In the brick and mortar world, businesses vie for a coveted spot — the end of the aisle or end cap. On the internet, the end cap is a top position on search engine result pages and, as every webmaster knows, that is not easy. Effective content marketing strategy is one thing that can help businesses get their products seen by traditional search engines and comparison shopping websites. Nicely written, compelling, keyword-rich and dynamic content is the quickest, least expensive and easiest way of building online business.
Information technology and e-commerce have become inextricably interwoven. With the internet now a big marketplace, it has become one of the main sources of information and communication for millions. The more content draws online population to business, the more people will want to be involved. Content attracts and holds the attention of readers and makes them want to stay on the website for longer duration.
Given available choices, consumer-behaviour has changed dramatically. Buyers are now more knowledgeable about what they want to buy and from where. Therefore, buyers look for content that makes them smarter and more informed. That is why businesses need effective content marketing strategy in place. Simply put, developing, acquiring, copyediting, designing, posting, marketing and distributing dynamic content for a public audience using web pages, email, RSS, PDFs, podcasts or any other digital format have a huge impact on any business online.
What makes execution of any content marketing strategy difficult is the fact that users rarely read web pages word by word. Instead, they only scan pages, picking out individual words and sentences. Studies show that internet users do not spend much time on individual web pages, preferring to get to their desired destination as quickly and easily as possible. Consumer-behaviour research says that on the average 79 per cent of users only scan any web page they came across; only 16 per cent read word-by-word. This gives businesses only limited time to grab users’ attention. If the content is vague or confusing in any way, users can quickly go elsewhere with a simple click of the mouse.
Content marketing strategy is not merely about mixing words with keywords. If that were the case, computer programmers could have created software to generate jammed paragraphs and long sentences with required keywords. Best is to create content that is search engine friendly and interesting for customers willing to spend money to buy online products or services.
For search engines content is king. This line has become monotonous, but most internet marketing professionals agree that it is true. Search engines index content is based on keyword density, the positioning of keywords, and other more technical aspects. Original content written in clear, concise and grammatically correct language have more chances to be indexed by search engines and can seen on visible search results. Customers read (or scan) content to know more about anything they would like to buy or use in any way. For web content writers today sitting on desk and “grinding it out” is just not enough. Businesses need to research, dig up everything relating to their industry and products, and ask customers what they want to know before they share with their target audiences. Effective content marketing strategy should be able to cater to both these equally important needs.
There are different approaches like e-books, blog articles, podcasts, videos, social media updates and more that businesses use these days. Have dynamic content on your website that is most likely to entice and excite readers and give them a reason to return over and over again. The more strongly any content marketing strategy touches visitors, the more inclined they will be to return.
In the face of e-commerce grabbing more market share every year; most businesses clearly recognise the importance of content when it comes to online presence. Browse some and one can locate well written e-commerce sites with excellent content and also marketed effectively taking advantage in more than one ways.
The internet contains a wealth of information, and because much of it is neither useful nor relevant, it is easy to get lost on the information superhighway. This is why it is important for organisations to have descriptive and reflective website content with rich information about products and services. All online marketing efforts amount to nothing if content strategy does not attract online users. Original and researched content will eventually result in people buying what businesses are selling.
The writer is Deputy Controller of Examination at Lahore School of Economics. He blogs at http://logicisvariable.blogspot.com and can be reached at [email protected]
