As the world becomes more and more digital, content creation and marketing become strong forces to reckon with!
What is content marketing?
Content marketing in its simplest terms is a marketing strategy that entails creating and distributing content that attracts the audience and can lead to conversions.
Content created can be in the form of blogs, articles, website content, social media posts, case studies, white papers, and many more.
The chief objective of content marketing is to form a connection with the audience by sharing information about a business. Whether it is a product or service that you offer, the best way to convey the benefit of your product/service is by sharing information with your audience.
A few years back, content creation was solely for the purpose of promoting a brand. It had a promotional pitch that probably had an impact on the audience at that time.
But now the expectations of the audience have changed. They can look through the sales content and are not impressed.
Today’s audience is looking for content that answers their questions about a particular product/service.
If we look at how someone looking for information works, we find that:
- Step 1: they turn to Google and type in their topic of interest,
- Step 2: Google lists several websites.
- Step 3: They choose a particular website and look for answers.
- Step 4: If the website is user-friendly, they navigate through its sections and search for the information they need. If the website has issues such as high loading speeds or complex designs, they quickly leave the website and look at other websites. They are also likely to look for other websites if they do not find content relevant to their search.
This modus-operandi of users brings forth two critical aspects of a website:
Design:
The website design is a vital factor for audience engagement. A well-designed website should load quickly on both desktop and mobile. It should have a simple structure that is easy to navigate. The user should be able to find whatever he needs with ease. Besides, it should be pleasant to look at without being cluttered with too many things. These aspects will make sure that a visitor spends some time on the website. However, the real intent of visitors to a website is to look for specific information provided by the content on the website.
Content:
The content on the website is what finally engages a visitor with the potential to convert. Therefore it has to be relevant and must contain in-depth information on the topic. Optimizing the content with relevant keywords is equally important. Keywords are those words that someone who is looking for information types in the search bar. Hence, a content writer needs to understand the needs of his audience. The simplest way to do this would be to put oneself in the shoes of the audience! In other words, a writer needs to think from the user’s perspective. He needs to think of how he would search for information on a particular topic on Google. He needs to think of what information he would look for if he wanted to find out about a product or service, what information would be relevant to him. Looking at things from the perspective of the audience makes it easier for him to create content that is aligned to the needs of his audience. It is this type of content that connects with the audience and makes them stay on the website.
After identifying the keywords, their effective usage is equally important. Keyword stuffing is a common tendency seen among writers. However, this is a wrong strategy because Google does not like keyword stuffing and can look through it, and this type of content could get penalized. Keywords should come in the natural flow of the content. Instead of looking as extra additions, they should be a part of the story you are trying to tell your audience.
Keywords play a vital role in content writing because they determine the ranking of the website on Google searches to a very large extent. The ranking of a website on Google searches is a critical factor because any user tends to click on the link that appears high on searches. Therefore, to get maximum clicks to your website, you need to optimize it with relevant keywords.
Another essential aspect of content writing is to ensure that it is free of grammatical errors and unique. There are several free tools available online that help to fix grammatical errors and check content for plagiarism. While many writers use these tools during the initial stages of their writing career, they tend to avoid using them as they become more experienced. Conducting these checks is imperative to ensure that the content does not fall short in terms of quality and uniqueness.
To summarize content writers need to ensure that they create:
- High-quality error-free content.
- The content should be free of plagiarism.
- It should contain relevant information to the searches by the audience.
- It should be optimized with the right keywords.
The importance of content is only increasing with time. And, as digital trends rise during the pandemic, the demand for high-quality content will continue to surge. What this means is that content writers need to up their game and enhance their skills in creating quality content that delights their audience. A writer needs to keep track of the trends in content writing and Google updates regarding content to ensure that he continues to create quality content customized to the needs of the audience.