Quality website content is what encourages visitors to return and interact with your site. However, the concept of “good content” can be unclear. Many people aren’t certain what content strategy to use for their website. When you design your website, it’s not just for your own benefit. While you’ll gain advantages from having a website, it must be designed with the users in mind.
Why is content strategy for a website important? That’s because the content is what educates the audience about you and your products – content is what convinces them to buy from you. Here are some tips on what constitutes good website content.
Services Pages and Portfolios
People can’t buy your products and services if they don’t know what you offer. A services page is of the utmost importance for a company website. Tell people what you can do for them and go into as much detail as you need to. If you sell creative works or have specific examples of your work, then a portfolio is another good idea. People can look through your portfolio to see your work for themselves, instead of just being told about it. A picture is worth a thousand words, as they say.
Blog Posts
A blog is the next consideration for small business website essentials. Having a blog on your website does plenty of good for you. For example, blogs are vital to great SEO and ranking high in search engine results pages. Hubspot reports that companies with a blog have 434% more indexed pages than businesses without them. A blog is a great way to add more content to your website and improve the chances people find you through a search engine.
Another positive for blogs is that readers are likely to have a more positive outlook on your company after reading custom content written by you. 82% of customers feel more positively about business, and 70% feel closer to a business after engaging with content. 74% of companies say they noticed an improvement in the quality and quantity of leads after implementing a content strategy for a website.
One problem businesses have with creating a blog is that they don’t know what to blog about. The good news is that it doesn’t need to be complicated. Focus your blog around your industry and make yourself an authority and resource in the industry. Discuss industry news and developments, share information about your business, offer product reviews – create content people want, and they will come to you for it.
Contact Information
Your website should definitely include contact information for your company. This consists of a physical location where people can find you, an email address, and a phone number at the very least. If you run social media profiles – which you should – then you can also include those in the “Contact Us” section of your website.
Ensure that this contact information is relevant, up-to-date, and consistent across all platforms. Not many people realize it, but Google crawlers can see the information on your website and will check your contact information against other known records. Write your address and phone number the same way across your website, social media, and online directories.
Service Locations
Do you have a physical location? Do you cater to a particular area? If so, then make sure this information is presented somewhere. When gathering content for your website, don’t neglect to let potential customers know the areas you cover. There’s no point in getting a call from someone who lives in another city or country because they think you can help them. If you offer your services on a worldwide scale, make a note of that as well.
Reviews or Testimonies from Customers
Almost everyone looks through testimonies and reviews before purchasing products. 92% of people do it, in fact, according to Big Commerce. Around 88% of people say that reviews influence whether or not they buy something. Think about the last time you purchased something online – did you check the reviews first? If you did, you can bet your customers will too.
If people are going to look for reviews of you online anyway, why not make them available on your website? Not everyone will want to go through a Testimonials page, though, so try to sprinkle reviews around the website. Include some on the home page, for example, and include reviews on product pages.
Reviews set expectations for customers. If they know other people had a positive experience with your products and services, they know they’ll probably have one too.
About Us Section
The “About Us” content for a website is more important than you might realize. Not only is this your chance to tell your story — and that of your staff — but sharing those stories has far-reaching effects. For a start, being open and transparent in your About Us section builds confidence with customers. They see your business as being trustworthy.
This section is where you can tell people what makes you distinct as well. What is your unique identity? What sets you apart from everyone else in the industry? There’s competition in every avenue, so sharing what makes you special can help you stand out. The personal touch could be the slight edge you need over the competition.
Calls to Action
What do you want visitors to do when they visit your website? Do you want them to follow you on social media? Do you want them to check your products? Send a clear message to visitors by making a call to action part of your content strategy for a website. Calls to action are incredibly effective. Sometimes, just asking someone to do something is enough to convince them to do it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does your customer service team get lots of people asking similar questions? Take the burden off of support staff and make things easier for customers, too, by creating an FAQ page for your website.
If you aren’t sure what to put on the page, ask your support staff the questions they get asked the most. People can access this page and see if the answer is there before submitting a request. This gives you the chance to answer their questions and clear their doubts while they are still considering purchasing. The moment can pass if they have to wait for clarification about your products and services before buying them.
Resources Page
A resources page might not be considered one of the small business website essentials, but they are worth having if it makes sense for your business. If you have lots of resources customers can use, it’s handy to have them all in one place. Use the resources page for things like user manuals, customer support, and other similar content.
Improve Your Website’s Content
Every business needs a website, and every business also needs a content strategy for a website. Keep these points in mind when putting together your website.
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