Hungry like the wolf

Hungry like the wolf

Not Duran Duran. But content, a necessary but difficult part of website creation and management. Your website needs it, but how do you get it, who writes it, and how much do you really need?

It takes a lot of reading and research before the writing can even start. Research, thoughts, ideas take time to formulate before you can even think about putting pen to paper/fingers to keyboard.


Own it

No one knows their business better than the business owner. But sometimes the business owner is too close to it. That’s where a copywriter is a great solution. The right copywriter will question the business owner, gathering facts, figures, inspiration and understanding why you’re the best and have the edge over your competitors. They can create the right tone of voice that reflects the personality of the business and relates to the market or industry you’re in.
 

Talk to Me

Your customer wants your content to be relevant to them. They need to know that you understand them and are the right business for their requirements. It’s effectively an online sales pitch to convince to buy from you rather than your competitors.
 

Hello? Is it me you’re looking for?

Everyone wants to be found on Google. Finding the right way to do it is like finding the Holy Grail. But fresh content, updated on a daily and/or weekly basis is one of the best ways for search engines to rank you and people to find you.
 

Too Much (Spice Girls people, keep up!)

This is fundamental - how much content does your website really need? The answer is generally more than you think.

Quantity of content can vary by industry. For example, a legal firm will need to have great quality, relevant content and lots of it, but a photographer less so.

As a general rule, at a bare minimum, we would recommend each page should have at least 300-500 words. And for articles - a minimum of 750 words. Less than that and Google will struggle to find you.

Google your firm and your competitors. You’ll be able to see who is at the top of the page for similar search terms. By reviewing their content, you’ll see where you could add to yours. Recent studies have shown that websites that have 2,000 words of content are ranking higher than those with the 300-500 standard of previous years.

Want to rank higher? You need more content.
 

The road to nowhere

Quality and quantity. You can’t just write 2000 words and hope for the best – that’ll lead nowhere. You customer wants relevant, useful content, as does Google.

So, what do highly ranked online businesses look like? They have fresh content added to their sites on a regular basis. It’s not always purely about the product they are selling but rather, providing information that their customers find appropriate and interesting. Making customers want to come back for more is what ultimately makes the difference.
 

Let’s get fresh

If you find your site is moving further down the search engine rankings, it’s time to review it. Every search engine wants to provide the user with the most up to date results. Undertake a review of your site - check for broken links, out of date information and remove any irrelevant articles. Content reviews should really be done on a regular basis to keep the site tip-top.


Never can say goodbye

Don’t be afraid of the delete button! If pages are no longer helping your website in terms of rankings, then delete them. It’s quality over quantity here.

The best approach here is to review each page keeping in mind the following;

  • If it’s an old event – delete
  • If it’s less than 500 words – delete
  • Use Google index – if it’s not there, it’s not relevant – delete
  • Use Google analytics – check traffic to the page. If it doesn’t appear in your acquisition reports – delete
     

Never Enough?

Ultimately what you want is for customers to visit your site, whether they are buying something or not. What we’re saying makes it sound like it’s hard work but once you grasp what it is your customers want, creating content becomes a lot easier.

Create an online community where they can ask questions and talk to each other. Giving them the option to create their own profile, gives them a sense of belonging. Ask them to comment and rate new products – this should then create a buzz round these. Reward them! It doesn’t have to be massive giveaways, but loyalty discount or a small gesture can mean a lot. And don’t forget to introduce your team behind the screen – yes, it’s an online community but we’re only human after all.
 

If you would like to undertake a site review, please get in touch, we’d love to hear from you. 

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