Having a solid website is essential in order for any startup to be successful. However, a web presence alone is insufficient to drive traffic and get those coveted conversions. While it is best to start with an inviting, informative and easy to navigate website, simply having one doesn’t guarantee traffic, let alone leads or sales.
Fresh and relevant content is among the most effective ways to drive traffic to your website. Known as content marketing, this approach to improve visibility and increase conversions can be remarkably effective when it’s done well.
The question for you is whether this is something you can execute yourself, or if you need the help of an agency with content marketing expertise.
What makes great content?
To create great content, you need a number of elements: useful and relevant text, as well as stimulating visual components that clearly communicate why you are the best choice for potential customers.
Content creation should not be taken lightly, as it is quite literally the lifeblood of your startup’s website. Ineffective or poorly optimized content will not generate new customers or perform well with search engines. Great content requires time (your most precious resource) to research, write and optimize each and every page and blog post.
Related: Spread the Word: A Digital Content Marketing Strategy for Startups
Visual content
Compelling content is more than just text. While there is significant value in writing long-form blogs and pages, even the most useful information can get lost on a text-heavy site. To help keep your content appealing and engaging, it’s also a good idea to include visual elements that are both relevant and useful for your target audience.
Visual elements don’t need to be complex. In fact, the easier to process, the more effective they will be. Think infographics, videos, quizzes and slideshows that can both engage and inform your potential customers. This content must be captivating to encourage sharing. The more shareable your visual content, the greater the reach of your brand. Shareable visual content also helps to establish you or your brand as an expert in your field.
With video, thoughtful placement and the quality of the videos are both important. Haphazardly throwing a video on one of your web pages will not help your conversions or your rankings on Google. You must take the time to create high quality videos that highlight the unique aspects of your products and services and why people should choose to work with your company. You can shoot video on your smartphone, but to make it effective, you need good lighting and audio. Beyond that, just like written content, you need optimize those videos with meta tags and alt text to improve visibility on search engines.
Choosing the right topic for your video (or any visual content) is also important. Don’t just assume you know what your potential customers want to see. Evaluate Google Analytics and Google Search Console to determine your audience’s true interests.
Ongoing content updates
Nothing makes a startup look more inept than outdated information on its website. Keep a watchful eye on statistics, prices and any other information that may change over time – and make sure you set aside time for a website audit to update immediately when these things change. This will help keep your site relevant and may assist in improving the authority and trustworthiness of your website.
Your website will be the first impression of your company upon potential customers. The relevance and credibility of your website’s content will impact their decision to take the next steps. Of course, the introduction will never happen if your site does not rank well on Google. This is where SEO comes into play.
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Search engine optimization
Effective search engine optimization (SEO) requires informative, well-written and useful content, as well as technical SEO expertise. In a competitive marketplace, effective SEO is essential to your success. Unfortunately, search engine algorithms are updated frequently. Even popular content on reputable websites can get buried when Google makes a major change.
SEO requires a significant commitment of time, both to stay up-to-date on the latest strategies, and then to implement them. This is one area where a time-constrained entrepreneur should seriously consider working with an agency that specializes in this task.
Conclusion
An effective online presence must be built, which takes both time and expertise. A lack of either will directly impact your ability to create and promote your business online. Utilizing a company that specializes in building websites, producing content and managing ongoing SEO will improve the trajectory of your company’s brand awareness and lead generation.
Entrepreneurs often have limited resources when it comes to money, and this can make the idea of hiring help seem daunting. However, most entrepreneurs also have substantial limitations on their time. In most cases, the potential of a much stronger ROI may argue in favor of using an experienced digital marketing agency for some, if not all of your online marketing.
Co-authored with Sara Desmond, Vice President of Operations at Page 1 Solutions.
