7 Ways to Improve Your Online Content

7 Ways to Improve Your Online Content

We’ve heard it so many times that it’s begun to sound cliché – content is king! While that phrase seems to be everywhere these days, it’s an unavoidable truth.
In the Internet age, content has to be relevant to your audience and search engines. Especially now that we have so many outlets to share it on – website, blogs, podcasts, and social media. So how do you distinguish your message from your competition?

Write for the customer first

While it certainly makes sense for your content to be keyword-rich, search engines don’t buy products and services. Customers are the ones who need to be compelled by your message on both your website and your online outlets. Think about what you education your customers about in person and add that to your content calendar.

Get involved with the community

Consider some of the most successful small businesses in your area. You may notice that good portions of them are in some way involved with the community. Whether it is through hosting events or participating in community activities, local businesses who have the pulse of the community tend to do well.

This can also be translated to online channels. Engage your followers and site visitors with information on community events, industry trends, and news stories that impact your business or industry.

Tell stories

It’s been proven that comprehension is greater in most people when they are remembering a story versus a list of facts. In addition to being more entertaining, storytelling allows you to portray a feeling to your customer. Telling the story of your business is a great way to make a memorable connection with a potential customer. Also, sharing customer success stories are a great way to show audience what your business can do for them.

Play nice with your pseudo-competition

All businesses are unique and even though almost all have competitors, there are always those businesses that are similar but different. These businesses are a great source for content sharing. Maybe a business that serves a different market or location, or has a different specialty than yours would be willing to share content with you. For example, you could guest post on each other’s blog or share tips and advice on your Facebook pages.

Don’t just say it – show it!

It’s a great idea to try and make the online experience of your company as vivid as the offline experience. Use multimedia elements like videos and photos where you can because multimedia tends to rank higher in a search. If your videos, podcasts, or photos contain your customers or partners, make sure to tag them or let them know so they can broadcast it on their networks which helps you expand your audience.

Make the content easy to digest

No matter how engaging your content is, if it is presented in huge blocks of text or full of non-conversational SAT words, then it won’t be read. Make sure to break up paragraphs or use bulleted lists and use reasonable vocabulary to increase readability.

Make the content easy to share

What makes a website or blog post shareable? People tend to share items that are either informative or entertaining. Make sure your content has one of those elements and then add share buttons to it so your audience can easily share it with their network.