What is high-quality content? It’s not easy to define “good” content, but you can always use the infamous common-sense definition that Supreme Court Justice Potter Stuart articulated to define pornography: You know it when you see it. If you genuinely believe the digital marketing content you’re publishing is high in quality, then there are probably plenty of people who will find it helpful.
However, even if you’ve got a good internal barometer for quality, making sure your company’s website is equipped with stellar content can be challenging, especially if you’ve never written content before or had anyone coach you on the basics of creating useful content.
We’re here to help. In this blog article, we’ll break down what good content is and explain how you can incorporate content marketing best practices on your own website.
What Is “Good” Content?
According to Google itself, the most important factor that determines a website’s performance in Google rankings is the quality of the content on that website. The hallmarks of “good” content include being informative, relevant, and engaging. When content checks all those boxes, it will:
- Attract visitors to your website
- Create conversions that gather information from site users (which in turn empowers you to develop rapport and convert them into customers or clients)
- Generate meaningful data and analytics so you can hone your content strategy over time
Quality content is a powerful tool, but creating content can take time, so it’s critical to know where you’ll see the most returns for your efforts and which pages deserve the most time and attention. So, where should you concentrate most of your efforts? The most vital pages on your website include:
- Your website home page
- Pages that describe your products or services
- Pages that provide background about your company and its team
- Frequently asked questions (FAQs)
- Videos
- Blog articles
RELATED ARTICLE: Digital Marketing Essentials: Why Your Business Needs a Blog
High-Quality Content: Put the Pedal to the Metal
When you’re developing a content strategy and devoting time to content creation, the following considerations can make all the difference for your results.
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Consider Your Audience
When you’re writing content for your website, always keep your target audience in mind. Who are you trying to communicate with, and why are they visiting your page? What information do these readers need to convince them to keep reading, learn more about you, and further engage with your brand?
For example, if you have a landscaping business, you’ll probably want to base your content around sharing your passion for creating beautiful outdoor spaces and the philosophy that guides your work. However, you’ll also need to include information that inspires trust, including your company’s story, reviews from satisfied customers, and photos of your work.
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Incorporate Diverse Content
As a professional writer, I’m inclined to champion written words, but they’re far from the only way to reach a target audience on the internet. Written content tends to perform much better with web readers when it’s accompanied by eye-catching images.
However, even that might not be the most effective possible approach: web users increasingly prefer videos over other forms of content. Digital marketing studies have shown that when a landing page contains a video, conversions on that page skyrocket by 80%.
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Implement Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Techniques
Search engine optimization is the process of improving your website’s content so that it will rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs). Better performance in SERPs should in turn increase your website’s organic (free) traffic. Since, as we mentioned earlier, quality content is the most important factor in improving your site’s performance in search, you could consider creating content to be a type of SEO — perhaps even the most valuable type. However, when people refer to SEO, they’re usually referring to other kinds of technical on-page improvements that can further boost the performance of a page that’s already filled with well-written content.
On its own, technical SEO probably won’t get you too far. But as part of a comprehensive content strategy, SEO is an effective tool. Make sure to optimize your pages by populating them with essential SEO features like a title tag, header tags, and alt tags, and use strategic descriptors in title tags and headers.
For example, if your business is a law firm, you might be tempted to title your homepage “Getting Justice for You.” However, a more effective search-optimized title would be “Experienced Los Angeles Personal Injury Attorney” along with your firm’s name. This title conveys essential information about your business (your industry and your location) as well as a strong adjective, and it’s short enough to display all this vital information in search engine results.
RELATED BLOG ARTICLE: Should I Pay for Search Engine Optimization? And How Much?
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Improve Site Functionality
When your site functions well, users are more likely to stick around to enjoy all the great content you’ve published there. Some things you can do to facilitate a better user experience on your website include:
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- Improve the site structure, especially menus and navigation features
- Reduce load times
- Make your site mobile-friendly
If you have questions about how to design an optimal web experience, we’re always here to help!
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Invest in Social Media
Social media is one of the most effective means to organically promote brand awareness and distribute content to new audiences that you wouldn’t otherwise reach. Thoughtfully curated social platforms allow you to foster a following among your target audience so you can reach them in a more personal way. You also can use social media profiles to showcase a more personal, casual, and relatable side of your business, which can be especially important if your target audience skews young.
High-Quality Content Delivers Results
It’s one thing to say that high-quality content is worth your time and effort and another thing to demonstrate it with data. Here are a couple examples of results we’ve achieved for clients who took our advice and based their digital strategies around content marketing.
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Crosley Law
Already a well-known regional and national brand, Crosley Law saw opportunities for better results from their digital marketing efforts. We worked with Crosley Law to implement a new web design, improve the quality of their existing blog articles, and consistently publish informative, relevant content. The results:
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- 449% increase in organic traffic
- 112% increase in tracked leads (446, up from 211)
- 35x increase in conversion rate
- 199 additional page-one keywords on Google
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Myers Law Firm
To help Myers Law Firm build their practice, we developed a package of services that included sustainable growth strategies like blogging, video content, and social media. The results:
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- 993% increase in organic website traffic
- 280% increase in tracked leads (in the first three months as a client compared to the same period the year before)
- 4,402% increase in organic keywords
LaFleur Marketing: Helping Businesses Like Yours Succeed
We get it — you’re busy doing what you do best. When your specialty isn’t content marketing, LaFleur is here to help. We’re experts in crafting strong digital presences for growing businesses, and we’ll work with you to craft cost-effective, customized solutions that solve your digital problems and help you meet your business goals.
To learn more, get in touch with us by calling (888) 222-1512 or filling out our online contact form.
