It can be difficult for smaller businesses to get their content seen if they’re relying purely on the power of their standalone website.
In the past decade, big and small businesses with an online presence have been confronted with a strange new reality: they’re now content publishers.
More than ever, great content has become essential to an effective SEO strategy. So businesses from retailers, who might have plenty of material to offer, through to traditional manufacturers, who often had far less to say for themselves, madly set about populating their websites with whatever they thought might please their customers and appease the mighty swarm of Google bots.
Content strategist Mr David Rome has been grappling with this issue for the better part of a decade. Rome is now the head of global content strategy with BikeExchange, Australia’s cycling products online marketplace and a Marketplacer partner. .
Focus your content
Rome’s advice to businesses looking to create material that will connect with their audience is to refine your focus and dive deep on the topics of most relevance to your tribe.
“The more broad you try to be, the more competition you’ll have in trying to reach them. Really delve in, find your niche and target them,” Rome says.
“We’ve really refined what the blog focuses on. Previously, there was a tendency to just do anything that came to mind that was relevant to cycling, now it’s very much focused on purchasing and product information. So it’s buyer’s guides to products and it’s product reviews. It’s quite specific, unique and in-depth,” he says.
More than just the written word
As well as refining your content to really hit the bullseye with your target market, Rome says businesses should consider a range of styles and formats, from blogs and infographics through to videos and even podcasts.
“Blogs are a popular and proven method for gaining new site users, but they’re by far and away from being the only option,” he says,
“Video, white papers, quizzes, infographics and podcasts are other popular digital content approaches. For example, if you’re seeking customers at the point of purchase, then perhaps put your content focus on your product pages. Here a helpful guide to the product, perhaps with unique and original video or infographic, is likely to earn you more valuable traffic than a simple product description.”
Scale your content
Rome says it can be difficult for smaller businesses to get their content seen if they’re relying purely on the power of their standalone e-commerce site, which is why being on a marketplace can help.
“It’s scale. It’s very much easier for a large website to break through the noise than a small website. Small vendors might break through on local search and rank in their area and local suburbs, but a marketplace such as ours potentially puts them in front of a far larger audience,” he says.
“Definitely, for businesses online, it gives them the potential to reach a far wider audience and rank far stronger than they would be able to do by themselves.”
Authentic and engaging content continues to be one of the most important traffic drivers for all business websites. Find out what your current and potential customers are most interested in and create content they will value based on those topics. And if you’re looking for scale, consider becoming part of an online marketplace as well.
For more tips on creating your content strategy, read David Rome’s article “Five tips to improve your content marketing” at https://insidesmallbusiness.com.au/sales-marketing/five-ways-to-improve-your-content-marketing
Jeremy Francis, www.marketplacer.com
