OK you’ve heard it all before.

Content is vital to the success of your online marketing strategy.

Is it though, or is it just one of those things marketers and copywriters tell you to drum up business?

Yes, it is important because it gets you in the search results so this happens:

  • Joe enters “wooden dog kennels” into Google
  • The search results show an article you’ve written about what to look for when buying a dog kennel
  • Joe is impressed with your knowledge and looks at your profile
  • He likes what he sees and follows the link to your website
  • He reads about your services and takes a look at your About page
  • Joe is convinced yours is the company he wants to deal with and gets in touch

You see, when potential customers are “Googling” they normally aren’t ready to buy because they are just in the research phase.

That’s why content – whether it’s blogs, articles or the content on your website – is so important.

Imagine what would happen if Joe hadn’t found your article, but had (by chance) found your website. If he only found details about costs and kennel sizes there would be nothing to show him he could trust your company.

Before someone is prepared to part with their hard earned cash they want to learn about you, your knowledge and how you can help them.

How to turn off potential customers faster than a fast thing

Let’s say you have listened to all the marketing experts and set up a blog.

You started out with good intentions, but then your enthusiasm began to slide and it’s been left, unloved and neglected for 6 months or more.

When Joe lands on your website and sees that you haven’t posted anything for months, he’s likely to think yours is a company that doesn’t finish things, leaving a poor first impression.

If that sounds familiar, either remove your blog or revive it. If you plump for the latter, make sure you update it religiously.

Images are always a great way to bring blogs to life, but if you use poor quality ones (this goes for the images on your website too), they will hardly inspire confidence.

Make sure all the images you use are relevant to your content and are thought provoking.

Finally, what are you writing about?

Is it news from within your company, about an award you’ve won, or your new premises?

Ugh, that’s not going to attract anyone. Everything you write has to be directed at your reader. You must offer them advice and tips, handy guides and information that will help them. There’s no room for you in your marketing, only your customers.

That pretty much sums up why content is so important in your marketing.

If you want people to buy from you, you have to prove your knowledge, trustworthiness and experience and content will help you do that.

Author – Sally Ormond, Briar Copywriting Ltd