Increase your return on investment with tailormade marketing strategies.
Common Content Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
Between keywords, readability, and understanding user intent, content writing for websites or social media can be difficult even if you’re an experienced writer. Whether you are a small business with a small website or a large corporation with an even larger website, it is crucial to know about some of the most common content mistakes and how to avoid them. As experts in search engine optimization and website design, the team at FirstPage Marketing knows how important content is for SEO and building trust in your brand. That’s why we’ve put together a list of 3 of the most common content mistakes to help you avoid them in your writing efforts and create content that will enhance your website and make your brand shine.
Learn about some easy ways to quickly improve SEO for your website.
3 Common Content Mistakes
The following mistakes are all too easy to make when writing content for your website, blog, and social media posts:
1. Starting Without a Clear Strategy in Place
When it comes to content creation, it is crucial to begin with the end in mind. The last thing you want is to start writing and then realize halfway through that you have no idea where you’re going or what the entire purpose of this content is. The cornerstone of any successful content marketing activity is a detailed and thoughtful strategy. When building this strategy, you’ll need to think about 3 key elements: your goals, your audience, and the purpose of your content.
When thinking about your goals, consider if you are trying to reach new customers or drive sales within your existing customer base. You may even be trying to raise awareness for a new product or new service, so be sure to nail down your specific goal(s) before starting anything else. Regardless of your goals, focus on what you want to achieve and make this the core of your strategy. Now that you know your goals, you’ll need to think about your audience and how to appeal to them.
2. Not Knowing Your Customers
To write for your customers, you will first need to get to know them. Who are they? What do they want to achieve? How can you help them? Knowing your audience is crucial for creating content that they find relevant and engaging. Instead of trying to appeal to everyone, get to know your audience through surveys feedback forms, market research, and good old in-person discussion. Next, use the information gained via these methods to get an understanding of your audience demographics and behaviours to build detailed customer personas. These personas act as points of reference when creating content and can guide the tone and goal of each page or article, so they’re well worth creating.
By taking the time to discover the problems your market is facing, the difficulties customers are having, and the solutions you can offer, you’ll be able to create content that shows up in relevant searches and encourages customers to reach out to your business or drop by your physical location.
3. Too Much Promotion
Let’s face it. No one wants to hear a long-winded and pushy sales pitch for a specific product or service. If you want to sell your products or services, you need to convince customers that your business is trustworthy and competent. While you may view your website content or social media posts as the perfect place to advertise, the reality is that you will need to recognize the difference between advertising and content marketing. While advertising is the act of directly promoting your business, content marketing indirectly promotes your company by sharing business-related insights, information, and expertise for free. Essentially, good content marketing means giving something to potential customers in the hopes that they will want to support your business in return. Content marketing takes more time, thought, and effort, but it can pay dividends when done right.
As noted earlier, it’s always crucial to think about the purpose of your content and how it can benefit readers. For example, if you’re a local florist, try writing a blog article that outlines how to effectively care for cut flowers and maximize their life. In this article, you can demonstrate your expertise, the importance of choosing the right florist, and leave a call to action within the article. This allows you to promote your business while giving customers something they were looking for, creating a win-win situation and inspiring readers to visit your site, submit a contact form, or visit you in person. While you may not convert every reader into a customer, you will increase customer loyalty, brand presence, and online authority, making this type of content well worth the effort.
To learn more about website content, web design, and SEO, get in touch with the experts at FirstPage Marketing. We can be reached at 604-866-2230 or through our online contact form and will be happy to answer any questions you may have about content for your website.