Is Your Web Content Strategy a Winning or Losing Proposition?

Dave Thomas

April 18, 2012


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As your small business looks to ramp up its revenue, one of the ways to do just that is by reviewing and fixing any issues with your web content strategy.

In order to successfully deploy the right web content strategy, everything centers on having a solid plan in place, a plan that best serves your company’s resources. Oftentimes it is the simple things on your Web site that prove most important, so remember to never overlook those things.

Among the things to remember with your site’s content strategy is:

Make sure the basics are easily accessible – When putting together or reviewing your web content strategy, be sure that your Web site pages provide the necessary information for readers to reach out to you. You want the page that discusses what you can do for customers up front, along with basic information on your company and how best to reach your business. While this sounds like web content 101, you would be surprised how many business sites make potential customers and even current ones go on a wild goose chase in order to obtain such details;
Provide fresh content regularly – Another item that sounds like a no-brainer, but is oftentimes violated. Your content should be updated on a regular basis, even if it is only short blog posts, etc. Not only is having fresh content important for consumers coming to the site, but also from the standpoint of search engines. Sites like Google and Yahoo crawl countless Web sites daily, and your site will get lost in the shuffle if content is outdated;
Key in on your keywords – It is also important that your site’s keywords are rich for search sites in order to drive more traffic to your site. Make sure those writing your site’s content are well versed in how to write SEO copy, which is not the same as just writing a bunch of text that is not keyword-driven. If your site for example sells various forms of insurance, make sure that your copy touches on items like life insurance, auto insurance, health insurance, etc. The more you are using keywords like insurance, policies, premiums, etc., the more traffic you can move to your site;
Don’t overlook importance of headlines – Oftentimes those heading up the writing content do not put enough emphasis on simple things like headlines, subheads, etc. Make sure your headlines are keyword rich and attractive enough to capture the eyes of readers. Your headlines also need to fit your articles so that people coming to your site are not left scratching their heads when trying to tie the article to the headline and vice-versa;
Content promotion is critical – Another key factor is making sure your site’s content is well promoted. While your site may have stellar content, it is important that people know about it, meaning social media should definitely be high on your priority list. Some of the sites that should most garner your attention include Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn and now even Pinterest. By using social media to promote your content, you expand your work to people that may not have heard of you before, allow for real-time interaction, and improve your networking possibilities;
Link up for more success – Small business owners also need to make sure they utilize as much linking as possible on their sites. Along with improving your search engine ratings, the additional linking also adds to the experience of each person visiting your site, meaning the longer they are on your site, the more chance of them making a purchase and/or recommending your site to others;
Accept feedback and engage your visitors – Some businesses are reluctant to engage visitors on their site for fear some negative comments may appear. The idea here is to allow visitors the opportunity to comment within your site and keep the discussion going. If you have an article on your site describing why 20-somethings should not overlook the importance of having life insurance, leave room for comments at the end of the article and/or start a forums section on the site. Just as linking is important in keeping visitors on your site longer, allowing them to comment is too. Sites that engage with their visitors only stand to reason to bring more traffic to their venues.

As you can see, crafting a winning web content strategy is not rocket science, but it is something that should be reviewed and improved wherever needed.