High-quality content supports the brand
However, quality content is also important for users and for building PR. Users aren’t just looking for solutions to their problems (such as making a purchase); they’re also looking for information and entertainment.
A blog where you publish weekly updates from your industry helps establish you as an expert in the field. The content allows your customers to identify with your company and its philosophy – at that point, you no longer have a customer, but a fan who will continue to shop with you. Last but not least, it creates a community of your customers who advise one another, review products and talk about you.
What’s more, regularly updated content brings more users to your site from search engines than product pages that you hardly ever change.
6 reasons why your content isn’t king?
For most company websites, however, content is almost king. The fact is, creating content that is readable and interesting for users whilst also incorporating certain keywords is by no means easy. You may be making one of the most common mistakes.
1. You’re speaking to customers in a language they don’t relate to
The most common mistake is choosing the wrong tone of communication. If you’re selling cutting-edge technology and speaking in the style of Božena Němcová, you won’t be able to connect with your customers. Create a few personas. Personas are imaginary customers – they are of a certain age, work somewhere, have their own hobbies, etc. Personas will allow you to empathise well with customers’ needs and expectations. You can download the template here.
2. You’re writing just for the sake of keywords
Perhaps you’re writing texts with keywords just so that you have keywords in the text. Whilst this is exactly what a proper keyword-optimised text should do to ensure a search engine finds your keyword, if you have the keyword three times in every sentence, the text simply becomes unreadable, even if your keyword is the best there is.
Write for people, not for search engines. It was precisely because of nonsensical texts full of keywords that had no value that Google began developing algorithms that examine quality as well as just the words.
3. You write your own content
None of us can do everything perfectly. Writing copy is a science in itself. If you’re not confident in your writing skills, hire a copywriter. Ask them to create content for your website. If you have the talent and courage, get them to train you in how to write blog posts and then blog yourself. But your website content is your most important calling card. Poor-quality text will ultimately cost you more than high-quality copywriting.
4. Poor form can ruin even good text
A blog post must have a structure that is easy to read. People on the internet don’t read; they scan text
. They therefore need visual cues
, such as headings, bold text, bullet points, etc.
- Let’s start with the font size. Don’t ask your users to increase the font size. The most common recommendation is to use a 16px font on your website. No, that’s not too big. In the image, you can see what a 16px font looks like on a monitor screen and a standard 12px font in a printed book. By way of comparison, this website uses a font size of 18px for standard paragraphs.
- Divide your article into paragraphs that clearly indicate its structure and content.
- Write short paragraphs, no more than 4 lines.
- Bold important key points. On the internet, we scan text with our eyes before we read it. Highlight the most important parts.
- In the text, ONLY underline links; everyone will simply try to click on underlined text and will be disappointed if it isn’t a link.
5. You have no plan
Prepare an editorial plan for each month. It’s nothing complicated; just write down in a table what you want to tell your users and in what format. You don’t need to know the headline or the character count. Simply select topics that are interesting for that month and the appropriate channel (Facebook, Instagram or the company blog).
Planning allows you to consider what your users want to read and to coordinate your communication. Of course, the plan isn’t set in stone; if you happen to win an award, feel free to write about it.
6. You aren’t talking to your customers
Communication must be a dialogue. If you only speak at customers rather than with them, you cannot expect great results. Ask them for feedback. Take an interest in them – not as items on an accounts ledger, but as lovely people who shop with you. It takes hardly any time, just a little kindness and a smile.
Take an interest in what they want to know. Put a survey on your website or Facebook.
7. You don’t analyse
You write a blog and regularly update Facebook. But how do you evaluate your content?
Every piece of text or post can serve a specific purpose (conversion, brand promotion, etc.). It’s up to you whether you make the most of this potential. It won’t work without evaluation.
Experiment with topics, publication times and different channels. Check Google Analytics or Facebook Insights to see which articles people are interested in and which ones they read. Everything can be measured. Whether users finished reading the article, whether they clicked a button, where they went after reading something