In Part Five, we start to explore the role of content in creating a world-class website. Content has always been a very important component of inbound marketing, and now more so with Google’s recent algorithm changes that reward fresh, relevant content. Without good content, it is hard to drive visitors to your website or convert them into leads.

First, you have to decide on your messaging strategy. Here are four questions to ask yourself about you website’s content:

1)    Do visitors immediately understand what the website is about?

2)    Will visitors know which page they are on and why?

3)    Can visitors easily navigate to the next page?

4)    Is there some value proposition to cause visitors to interact with your site rather than someone else’s?

An affirmative answer to all four questions will translate into more traffic, more leads, and a lower bounce rate. Here are a few tips for making sure your message gets out:

• Use headlines and subheads to outline your most important ideas on each page. Avoid clichés, doublespeak and corporatese.
• Offer a powerful value proposition. That means either giving away something of value of offering it at an incredibly attractive price. Anything from downloads to fee offers can be used.
• Include clear calls-to-action, which direct visitors on what to do next to benefit from the value proposition. Put links into the body content that direct readers to registration dialogs, data intake forms, exclusive offers, etc.
• Perform A/B testing on your copy and headlines to see which alternative yields better results. There are online tools from Google and others that help determine which variation drives more conversions.
• Go beyond simple product content. Offer eBooks, videos, whitepapers and other types of educational content. This attracts visitors who may not know yet that they want to buy from you – they are on the outer tip of the marketing funnel. Suck them into the funnel with free, valuable content.
• When delivering a sales pitch, use a writing style that matches colloquial one-on-one conversation. Pronouns like “you” and “we” are preferred over “one” or “they”. Never talk down to your audience.
• Your content should help visitors solve their problems. Don’t go around bragging about how you are the best – instead make a point of explaining how your content helps viewers.

We’ll continue discussing content next time by looking at issues surrounding quality and clarity.

 Eric Bank