I’ve been deeply interested in conversion for quite some time, and watching how different types of content helps or hurts conversion for each client is a fascinating thing.
Because I focus on the integration of content with SEO and social media, I am lucky enough to see the entire spectrum from creation to ROI – something many marketers don’t get to see. They create and post, then move on to the next piece of content. One of the reasons I appreciate the ability to measure so much is the insider’s view on what works and what doesn’t.
This I know: my goal for creating content is to drive website traffic that is ideally situated to convert. Otherwise, why bother? Driving traffic doesn’t help if it’s the wrong target market, or it’s a market so vast that it takes massive effort on a website page to identify the right audience and convert just that portion of the audience you’ve so carefully driven to your website. Likewise, a fantastic headline is useless if it isn’t related to content your specific target audience finds irresistible.
If a client is writing vast quantities of content targeted to seniors, for example, but their product is a high dollar retirement community – then to be effective, they should not be writing about general topics of interest to all seniors. They should be writing about how luxury retirement communities differ, and which amenities are worth the investment. Their content should target affluent seniors considering retirement.
To do otherwise not only puts them into a more competitive pool of generic senior content, which is difficult from an SEO perspective to rank and it takes far more time, but it’s diluting the relevancy. Perhaps one in 100 visitors brought to that website are affluent and ready for retirement, versus 99 who live on fixed income and are already in their golden years.
If a piece of content directly targeted affluent seniors looking for a retirement community, traffic to the website would be far less, but almost 100 percent of that traffic is relevant to the client’s product.
Creating generic content is easy, but it’s a disservice to the client. It wastes their budget on something that can only deliver lukewarm results.
This type of strategic thinking is often the difference between hiring an inexpensive writer, versus a seasoned professional with the experience to understand the connection between content and conversion.
Personally? I don’t create content to build a awareness of a client’s brand, or tepidly position them to have “a voice.” I create powerful content that targets EXACTLY who their target audience is, and those most likely to buy their product or service.
I often do keyword research using Google’s Keyword Planner to identify what that audience is looking for the most online, then craft content to fit that keyword phrase. I consider if that keyword is tightly defined enough to attract the right audience, not just any audience. I also discuss goals each month with my clients, to learn what their priorities are and match my efforts to the results they want.
This often leads to double-digit growth month over month. They hire me for strategic counsel, not just my writing skills.
So how about you… what defines your content? I’d love to hear about it and compare notes. Perhaps we can each learn something new today.
(Last updated on 9/21/19)