How To Wow With Content

‘Content’ has become a buzzword in business as well as a top priority in marketing - and for good reason. It now takes consumers just a few seconds to find a business, click on its page, understand what it can offer and decide if they like it via a quick search on the Web. More importantly, as a consumer society our attention span has become somewhat stunted – we want it all and we want it now, which means your content needs to grab attention and deliver quickly.

Despite the content hype, too many small and start-up businesses still dismiss the need for good and effective content from the off, saying "we're not the type of business who uses social media", "we have nothing to say in a blog yet", "we can focus on content when we are more established". The fact is, effective content will help a business to grow as it enables you to be seen and heard by the right people.

It's not just that your speaking, its what you’re saying and how you’re saying it that is important.

Content, covering all bases from social media to blogging, website copy and news, needs time and effort to ensure it represents your business in an effective way.

Look at any successful business and you will see pristine content including active social channels filled with relevant and engaging material, a clean cut website that sends visitors in the right direction and intriguing blog titles providing information and advice or discussing relevant industry topics.

Our society spends a huge amount of time online, whether looking for a specific service or product, surfing for an interesting read or looking to gain information and learn. If you can get seen, inform and engage quickly with unique, valuable and interesting content, you will win customers.

So, what should you be doing differently?

Change it up; Your content needs to be original. There is no point regurgitating a second-hand title or stealing content from competitors as 1) It will get picked up by your audience and de-value your brand 2) It probably won't be as good as you haven’t really researched the topic, just glanced over it and 3) It will send you back down the ranks on Google, which brings us to the next point…

Think SEO; The Internet is extremely clever, jam-packed full of algorithms and coding that make sure order is maintained and companies, ideally, need to pay for advertising and ‘page 1’ links. However, Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is your path around this. If content is written effectively using keyword search terms and organic copy

you can beat the code and climb back up the Google ladder.

Consistency is Key; Content is a full time job that needs to be carried out consistently. This means uploading daily posts and weekly blogs with new and intriguing content. Don’t just fire out the same blogs or website links but intertwine them with fun anecdotes, interesting articles and relatable material. Think about what is going on in your industry and what the current trends are then link your content to those topics.

Really get to know your audience; this means spending time on social channels and analysing past campaign responses. Take Twitter, for example, you can see who is following whom and what those people are talking about to give you better insight in to the interests of your audience. Daily trending #’s give you ideas about popular topics and allows you to get involved in the conversation.

Effective content ensures that your business image, tone, values and expertise are conveyed in the best possible way, so that Google notices you and your target audience engages with you. It takes time and requires effort but with focus, insight and creativity your content can make a huge difference when it comes to business success.