If you want to rank higher than your competitors on relevant search engine results pages and drive more sales, you will need to focus on the content that you craft for your website. Not only do search engines look at the content you publish on your site, but people also rely on it to work out whether they can trust your brand before they buy from you. So, having a strong content strategy will increase your conversion rate, facilitate brand growth, and improve your customer relationships.
However, creating content your customers actually want to read is easier said than done. Let’s take a look at six tips you can use to generate great website content that attracts the right people and drives sales.
1. Identify relevant questions your audience has (then answer them)
If you want your content to be successful, it needs to mean something to your audience. Answering your customers’ questions will show that you understand them and that you can offer the best solution to their problem. Addressing customer concerns through your content can also help boost your SEO efforts and help your website rank highly for relevant queries.
Your sales and customer service teams will be able to give you an idea of what questions your ideal clients tend to have. You can also look to social media and forums to understand what your customers are asking about products or services like yours, how they are phrasing their questions, and what they say about your competitors.
Once you have a list of questions your customers are asking, you can begin generating content to address these concerns. Let’s look at an organization that does a great job of building content around its target audience’s questions.
Victoria University Online does a great job of answering prospective students’ questions in its blog posts. For instance, their piece on how to become a financial planner has a title that likely matches what their ideal customer might type into a search engine when they’re thinking about pursuing a career in the field. Generating content that answers common questions like this will attract new and high-quality users to their site.
You can take the same approach by thinking about what information is essential to your target audience. Write blog posts that use relevant queries as their titles or headers to help search engines and people understand what your content is about, and be sure to go into depth to give readers all the information they need to make an informed decision.
2. Publish content to provide a better understanding of what you offer
Your selling page copy often won’t be enough to secure a customer, especially if they aren’t familiar with what you have to offer. By creating content that thoroughly explains your products or services, you can offer a lot of value to prospective customers and help them make the best purchase to suit their needs.
Create content that will help customers better understand your products or services. Focus on the best, most essential attributes of what you have to offer to showcase that your products and services are the best solutions for the needs of your customers. You should also make it clear who your products are for, and who they are unlikely to suit.
Let’s look at a company that does a great job of writing content to show their customers that they understand their needs and have a great solution.
Planbook, an online lesson planning program, uses blog posts to explain how their product will help educators optimize their daily planning time. Planning lessons is a common issue for teachers and, since new customers may not know how this product can fit into their routine, the company does a great job using content to demonstrate just how much they have to offer.
You can apply the same approach to your content strategy by thinking about how your content can double as a marketing tool. Create blog posts, videos, and other types of content to offer an in-depth look into your services or products. This is a great way to clarify and expand on your unique selling proposition and convince visitors to convert.
3. Use your expertise to help solve your audience’s problems
When your audience has a problem, they will often look for answers via a search engine like Google and Bing. You can provide a lot of value for your website visitors by addressing their pain points and offering solutions to build a relationship with them.
Content provides a great way to offer answers while showing your audience members that you care about their comfort and well-being. It also helps build your brand’s credibility by showing you know how to provide helpful solutions, so your ideal customers feel comfortable with your brand before purchasing from you.
Research your customers’ pain points to begin mapping out the type of content you will need. You can get great insight by administering a survey, researching what your competitors write about, or simply checking social media to understand what your target audience finds interesting.
Let’s look at a company that does a great job of solving problems with content on its site.
Take a look at this example from skincare retailer The Creme Shop. Since their target audience will be seeking solutions for their troublesome skin, they generate educational content that will offer steps to assist their customers.
You can apply the same approach to your content by creating articles to solve pain points and educate your customers about problems they might have. In addition to establishing yourself as a thought leader, you will also have the opportunity to build a relationship with customers as they consume your content before buying from you. This strategy will help boost your sales and allow your audience to connect with your brand.
4. Provide free tools your ideal customers will use and love
Free resources can be effective marketing tools for many businesses. They will attract customers to your site and provide a lot of value for visitors if you get them right.
To decide which free tools to offer, think about your customers’ everyday tasks and worries. You could offer free templates, calculators, and quizzes to benefit them.
Let’s look at a company that creates excellent free tools for its customers to support its marketing efforts and drive more sales.
FreshBooks, an online accounting software company, offers free, downloadable invoice templates that visitors can use repeatedly. This is a great way to attract new customers and give them a sample of what FreshBooks offers. The free resources also help FreshBooks rank for competitive keywords, helping them reach more of their ideal clients.
Think of any common tasks or problems your audience has, then consider whether you could offer them a free solution they’ll use over and over again. If you can give them a genuinely helpful tool, they’ll have an enjoyable experience of dealing with your business, which will increase the chances of them spending money with you in the future.
5. Demonstrate your expertise with ultimate guides
Ultimate guides offer a great way to demonstrate your industry knowledge and win over new clients. They aim to cover a helpful topic in great detail and allow you to show off your expertise, offer assistance to your customers, and earn their trust.
Let’s look at a company that does a great job of building ultimate guides to help their customers solve their problems.
BeaconLive, a virtual event platform, uses in-depth content to improve its online presence and build customer relationships. For instance, their ultimate guide to hosting a virtual panel discussion helps potential customers with the complicated process. Creating this content was a wise choice because it offers critical information for first-time hosts while pointing the visitor towards BeaconLive as a solution for hosting their virtual event. The in-depth information establishes BeaconLive as a trusted source for potential customers as they look for a platform to host their virtual events, too.
You can use the same approach for your marketing strategy by building in-depth guides with as much information on the subject as possible and including some internal links to point the reader back to your product or service as a solution.
Once you generate a few ultimate guides, visitors will begin to see your brand as a leader in your industry and look to you for knowledge and solutions.
6. Survey your audience to discover what they need
One of the simplest and most effective ways to ensure you’re meeting your customers’ needs is to ask them what they want to see from you. Showing interest in your customers’ opinions will ensure they never forget your business.
You can do this with a simple survey or social media poll. Invite your customers to vote on your next blog post topic or send out a brief survey in your email marketing campaign asking for ideas for new content.
Once you have this information, use it to shape your content strategy. Make a list of content ideas and evaluate your existing blog posts to see if there’s anything you’ve already covered. When you have created the content customers asked for, share it with your target audience via social media. By taking their advice, you’ll not only earn their trust but show them that your business cares about their customers.
Summary
High-quality content is a must-have for any website. It will attract new users to your website and offer solutions that show potential customers what your company can do.
Take the time to create a variety of great content for your site and always focus on your customers. Before long, you’ll see an increase in conversions as more and more of your target audience finds your brand.
Are you interested in more helpful tips? Check out some other blog posts on iLounge for more helpful articles to grow your business and create great content for your target customers.
