The content of your website is arguably the most important aspect of your site – and yet how often do companies create a content strategy or even know what a content strategy is? This blog post is based on my recent presentation at our Digital Marketing Forum.
What is Content Strategy?
A Content Strategy defines a plan on how to communicate in the web channel. It identifies gaps and creates a plan for developing and managing content for your website.
Creating a content strategy can help you analyze and evaluate the current content on your site and improve upon it. A content strategy should help guide you as it can help define roles within your team, as well as the voice, tone, goals and objectives of the company.
Written Content
Good written content is essential to any successful web presence. Take time to craft your voice. Be aware of tone, verbiage, message and the action you want your users to take.
Is it best for your site to sound authoritative? Friendly? Fun-loving? Brand should dictate your direction.
Photo Content
We’ve all seen it - many websites utilize stock photos that are far too common. Using Shutterstock images for your initial web presence is not necessarily a bad thing. However, creating unique media and photos designed specifically for your brand creates an image that people can associate with your company for years to come.
For example, a car dealership attempting to showcase the cars for sale on its website has two options in terms of imagery:
Option 1 is to upload stock photos of the same type of car with a classic white background.
Option 2 is to hire a photographer and upload a multitude of lifestyle images of the cars being driven, used and put to the test, conveying to potential buyers a lifestyle associated with each car. The success of Instagram is a testament to the power of driving customers to embrace a lifestyle they wish to have.
Social Media & Email
In 2017, we live in an age of social media. The average person reads countless pieces of written content via a multitude of social media platforms every day. Your content strategy should also guide your social media content.
When drafting your social, keep the following statistics from Americaneagle.com partner, HubSpot, in mind:
All in all, it’s been statistically proven that shorter is better when it comes to engaging users through social and email.
Report and Repeat
Take charge of your content using reporting tools. Understand roadblocks, modify your tone and discover new opportunities simply by monitoring your success rate via a tool like Google Analytics.
Thank you for reading! For more top content tips, get in touch with Americaneagle.com.
