At the heart of everything you do online is the content you create. With the evolution of the internet and social media, good content is more important than ever because it allows you to demonstrate your authority in your field and stand out from the competition. Good content can bring you website traffic and can dazzle prospective book buyers and existing customers. Following are some benefits of content.
Increase Website Traffic
Early on I realized that the more content I added to my site, the more traffic the site received. Then I discovered why: Google loves content. The more articles and blog posts and content you have on your site, the more reasons you give Google to find you.
Because I’ve been running BusinessInfoGuide.com since 2004, the site has more than 1,000 pages of content—and many of those pages dominate in the search engines. If you search Google for “how to start a gym,” you’ll discover our industry guide page with resources for starting your own gym or fitness center. You’ll get similar results if you search “how to start a travel agency” or “how to use Google alerts.” These articles bring people in to the site, and then lead them to view other content, sign up for our newsletter, subscribe to the blog, and ultimately buy books and other products.
If you are a professional organizer and you write an article on how to organize a kitchen pantry or you produce a video demonstration and post it on YouTube, the next time someone searches for that topic, there is a good chance Google is going to display your article and/or video. Of course, that all depends on how many other sites have similar content, but the fact is that it doesn’t take long for Google to start giving your web pages priority placement if you’re adding new content on a regular basis. New content tells Google that your site is fresh and relevant, and thus Google places a higher priority on your pages, which is why news sites receive such prominent placement in Google searches.
Next, imagine that a busy work-from-home mom searches for “how to organize my kitchen pantry” and she comes across your article or video. That leads her to your website, where she discovers the many resources that you have to offer, and follows your call to action by signing up for your newsletter (she can’t wait to read your bonus report!). While there, she sees that you wrote a book so she quickly purchases that, too. Within a few weeks, she calls to schedule an appointment with you. You’ve just converted a prospect into a client, with a little help from the power of content and Google.
Content is powerful for search engine optimization (SEO), making it far easier to show up in search results when someone is looking for topics that you write about. You’ll learn more about SEO later in this book, but for now know that simply adding content on a regular basis (a minimum of twice each week, though more is better) is one of the most effective ways to bring traffic to your site.
Build Brand Recognition
Great content gets shared online via social media and social bookmarking sites. As your content is shared by viewers, you will have more and more eyeballs viewing your content and learning about you—as the authority in your field.
You can also become a regular contributor or columnist for any number of websites, where you can have even greater reach. I am a blogger for Forbes, which has been a great opportunity to get known with their readership. I also distribute articles through various content directories, trade publications, industry-specific websites, and print publications. Without a doubt this kind of exposure helps me build recognition and attract new people into my business.
You can build brand recognition for your business by sharing funny videos, writing and distributing great articles, writing guest blog posts for partner sites, producing compelling videos, posting podcasts for download, and any other way you can distribute content online. The goal is to ultimately get repeat exposure with your target audience. When you are seen and heard repeatedly in places where your audience spends time, they will begin to notice.
Impress Prospects
Great content can help you close deals. Imagine you are a business coach and a prospect is searching for a business coach online. She comes across an article you wrote and that leads her back to your website where she finds an entire archive of articles you’ve written, free downloads, and a virtual library of information. The prospect is so impressed with all of your work that she stops her search for a business coach and calls you on the spot.
This same scenario can apply to a business broker, life coach, virtual assistant, attorney, health practitioner, and just about any business that produces great content.
Attract Media Opportunities
Without a doubt, one of the biggest benefits of my blog is the media coverage it has attracted over the years. When the recession was just beginning, I wrote a lot of blog posts on how I was going to “reject the recession.” I even printed up buttons and handed them out at events! Unfortunately, my passionate pleas to conduct business as usual despite the recession didn’t exactly have an impact on the economy at large, but it did have an impact on generating media coverage. I was asked to conduct countless interviews and even had an appearance on Sunrise 7, Australia’s version of the Today show. Reporters look for sources via online searches and when you demonstrate your authority in your field, you will inevitably attract these kinds of opportunities.
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