Using Content to Market Your Website

Let’s face it – no one goes anywhere online unless they actually want to view, read, or listen to something.

Content Marketing Definition

Content is – and Will Always be – King

Whether it’s a phone number, a how-to article or a cat video, people either consume your content or find some other content that interests them. It’s all about content.

So a good content marketing definition would be “subject matter that shows you know what you’re talking about and can help in some way.”

People will choose interesting content on a plain old website rather than uninteresting, uninformative nonsense on a glitzy, over-optimized popular site.

Here’s Wikipedia’s take on content marketing.

Good Content Isn’t Affected by Google Search Updates

People often report that their site has been “deindexed” by the latest Google (insert animal name here) update. What they really mean is the hack or loophole they’ve been using to get good rankings no longer works.

Google makes its money by giving people exactly what they’re searching for – exactly when they want it. When a website attempts to get better rankings using the latest scheme to “get on the 1st page of Google,” rather than merely providing some useful content, Google eventually figures it out and shuts them down.

No one likes to search for something, click on the #1 search result, only to find something totally unrelated to them original search term. It’s happened to me – a lot – and it’s annoying.

So a good content marketing definition starts by creating good quality content and publishing it on a regular basis. Remember, if you do something just a little bit better than your competitor, you’ll eventually come out on top.

Isn’t Creating Good Quality Content Difficult?

This is the problem, right? If creating good quality content and publishing it on a regular basis were easy, everyone would be doing it. Fact is, not everyone does it. Lots of people rely on hacks and loopholes to rank better. We’ve already discussed what happens to them.

But you can use that fact to your advantage. If you create good quality content and publish it on a regular basis, you could stand out and rank higher. Plus, your rankings will persist for a long time and remain in place no matter how many Google updates there are.

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Creating good quality content using the right keywords in the right way is only the first step in content marketing.

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The Basics of Good Content

There are two ways to begin creating good content. First, you could create content you’re interested in and hope other people might be interested in it too. Or you could find out what people want and need – and are already searching for – and create content that fits that want or need.

I’ll let you in on a little secret – the second way is harder but a lot more profitable. It’s harder because it requires that you find out what people want and need. Fortunately, by doing some keyword research, you can determine what people are already looking for. Then all you have to do is create content using those keywords.

Of course, there are guidelines to finding and using keywords in your content. And if you do it wrong, it not only won’t boost your rankings, it can even hurt your rankings.

So What’s Content Marketing?

Creating good quality content using the right keywords in the right way is only the first step in content marketing. You can enhance the effect of your good content by sharing it on social media – but that’s the subject of a future article in this series!

Once a visitor arrives on your website to view, read, or listen to your content, you must do two things.

First, your content must provide what we call “Know, Like and Trust.” That means building a relationship with your visitors over time so that they begin to know, like and trust you. You can’t expect them to do anything more until they see you as someone who knows what they’re talking about and can help them.

Once you establish “know, like and trust,” you can move on to step two – provide something that compels them to take some action. If you stop after step one, you’ll be helpful but you won’t make any money.

Advertise a special you’re offering. Ask them to sign-up for your newsletter. Get them to call your office. These are what we call a “Call to Action.”

These calls to action convert visitors who consume your content into leads. Isn’t that why you created your website in the first place?

If your website doesn’t actively provide leads, it’s only what we call an online business card. Online business cards provide some legitimacy, proving you’re an actual business and (hopefully) providing contact information – but they do little else.