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Video Summary
One recommendation I have made for many businesses for more than 15 years is that blogging is a good strategy to add excellent new content to your website. Of course, I’ve heard the excuses many times, “I don’t read blogs. Who would read our blog?”
You can think of quality content as the seed that grows into revenue! You’ve probably heard this a thousand times before, right? Create quality content. Create quality content! But what does this really mean? What is quality content anyway? Watch this video for easy tips.
Video Transcript
Hey, it’s Jeff here. Welcome back. And it’s good to see you again!
You know, I’ve been helping businesses with their online presence since the mid-1990s. That’s a long time, and obviously, many things have changed over the years. But one thing that has not changed is the importance of quality content for your website.
One recommendation I have made for many businesses for more than 15 years is that blogging is a good strategy to add excellent new content to your website. Of course, I’ve heard the excuses many times, “I don’t read blogs. Who would read our blog?”
Umm, well, Google for one! In fact, your blog is much more important than your newsletter. Because, seriously, who’s going to read your newsletter? Not even Google!
Your newsletter might be useful to existing customers, but if someone doesn’t know you, and they’re searching for what you have to offer, they don’t want your newsletter, but if Google shows them a blog post that interests them, that gets them to your website. So then maybe they become your customer and then maybe, someday, they will want your newsletter.
Anyway, back to quality content…
In this day and age, where social media is everywhere, you can easily connect to your target audience no matter where they are in the world! Plus, almost everyone uses search engines to find information. Users want to solve their problems and they look for businesses that can help them.
Did you know that Google was visited 89.3 billion times in December 2021 alone? Google processes eight and a half billion searches per day which is more than 99,000 searches per second! That is huge! Can you imagine the impact for your business if you appear in more of those search results than you do now?
So how do you get your business seen so that searchers find you? Of course, there is more than one way to do this, depending on your type of business. If you serve a local audience, then you must make sure that Google Business Profile is up to date. I have separate videos explaining how to get and optimize your profile if you need to do these things. Check the links provided for easy access.
But that’s not my topic for today. Today, we’re talking about content. When you understand the needs of your target audience, you can create valuable content that solves their problems. By doing this, you help your business grow. That’s because great content attracts visitors. And some of those visitors will turn into sales.
What is Quality Content?
You can think of quality content as the seed that grows into revenue! But you’ve probably heard this a thousand times before, right? Create quality content. Create quality content! But what does this really mean? What is quality content anyway?
At its simplest, content is just any form of information.
Videos? Yes.
Written words? Yes.
Speech? Yes.
Any information that is published with the intent to be consumed by the receiver is content. Of course, that content can serve different purposes based on what you’re trying to accomplish. Do you want to teach something? Entertain the viewers? Sell a product or service? Tell a story to capture the heart and minds of your audience? Whatever your intention, the message of that content is directed toward your target audience.
Therefore, whenever your content successfully teaches, entertains, sells, or tells a story, then that content can be called great content, quality content. And that’s because quality content provides value to your audience, and they, in turn, are more likely to connect with your business and eventually purchase.
Great content helps guide your audience to the next step of their customer journey with your business. So, your action steps are to identify the what and the how: What are you offering? And how will this help your audience? And always remember, your content is for your audience, not for the sole purpose of ranking in the search results.
Creating Better Content
Contrary to my earlier comment about the fact that Google reads your blog, in most cases, Google is not your audience. So, while that blog post can rank and be found in the search results, it must be consumed and appreciated by your audience in order to be great content. After you decide what you are offering and how it helps your audience, your next goal is to identify keywords. What are people searching for? What questions might your audience be asking?
It’s also important to understand the intent of searchers. Specifically, you want to focus on keywords that offer commercial intent for your business. That means you target search phrases that your buyers use. This is important because getting a buyer to your website is much more valuable than getting a researcher to your website.
For example, let’s say you’re an electrician. Which search phrase has more commercial intent for your business, “new outlets” or “change my outlets” or “who can change my electrical outlets”?
Well, “New outlets” is useless because the word “outlets” has more than one meaning. “Change my outlets” is better but that could be someone looking for video instruction. But “who can change my electrical outlets” is very specific. That’s someone who wants to solve a problem and is ready to hire. I have another video called, “How Many People are Searching for Your Business?” In that video I show you how to tap into Google’s own search data to see the words people use.
But even with this information you must still apply some sense to shape the results into good commercial intent. And that’s because it’s easy to want to go after the phrases that are searched the most, but those typically have the least commercial intent. Once you have a set of keyword phrases to focus on, then start incorporating those in your content. Remember that creating good content means being able to provide the information that the searchers are looking for.
What Should You Post?
Let’s assume you’re going to write a blog post. What should your post be about? Give searchers the answers to their questions. What does your ideal client or customer want? What are possible objections that might stop them from buying from you? Start with what you would want to share with others and create content that your visitors will be able to share with their connections too.
Keep in mind that good shareable content may require a good story and a catchy headline. But it depends. That’s not true in every case. Adding images can also help make content more shareable. And not every piece of content has to be shareable either. If it connects with the user and moves them a little bit closer to your business, then it serves its purpose.
With that said, you must include a call-to-action if you want your audience to take the next step. Maybe just a small step, but something that encourages them to move toward you.
Now that you have good content and a call to action, be sure to observe how easy is it to consume your content. Again, with the blog post idea, is the content readable? Are your fonts a good size? Is there good color contrast? Should you use bold headings? How about the spacing? Is there enough whitespace? Great content is easy on the eyes and is easily understood. Providing clear and valuable information that is easy to consume is the key.
Have you ever read something or watched something online that was interesting and you still remember it even though days or weeks or months have gone by? Maybe something about the history of chocolate? Or how to fold a shirt in 3 easy steps? Of course, it would be something meaningful for you. And that’s because great content is often memorable.
Put yourself in the shoes of your ideal customer. And be sure to take your own shoes off first so that you can really get into theirs. Then think about what will be meaningful to them. Your goal here is to produce content that makes them remember you or gets them to come back for more. As this happens, your content helps you establish authority.
When you help your audience by answering their questions, and telling them what to do, and how to do it, you simultaneously help them trust you more. Each interaction builds more trust and gets them one step closer to becoming your customer. And that’s what the effort is for, right? That’s what you get by creating and publishing quality content.
I hope you found this information helpful. If so, please like it. And I’d appreciate it if you would subscribe to my channel as well. Now I’ve come full circle. This video is content, and I just gave you a very small call to action — click like and subscribe. That one small step helps both of us.
Your business deserves to be seen online, and I will help you get there.
Thanks for watching and have a great day!
