It’s safe to say that if you want your business found online, you’re going to have to satisfy the Google gods. During its infancy, the search engine giant made only a handful of minor changes to its algorithm. That meant that everyone knew how to craft websites that would catch SEO attention.
Marketers, however, could game the system too easily, using keyword stuffing and irrelevant links to attract bots. Search results ended up with massive numbers of headliner hits that were apropos to nothing the user was searching for. Users weren’t happy, and Google took note.
Now, Google makes thousands of tweaks to its algorithm every year. It makes major adjustments less frequently but with far greater impact. The search engine’s goal is to give the people what they want, not merely off-target results designed only for SEO. In other words, Google wants more sincere substance and less immaterial material.
The latest major iteration of Google’s algorithm reflects that goal. It’s driven by content that’s relevant, user-centric, and engaging. It’s looking for sites that are extremely responsive and easy to navigate. No out-of-date or irrelevant web pages should be left behind. Keywords should be current, and media used wisely and in multiple forms.
In other words, your content strategy now must embrace quality, not quantity. Here’s why that quality content is essential when growing your business online.
Why Quality Content is Essential
It Establishes Your Authority
So many companies measure success only by factors such as sales, market growth, and profit margins. These are all important. However, leaning into efforts that build your brand’s authority is the key to achieving any of them.
Authority targets multiple fronts. It includes the trust you earn from customers which will make them loyal to your brand. It’s the respect you earn from others in your industry, including your competitors, which turn into backlinks, mentions, and shares. And it’s the recognition you earn from search engines which recognize the value, relevance, and trustworthiness of your digital content.
Gaining authority doesn’t happen overnight. It’s the result of keen strategy and constant attention to content. But dogged determination on those fronts pays dividends. Growth marketing agency Relevance, for example, focuses on helping clients build authority via content. They recognize you can’t build your business online without creating content that establishes your authority in your industry and space. And as changes occur in customer pain points and needs, Google algorithms, and your industry, your content needs to keep up. Make that happen and you will grow.
It Boosts Engagement
John Russell said, “The more you engage with customers, the clearer things become and the easier it is to determine what you should be doing.” As the former vice president of one of the foremost brands in the world, he should know. Harley-Davidson’s owner’s group has built perhaps one of the most loyal brand communities ever. The company isn’t just selling motorcycles. They’re selling a lifestyle to customers whose values align with the brand’s.
Engagement is a two-way conversation. Quality content is a manifestation of that dialog. It’s answering questions, providing helpful guidance and education, and leaving the door open for people to respond to what they’re reading. All that, as Russell said, should help you “…determine what you should be doing.”
This matters because engaged prospects become customers and engaged customers keep coming back. It’s your task to make sure your website is hitting the mark here. Website metrics like traffic sources, as well as engagement and conversion rates will indicate whether your content is resonating with visitors. In turn, you use those metrics to drive improvement of your digital content.
Quality content is essential because it invites interaction with your brand. If you create that level of content, you’ll be giving customers a way to tell you what they want and need, and what problems they need you to solve for them. Then, you create more content that tells them you’ve heard what they have to say. They’ll stick around to find out what’s next.
It Moves People Through the Funnel
Success in building a business hinges on a brand’s ability to move people through the sales funnel. Top-of-the-funnel audience awareness must reach bottom-of-the-funnel loyalty to achieve your long-term goals. It therefore stands to reason that content you’re producing for those hovering at the top will differ from content you create for those at the bottom. But the quality of the content is essential to moving them through.
Content for those yet to enter the funnel must capture their attention. That requires creating something that separates your brand from your competitors as well as the rest of the digital noise they’re exposed to. The next step is to rouse their curiosity enough to make them take a deeper dive into what you’re about. Great content will entice them with your brand’s potential for solving their problems.
Converting inquisitive lookers to buyers demands persuasive content that convinces them of all the reasons why your brand is the right choice for them. Now, you have the opportunity to show them that your content hasn’t just been relevant to their lives, but truthful as well. If their customer experience aligns with promises made and delivered, they will remain loyal to you.
Dishonest content isn’t quality. It might capture some customers and improve SERPs in the short haul, but it won’t fool either in the long run. The bottom of that funnel may be smaller than the top, but it’s the foundation of a business. Put more loyal customers there and the entire funnel gets proportionally larger. That’s how your business grows.
It Harnesses the Power of Social Media
Social media opened a whole new frontier for brand content. It allows companies to reach new audiences. It’s instant, eye-catching, and inherently engaging. But quality and relevancy of the content there is still paramount. Throw up a post with an unrelated hashtag attached and the result is more likely alienation, not gravitation.
Some brands are masters of using social media to attract attention, convert prospects to customers, and build loyal communities. Take the e-commerce platform Shopify that uses its channels to not only dazzle potential users, but to educate them about e-commerce. Useful tips, guidance, how tos, and why nots are slathered with opportunities to capture leads.
Social media content can lead viewers to more in-depth content on your brand’s website. It provides an easy way for prospects and customers to comment, like, and share. And if you engage in conversation with them, you’ll learn what type of problems they have and what content they want to see.
In a world where your brand is competing for the attention of busy people with tons of distractions, social media content can catch their eyes. Your content across platforms needs to leave them wanting to learn more. So, give the people what they want.
Commit to Quality Content
When the world’s largest search engine changes its formula for choosing what content is seen and what is buried, you have to get on board. Couple that with the fact that few Googlers will look beyond page one of SERPs and you have little choice if you want to build your business online. Quality content is essential and it is what every human and bot is looking for. It’s important that your brand commits to it as well.
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