Website Design: 10 Awesome Content Marketing Tips


As part of our journey to defining perfect website design, Envision recently attended a conference on search engine optimization and learned a lot of nifty stuff.  One of the presenters, Idea launch, offered some in depth tips for enhancing your  content marketing so we thought we would share them with you.

1.     Establish trust

Earning trust is the ultimate goal of content marketing. And it’s not easy. Start by listening to your customers and asking them questions. Discover their problems and supply the solutions they need. Make sure that the content you create is something customers can believe and that it offers guidance and advice in a meaningful way. This type of information will build trust in your company as a solution provider and eventually lead to the sale.

2.     Listen Up With Social Media

Listening to what people are saying about your company, your brand, your service and your competition is the starting point for content marketing. Traditional methods for harvesting data include customer surveys, focus groups, feedback tools and other methods that tend to push out questions that pull in the answers. But Social Media has changed all of that. Online conversations can be tracked and measured with free tools like search.twitter.com, Google Alerts, Technorati, Boardreader and more.

3.     Listen Up With Analytics

Listening to what people are searching for on the web is another starting point for content marketing. Keyword research tools offer insight on keyword popularity, pay per click price and the hot topics for content creation. Web analytics tell you which keywords drive traffic to your site and what pages readers land on for answers. Bounce rates tell you if visitors like the content they find, and conversion rates tell you if they believe what you say.

4.     Go Beyond Search Engines

Social media takes you beyond search engines. You understand how to conduct keyword research to find the current memes in your online community. What tags do people use, and what’s top of mind? Social media referrals not only happen, but such leads are more valuable. Why? Because prospective customers become interested by reading something valuable that resonated and caused them to want to work with you – and tell their friends about you.

5.     Stop Selling and Start Selling

Talking too much about your company, your product features and benefits, your exceptional services and awards is guaranteed to turn off customers. Instead, focus on customers’ needs and wants. Your customers demand educational content without the marketing spin. Cut back on the self-promotional speak and earn trust with your customers with quality information that’s readily available online. Quality content makes you a trusted advisor and partner with your customers.

6.     Beware of Bias

Turning your company’s website into a “destination” site for your target audience is an ambitious goal. Why” Readers view information sites created by companies as “biased” and therefore less valuable. If possible, create intellectual articles and videos from industry leaders outside your company to help validate your commitment to knowledge vs. sales. Offer free tools that solve problems on-the-fly. Remove all promotions within any rich content to confirm your commitment to thought leadership.

7.     Great Content from Great Writers

Great content is more than useful information. It’s compelling, entertaining writing that hooks readers and keeps them coming back for more. After all, searchers and browsers are readers. So a successful content marketing strategy begins with great writers who know how to craft a story and tell it well. Carefully screen writers, and hire only the best. Great content isn’t easy to write, but some writers have it down to a science. Find the best writers.

8.     Pick Writers with Expertise

Who does your customer want to talk with on a daily basis? Probably your product experts and customer service people. Developing content that answers your customers’ product and service problems, and having your employees use your content questions in a genuine voice will do more to engage customers and grow your business.

9.     Tips Build Trust

You can flood your prospects with advertising, or you can supply them with insight, information and know-how they can use. Try building a knowledge center packed with tips and advice. Tips are powerful things; they’re the bridge that connects prospects to you. By solving customer problems and improving their lives, you’ll earn their trust. And trust turns browsers into believers and believers into buyers

10.     Avoid the Doorstops

The sale is done. Now how do you cement the relationship? Not with a thick, boring manual that’s hard to navigate and find answers. Chances are it’ll end up as a doorstop. Replace it with a guide full of useful advice and entertaining tips that’s fun to read, easy to understand and available online and off. Quality content and great tips guide, clarity, enlighten and connect.

 

Are you considering a web design or redesign?

The effort poses many questions: What will make my site better and more effective? What do I absolutely need to take into account for my end users? Are there serious SEO issues or new search engine rules that I should watch out for? The following free eBook answers the most crtical questions related to a successful web redesign project:

  • Key elements and features “must-haves” for your homepage.
  • Critical steps to protect your SEO and content during a site redesign.
  • Steps you can take to improve your site right now while the redesign project is underway.

If you found these tips valuable, we’ll be posting 10 more tips in our next blog post.  Also, visit ideaLaunch.com for more content marketing tips and advice.