Killer Web Content That Every Small Business Needs

When a potential customer visits your website, they are seeking out information about your business. To convert these prospects into sales, the information on your site needs to build trust in your company and answer their questions about your products or services. Does your website have the content that visitors want to read?

To assist you in developing the kind of compelling information that will boost sales, here are four questions to ask yourself when creating content for your small business website.

1. Are You Original?
While it is a necessary skill for business, talking about ourselves can be challenging, especially when it comes to written content. But you need to get past your modesty and provide compelling and original content that depicts your business in the best light possible.

You should always avoid copying and pasting from others’ written works, not only because of plagiarism and questionable ethics but to ensure it doesn’t hurt your search engine optimization (SEO). Visitors and search engines like to see businesses write about themselves in an honest, easy to understand and unique voice. Try to steer clear from using clichés and re-hashing overused concepts.

2. Does it Provide Value?
When a potential customer comes across your website, they want to find out specific information and get a feel for what your company is all about. Small business website content should make it simple for visitors to find answers to their questions.

When writing for your website or blog, make sure you provide value—offer useful information without wasting readers’ time with fluff and filler. If you ramble on and on, the reader will lose interest and leave. Does the content provide practical advice and pertinent knowledge about your products and services? Can the customer take away valuable facts or tips from the content? Can the content assist you in the selling process?

3. Is it Organized and to the Point?
Put yourself in the customer’s shoes with this one. As a consumer searching the internet for information about a business, you want to find what you are looking for with no fuss and no hassle. People don’t just want information—they want information fast.

When creating your content, keep it organized and concise. There’s nothing worse than having to click through a disorganized mess of a website just to find basic information about the products and services that are available. At a minimum, you should create organized sections that contain an “about” page, product or service details, and a contact page with all the pertinent information including your business location, hours, phone number, email address, and social media links.

4. Are You Maintaining It?
Although you may have a great sense of accomplishment when you finally launch an optimized website, your work isn’t finished. A website is never a set-it-and-forget-it marketing too—it should always be viewed as a work in progress.

Your website is a crucial part of your overall online marketing strategy to attract and retain customers. Don’t let it collect dust! For SEO purposes, you want to update important pages of your website with fresh information to show search engines (not to mention customers) that you’re an active business.
Digital marketing is constantly evolving. Make sure your website and content strategy evolve with it, so your business does not look outdated.

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By Eva Zielinski, Manta Marketing Pro - November 29, 2017