Updated 11/6/17
Most business owners understand the importance of their
website design, their branded social media pages, and even the idea of search
engine optimization, but when it comes to content marketing or blogging, they can’t seem to pinpoint why it’s
so important.
In this article, we’ll hit on the top five reasons you
should be creating content for your business. Whether that is through adding
content to your existing web pages or starting up a “news” or “blogging”
section of your website.
#1 Content Helps You
Rank Better in Search Engines
In the past few years, Google has decided that fresh, quality
content is going to be an essential aspect of getting ranked in search.
If your website has pages with giant pictures and a few
skinny bullet points, search engines (and potentially your audience) aren’t
getting much valuable information about your business.
Search engines need to have enough content to digest to
figure out what a page is all about. The general rule of thumb is to have at
least 350 words on a page.
#2 Content Provides
Additional Search Opportunities
Along with search engines being able to digest your website,
content can also provide additional opportunities with search through long-tail
keyword searches and the chance of being displayed in Google’s Answer Box.
Long-tail keywords are starting to take over search with the
addition of Voice Search capabilities. People are starting to rely on search
engines to provide more specific information and therefore are starting to
search using longer phrases or even full sentences.
For example, instead of searching for “pest control” someone
might instead search for “pest control near Orlando” or “How do I get rid of
fleas in my house?” These are both examples of things you can optimize for on
your website to help get you additional traffic.
On the other hand, the Google’s Answer Box has started to
take some of these long-tail questions and providing the answer right in
Google. Google’s Answer Box sits above all other rank positions and has been
coined “rank zero”.
According to Search Engine Watch, “on average Google Answer Box
secures a 32.3% click-through rate.” Which means for every term you
appear in the Answer Box for, you get approximately 32 percent market share of
the volume for that term.
#3 Content Provides Customers
With Answers To Their Questions
FAQs and help pages are typically made up of questions that
companies want to answer, but if social media has taught us anything, it’s that
the frequently asked questions or concerns can be very different from the ones
companies thought their customers had.
By finding and writing about these commonly asked questions
you can become the business that helped solve your customers' problems, instead
of leaving them wondering. This same idea helps you get ranked higher in search
engines when people search for the questions they have about your industry.
Your quality blog post that focuses on and answers these questions will show up
higher than just an FAQ page.
#4 Content Can Grow
Your Customer List
Whether it is a free report or guide, checklist, eBook,
video or some other type of content, having something to offer in exchange for
customer information can be a great way to grow your prospect list.
Offering this type of unique, informative content will
inspire people to take action and become part of your email list, which you can
then continue to communicate with them and potentially turn them into
customers.
#5 Content Builds
Your Brand
Creating content allows you to shape and build your brand
voice and authority. If you continue to write blog posts around the same
subject matter, you begin to build your website’s authority for that subject in
the eyes of the search engines and your customers.
Not only could this lead to higher rankings for desired
keywords, but also your customers will come to search you out for your
expertise.
We understand that as a business owner, you might not have
the time or team to create the content needed to do all of the things discussed
in this article. The good news is that you don't have to do it yourself.
At Sales & Marketing Technologies, we have a team of
skilled writers and search engine gurus to help create
content that will help your business grow. If you need help with your content
development, call us today at (407) 682-2222