Your business’ website projects the ultimate first impression, so it’s worth making it well-designed and responsive. But an effective website requires more than just wise aesthetic choices.
To create a site that generates leads and informs buying decisions, you need to make it influential. And, the bulk of your influence comes from content.
From strong copywriting to engaging audio, website content generates leads and drives conversion. Content solves problems for your customers and inspires brand advocacy, and you can unlock these superpowers by giving every piece of content a job. A rock-solid content strategy is the key to making writing and media work for you.
What Is a Content Strategy, Really?
Developing content is not something you do on a whim. Well-thought-out content serves an intentional purpose; whether that’s to support your brand, describe your product or service, pitch an idea, or drive home a key message. Content strategy is how you ensure that your content serves that intention.
Simply put, content strategy is the process of planning, researching, creating, and promoting content that supports your business goals and objectives. Your content strategy defines how to measure your content’s effectiveness and provides guidelines for the governance and production of future content – for example, by defining your processes. Content encompasses writing, graphics, photography, video, and audio – putting everything together to convert site visitors into customers.
Here are the top reasons you should build a content strategy for your new or existing website.
What Are The Benefits of a Digital Content Strategy?
Content for content’s sake isn’t enough. Creating content with intention? That’s where you’ll activate your superpower and captivate your target audience.
A well-considered content strategy is a worthwhile investment for every business and offers these key benefits.
Convert High-Quality Leads.
Generating leads from your website is just one part of the equation; generating high–quality leads is another. A clear-cut content strategy defines who your audience is, what messaging will speak to their pain points, and how to deliver that messaging. It’s what distinguishes a successful strategy from casual content creation.
When you cater content to your target audience, you’re increasing your chances of turning informal browsers into paying customers.
Case Study
Revitalized Site Content Drives Traffic, Leads
Our SEO-focused content strategy delivered rapid improvement in site traffic, search engine impressions, and leads.
Increase Time on Page
You may be designing an eye-catching new website that will draw new traffic. But what will keep site visitors on the page? Many factors influence time on page, but positive UX and captivating content certainly play a role.
The key is creating content that users want to engage with. Punchy copy, appealing visuals, useful videos – each of these elements by itself can keep a user on the page. But what’s even more effective is when marketers and designers collaborate to deploy all three as part of a comprehensive content strategy.
The New Zealand Department of Conservation’s website is a great example of content that generates user interest . They’ve packed their website with informative content targeted towards their nature-loving audience, and use their social media pages to signal boost their latest articles. Site visitors browse by topic and find ways to get involved.
With so much relevant and engaging content at their fingertips, your own users will likely spend more time on the site as well. Just be sure to pay attention to your Google Analytics data and note where your users spend the most time. This information will give you ideas for future content development.
Solve Problems for Your Customers
With a clear content strategy in place, every headline, graphic, and interactive element speaks to your customers. They see their unique pain points right on the page, as well as the solutions you present.
Take Rochester’s hometown grocery store, Wegmans, for example.
Their target customers are most often busy, on-the-go families. So, the Wegmans digital content strategy might look something like this: Using our web presence and social media channels, generate in-store sales and build customer loyalty by providing healthy and reliable meal solutions for families.
By providing solutions to customer problems through a clear-cut content strategy, you can support your sales goals as well.
Boost Your SEO
In 2022, search engine optimization is a non-negotiable part of your website’s marketing utility. However, it is challenging to create SEO content that appeals to both Google’s algorithms and your users’ needs. This is where a content strategy can help.
Baking SEO into your content strategy means writing high quality copy that provides value to your target audience. The days of keyword stuffing and writing only for Google’s site crawlers are long gone. Search engines reward a steady stream of robust content, logical heading hierarchies, and pages that answer search queries (hello, featured snippet!).
While there are seemingly countless factors that go into an SEO strategy, content is certainly a biggie. Keep your foot on the gas and pay attention to the data, and you’ll surely reap the benefits in the search rankings.
Build Authority in Your Industry
What do clients look for in your industry? It’s likely that expertise is on their list. Your website content is an opportunity to build authority and present yourself as a go-to expert. Let’s take a look at authority in practice.
HubSpot is an industry leader in inbound marketing (their CEO even coined the term – talk about a superpower), and their suite of products are go-to tools for many businesses. It’s no question that their content strategy makes them stand out. In addition to their Customer Relationship Management (CRM) platform and other product offerings, HubSpot offers downloadable freebies on their resources page and useful guides on their blog.
HubSpot’s content strategy emphasizes the effectiveness of their products, while offering insider tips and tricks to site visitors. It positions them as an authority within their industry and builds both brand loyalty and recognition. The result? Site users who continuously come back to read the blog and download their free resources.
Connect With Your Customers
For many industries, establishing a personal connection is key to lead generation. You need to show that you understand your customers’ problems and interests, and a content strategy helps you do this. It’s likely that you’re already employing this tactic on your social media, but there are ways to build connections on your website as well.
Paradox Interactive, a video game company, has clearly designed their content strategy to build these types of connections. The company offers interactive forums, wikis, and other user-generated content on their site. In addition, every team of theirs continuously produces ‘dev blog’ content sharing insights into their design process.
It’s clear that Paradox Interactive wants their users to be active participants in their content strategy, rather than passive consumers. It’s this type of engagement that will generate sales and turn gamers into repeat customers.
Remember: Websites benefit from custom content strategies. There’s no one-size-fits-all approach. You know your customers better than anyone. You know their pain points and interests. However, as you try out your content strategy, don’t hesitate to change course. You’ll likely create and promote different types of content as you learn how your users are engaging.
Ready to Get Started?
A digital content strategy will help you meet your business goals, but leveraging these superpowers can be intimidating. ITX’s UX Content Team is here to be your content partner. We’ll work with you to understand your target audience, make a content plan, and design your content with intention. Contact us today to get started.
Emma Rizzo is a Marketing Copywriter on the UX Content team at ITX. She specializes in content strategy and SEO writing, creating custom content solutions across a variety of industries. Emma holds a BA in Journalism from Ithaca College.
