Content is what fuels an SEO campaign and is a major component of the “ongoing” element. Optimizing existing on site content will certainly help, but it takes more than just that to see an upward trend in visitors from the search engines. Informational content that is posted on a regular basis, such as company blog posts, provides an additional opportunity to target keywords and appear in the search results. It generates inbound links when the content is used as a resource or referenced across the web, and helps improve social media efforts by providing a steady stream of content that can be shared with social followers and in turn helps to improve your social signals. Content needs to be created for SEO purposes, but informational content serves another extremely important function. It educates your target audience, eventually turning them into better clients and customers.
Withholding your trade “secrets” isn’t going to get you very far in today’s business world. Especially if your product or service is somewhat complex, people aren’t going to be spending their money on what they don’t understand. If it’s not apparent how your offering is going to fulfill their needs, what you offer could easily get passed over. Think of it this way – if you’re not sharing useful information on a regular basis and your competitors are- they are going to reap the benefits and you’ll be left wondering where all of your sales and leads are.
The ongoing thought leadership content that you publish is what will establish trust among potential clients and customers. They know that you “know your stuff”. If they have been reading your content for some time and like what you have to say and how you say it, there’s a greater likelihood that you will close the sale. In some cases, it’s also a way to charge a bit more for your services since a slightly higher price tag won’t deter a prospect from hiring the company that they are the most comfortable with.
Content should be used to prime these potential customers and clients as well, so when the time comes for them to sign the contract they already understand your approach. It saves you time throughout the sales process and then once the campaign gets underway. The client has fewer questions and is more focused on getting the work done or buying the product that is going to solve their problems. For example, we have written numerous blog posts on the topic of white hat vs. black hat SEO and firmly state that we only practice white hat SEO that is approved by the search engines. Very rarely do we get a call from a potential client that is looking to use black hat SEO tactics. Through our content, any prospect that has been following us for some time knows that we won’t have anything to do with it.
Educational marketing with content not only drives traffic to your site, it also results in more qualified leads and sales. This type of content doesn’t just apply to blog posts either. You can share it in an opt in email newsletter, videos, podcasts, white papers, case studies, etc. The more quality content that you can share, the better.
