When a potential customer visits your website, they are seeking out information about your business. To convert these prospects into sales, the information on your site needs to build trust in your company and answer their questions about your products or services. Does your website have the content that visitors want to read? Everyone can write great website content with some practice.
To assist you in developing the kind of compelling information that will boost sales, here are four questions to ask yourself when creating content for your small business website.
What Makes You Special
First, answer the question, what makes you special? While it is a necessary skill for business, talking about ourselves can be challenging, especially when it comes to written content. But you need to get past your modesty and provide compelling and original content that depicts your business in the best light possible.
You should always avoid copying and pasting from others’ written works. Not only because of plagiarism and questionable ethics but to ensure it doesn’t hurt your search engine optimization (SEO). Google penalizes sites with plagiarized copy. Visitors and search engines like to see businesses write about themselves in an honest, easy to understand and unique voice. Try to steer clear from clichés and overused concepts.
Provide Value
Second, does your content provide value? When a potential customer comes across your website, they want to find specific information and get a feel for what your company is all about. Business website content should make it simple for visitors to find answers to their questions.
When writing for your website or blog, make sure you provide value—offer useful information without wasting readers’ time with filler. Does the content provide practical advice and pertinent knowledge about your products and services? Can the customer take away valuable facts or tips from the content?
Organization
Third, is it organized and to the point? Put yourself in the customer’s shoes. As a consumer searching the internet for information about a business, you want to find what you are looking for with minimal hassle. People don’t just want information—they want information fast.
When creating your content, keep it organized and concise. At a minimum, you should create sections that contain an “about” page, product or service details, and a contact page with all the pertinent information including your business location, hours, phone number, email address, and social media links.
Maintenance
Finally, are you maintaining it? Although you may have a great sense of accomplishment when you finally launch an optimized website, your work isn’t finished. A website is never a set-it-and-forget-it marketing tool—it should always be viewed as a work in progress.
Your website is a crucial part of your overall online marketing strategy to attract and retain customers. Don’t let it collect dust! For SEO purposes, you want to update important pages of your website with fresh information to show search engines (not to mention customers) that you’re an active business.
Great Website Content
Digital marketing is constantly evolving. Make sure your website and content strategy evolve with it, so your business does not look outdated. Look for new trends in your industry. Answer frequently asked questions you hear from customers and prospects. Creating great website content is not always easy. But, when you do, conversions from your website will grow.
