your content to create higher visibility for your business in search engine results.
Well-written and optimized online content also affects whether search users will click through to your website. Engagement with your content and getting people to view your website are the ultimate goals, but getting eyes on the links that lead to your website is where you need to start.
One way we get more eyes on your website is to start with social media posts and/or press releases with links to your website or blog post to ‘Learn more.’
Benefits of Content Marketing
Your online content helps search engines know exactly what services or products you provide, which adds to your ability to rank your business higher in search results. Additionally, multiple links to a variety of content on your website can dominate valuable real estate on search results pages – at the top where it counts – at the exact moment your hyper-targeted audience is looking for exactly what you sell. Yes, searches can be that precise.
Content management includes optimization of all your illustrations and photos by adding your company information. This includes links to your website and other online pages from your photos that show up in other places. Crazy smart, isn’t it?
The most commonly used content media are social pages and posts (96%) and videos (76%). A good content management strategy incorporates blogs, posts, and videos, often used in combination. Your strategy can also include press releases, both to local and digital news media.
Creating content should be part of the marketing plan of any small business looking to appear in search results and grow awareness of your brand, products, and services.
