I’ll start this blog by letting you know that your chances of creating content that leads to an instant sale are low. Extremely low. It’s a common misconception that content brings traffic which converts at the same rate as any other page on your website. Put simply – it’s the start of a relationship with a potential customer, but you need to nurture that relationship for it to deliver sales.
Start at the beginning
The biggest mistake you can make when writing content is assuming you know what to write, without research. Searching with tools like Google Trends (free), SEMRush (paid) or Ahrefs (paid) can give you the upper hand when writing content. If your business is in the gardening industry, for example, then searching these tools for ‘gardening’, ‘lawn’ or ‘summer flowers’ would be a great place to start. You’ll be presented with a list of keywords and questions that people are searching for, and that gives you the perfect springboard for your content.
Key tasks:
- Identify primary keywords that are central to your topic – for example, a gardening business could identify the keyword ‘lawn mowing’.
- Find secondary keywords to support the primary ones. These are usually lower search volumes and less competitive. An example here could be can you mow a wet lawn?
- Analyse the search intent behind the keywords to align your content with what users are looking for – if they’re informational, it’s unlikely that those users will convert, but it’s vital to use this content to build rapport with users.
Failing to Plan is Planning to Fail
With your keywords selected, it’s time to plan your content. This step involves deciding the format and the angle of your blog post or webpage. Think about what type of content will best serve the keyword: Is it an informational blog post, a how-to guide, a product review, or a video tutorial?
Key tasks:
- Outline the structure of your content, including headings and subheadings.
- Decide on the content type (blog post, video, infographic, etc.).
- Determine the unique angle or perspective your content will provide.
- Where will you place your call-to-action? Will it be a newsletter sign up, or a link to a product page?
It’s time to write
Now, start crafting your content. Remember, the goal is to create content that provides value to your readers. Quality content is informative, engaging, and well-written. Ensure your keywords are integrated naturally into the content, especially in key areas like the title, headers, and opening paragraphs. Nobody wants a list of keywords to read through – they want to learn from your expertise.
Key tasks:
- Use a clear, engaging style.
- Include your primary and secondary keywords naturally.
- Ensure your content answers questions and solves problems related to your keywords.
Optimise for SEO
Beyond keyword integration, several other SEO elements should be optimised:
- Meta titles and descriptions: Write compelling meta titles and descriptions with keywords to improve click-through rates.
- URL structure: Ensure URLs are concise and include a keyword.
- Internal linking: Link to other relevant content on your site to keep users engaged and improve site authority.
- Image optimisation: Use relevant images and include alt text with keywords to help search engines understand and index your content better.
If you’re using WordPress for your website, Yoast is a great free plugin to guide you through the process.
A Picture Paints a Thousand Words
People are visual creatures, and images, videos, and infographics can make your content more engaging and shareable. They also help break up text and illustrate complex ideas. Make sure your visuals are high quality and relevant to the content. Ensure your alt tags contain an accurate description of your images too – this aids accessibility and also helps Google to understand more about your content.
Hit Publish!
Once your content is polished and ready, it’s time to publish. But publishing is only half the battle; promoting your content is key to driving traffic. Share your content on social media platforms, email newsletters, and other relevant online communities.
Key tasks:
- Share on social media with engaging snippets from the content.
- Send out a newsletter to your email list.
Monitor Performance and Iterate
After your content is live, use tools like Google Analytics to monitor its performance. Look at metrics such as page views, average time on page, and bounce rate to gauge how well your content is performing. Use this data to refine and improve future content.
The process of publishing content can drive traffic and it’s important to look at where those users go next. Do they view your product pages, or are they bouncing and closing the website? If they’re bouncing, you should review where your call-to-action is placed, and look at whether it’s relevant to your users.
By following these steps, you can create content that not only attracts but also retains user interest, while simultaneously enhancing your SEO efforts. Remember, the key to successful SEO content lies in a balance between catering to search engines and providing real value to your readers. If you’re publishing content but it isn’t converting into commercial value, we can help. Send us your details and we’d be happy to discuss how to improve your SEO.