Buckle up because we’re digging up a hard truth today.
When you open Google and search for something, the result is generally hundreds of pages of links. You could click and scroll forever and never see everything the internet has to offer for one query.
As a searcher, it’s good to have options. As a business owner, however, the millions of results should make you nervous. After all, for your business to stand out, your website must land on the coveted first page of results, right?
While being on the first page of Google greatly enhances your organic traffic, many have taken this truth too far. Instead of creating content that’s valuable and worth the read, we fall into this mode of creating content for the sake of creating it.
The race to make it to the top of the search results leads to too much noise.
This is the hard truth: This race results in content that’s watered down and that’s full of useless keywords and gobbledygook your audience doesn’t need or want. It’s content that does nothing but add to the nails-on-a-chalkboard, elementary-school-recorder, alarm-clock online noise.
When we hear noises like that, we clasp our hands over our ears just to drown it out. Is your audience responding to your content in the same way? 😳
3 Steps to Ensuring You’re Creating Valuable Content for Your Audience
While this may be tough stuff to hear (pun intended), there is a silver lining. Noisy website content can be fixed. All it takes is creating content that your audience will find valuable. Remember, quality trumps quantity in content. Always.
Step 1: Get to Know Your Audience
Okay, we know we sound like a broken record, but we’re pleading with you…please get to know your target audience. If you’re writing content and haven’t yet created an ideal customer avatar or dove into what your audience wants, stop right now. It’s impossible to write valuable content without understanding who’s reading it.
Step 2: Deliver Solutions
Actionable advice, although a jargon-y term, is important when it comes to value. Most of the time, your audience searches for online content to solve a problem of some kind. When they land on your blog post or website page, you must deliver a solution.
For example, does your blog post deliver actionable tips or next steps? Does each of your website pages have a call-to-action?
Make sure each piece of content has an action your audience can take to alleviate their stress, fear or confusion. That’s where the magic happens.
Step 3: Be Original
It’s okay to look up stats about what types of content perform best online. It’s also perfectly normal to take inspiration from your competitors.
What’s not okay is doing the exact same thing your competition is and then expect to see results. Your audience is uniquely yours. Remember to infuse your unique voice into each piece of content you create.
Speak to your audience as if they’re a friend, allow your personality to shine through and don’t be afraid to share your thoughts versus just the thoughts of others in your industry.
It’s also important to make sure your content hasn’t been overdone. A little bit of research about any given topic can uncover what’s missing from the content already published on the web. Filling in those gaps provides new insight instead of the same ole’, same ole’ stuff.
Struggling With Content Creation? Reach Out for Help.
It’s not easy to admit that your content isn’t resonating with your audience. Yet, it’s the first step in creating valuable content that converts. If you’re struggling, we can help. Send us a message!
