Why is Content Important for Website Growth?
As a small business owner, we often find ourselves pulled in many different directions, leaving many wondering: Is content important? While we are all limited to 24 hours a day, there are some tasks in our business that are necessary for growth and success. These are the tasks that are necessary to provide your product/service, as well as those that allow you to find and connect with potential new clients.
In this article, we’re going to show you why content is important and how to set up your website to attract new traffic, and therefore new clients. Turn your website into a valuable asset in your business as opposed to an expense by targeting your efforts today!
What is Content on Your Website?
The first step to understanding why content should be a priority in your business plan is to better understand what content is present on your website and how to leverage these opportunities for website growth. Content is a broad term used to describe any written words, images, video, or audio on your website.
Some common examples of content include:
- Website copy (the words on your actual website)
- Blog posts
- Checklists
- eBooks
- Landing pages
- Videos
- Podcasts
- Infographics
- Webinars
- Fact sheets
- Slide presentations
- User manuals/Product brochures
- How-to guides
- Quizzes
- Worksheets/workbooks
- Photography
- Stories and testimonials
- FAQs
While your website likely doesn’t (and shouldn’t, necessarily) include all the items listed above, it is impossible to have a website that doesn’t include at least a couple of these valuable content pieces. Even the writing on your homepage greeting new visitors is a form of content. A website with zero content would be nothing more than a blank page.
Why is Content Important for Website Traffic?
Your website content serves two main purposes – it allows you to communicate with website visitors and works to help bring new website traffic. Obviously, your message is important. It’s the reason why businesses have a website to begin with! However, even the best-crafted website isn’t going to help grow your business if no one sees it.
Bringing traffic to your website is one of the biggest challenges that many businesses will face in the online space. For those that are newer in the online space, learning the ins and outs of digital marketing, more specifically of content marketing, can be confusing. How is content important for bringing new traffic to your website if we’re talking about content that is present on the site itself?
This is where the magic of SEO can make a significant difference in your website’s success.
SEO, which stands for search engine optimization, refers to the steps that a website owner can take to help their website rank higher on search engines like Google and Bing. This refers specifically to the organic search, meaning the results that come up that are free (not paid advertising).
Approximately 70% of searches are conducted on Google, and according to a study conducted by SEO giant Sistrix, approximately 28.5% of those searches end with the person clicking on the first organic result.
The goal is to rank as high as possible for phrases that your potential customers may be searching for. For example, if you are selling dog treats, you may want to create content on your website that will help you show up in the top search results for phrases like ‘organic grain-free dog treats’ or ‘salmon treats made in the USA’.
Create content that addresses not only the direct benefits of our products but also related topics. If you have a supplement business designed to improve the joint health of senior dogs, try writing blog posts relating to senior dog care. Senior dog owners that come across your valuable information will see you as knowledgeable, which can lead to further trust in your, your expertise, and ultimately your product or service.
How Can My Pet Business Create Content?
Now that we’ve investigated the question: why is content important, you may be wondering how you can take this information and make it work for your business. To help you get started, we have put together a list of actionable tips to boost your website traffic and encourage profitable website growth.
Choose Keywords That People Are Searching
Finding the balance between keywords that are easier to rank for and those that are actually getting traffic can be challenging. While you’re likely not going to have the ‘website juice’ needed to outperform major competitors for broad terms like ‘dog treats’, you don’t want to narrow the search terms down to something so specific that no one is searching for it.
If your business name is Fido’s Dog Treats, there is a good chance that you can earn a top spot in keywords like ‘Fido’s Dog Treats, Your Town, USA’. Unfortunately, this isn’t going to help you as much as you may think. The only people that will be searching that phrase are those that already know you exist, meaning that you’re not getting your website in front of new visitors. Instead, a search term like ‘salmon dog treats, Your Town, USA’ or ‘high-quality salmon skin dog treats’ would have more value.
Take some time to brainstorm search terms that your potential customers would be using to look for products like those that you have to offer. You can also ask friends, family, or even existing customers for the phrases that they would use, providing ideas that you may have otherwise overlooked.
Listen to Your Audience
If you’re looking for ideas for your content, try tapping into the questions being asked by your current or desired audience. Some great places to look for inspiration include:
- Facebook groups in your niche
- Social media posts
- Questions asked on your existing content
- Messages that you receive asking questions
- Websites like Quora
Not only is this a great place to get ideas, but you know that these are questions that people are actively looking to have answered. This is also a great way to make sure that you’re aware of the hottest pet trends at any given time. You don’t need to hop on every trend, but you may discover that some fit perfectly into your marketing plan.
Keep an Idea Database
Whether you have found a digital solution to organize your thoughts and ideas or prefer pencil and paper, make sure that you have a place to jot down ideas as they come to you. When inspiration strikes, write it down. Don’t worry about if you think it’s a good idea or a bad idea, just write it down. These ideas may come to you while you are working on something related to your business or even during your day-to-day routine.
When time permits, sit down and go over your ideas. While some ideas will stand out as something you can take and run with exactly as you thought of it, others could trigger a train of thought that will lead to something great. This is why it’s important to write down every thought and not to censor yourself!
Provide a Solution to a Common Problem
If you own a product or service-based business, aim to create content that shows how your product/service can solve a problem that your potential customers may be facing. This could include offering a healthy treat option that works with their dog’s dietary needs, a reliable product for cleaning pet messes, a trustworthy pet sitter during their next vacation, or a knowledgeable dog trainer prepared to address behavior problems.
Whether you’re creating video content or writing a blog post, focus on how your content will help your potential customers versus just sharing information. Not only will this shift in focus help to position your business as something that will benefit any website visitors, but it will also encourage them to dig further into your content rather than closing out the page, which can improve your standing with Google.
Focus on Quality, Not Quantity
Google has put a large focus on the quality of the content that they are recommending in their search results. For this reason, your time would be better spent creating high-quality content that helps to build trust with your website visitors, answer their questions, or direct them into your sales funnel than just creating as much content as possible. Be intentional with your efforts.
Keep in mind that when you create content for the purpose of SEO and website traffic, you need to be considering your long-term plan. It takes time for content to rank with Google. While you won’t see results overnight, your efforts and investment now may lead to a significant boost of traffic, and sales, over time.
Is content important already in your marketing efforts? If so, what tips do you have to create content that improves your business’s success?
We’d love to hear your tips, tricks, and suggestions in the comments!
About the Author: Britt Kascjak, BlogPaws Director of Content & SEO, is an award winning freelance writer whose background in digital and social media marketing spans 15+ years. She’s been a content creator in the pet industry for 9+ years with her own blogs: Shed Happens and The Kas Pack, where she shares her outdoor adventures with her 2 dogs and 2 cats. Read more…
