We all know that content is important for attracting website traffic. You need content for SEO purposes, to engage your audience, to promote thought leadership, and even to plan out a website redesign. Content goes well beyond a solid blog post. Think of all the elements on your website that relay important information: blog posts, testimonials, event pages, image galleries, videos, etc. These components make up your on-site content.
As an extension of on-site content, you should also consider your off-site content strategy. This type of strategy serves as a means to gain backlinks. For example, you may write a guest blog post that promotes your company on another website. Linking back to your site from another site shows your credibility and improves your SEO.
So where should your efforts lay when it comes to content strategy? Consider how you can improve your outreach in both respects.
On-Site Content Strategy
Simply put, on-site content refers to all the content you publish on your website. On-site content provides users with valuable information about your company and the product(s) you’re selling. This type of content is important because it proves your credibility as a thought leader. Consider these factors when planning your on-site strategy:
Audience
Learn and understand who is visiting your site. Using buyer personas, user stories, and analytics, determine where your audience is coming from and where they go on your site. This will allow you to tailor your content with the purpose of actually engaging your audience.
Keywords
Once you know who you’re writing to, you can develop a style of writing that speaks to your audience. Rather than using industry jargon, which can come off as instructional, use a tone that readers can relate to. Keywords will follow naturally. It’s important to write for your audience first as opposed to building content around keywords.
Self-Promotion
Use your on-site content to tell readers why they should consider your product or service. Content like testimonials, case studies, and white papers show off your work and your customer relationships. Additionally, you should also be sharing your content on social media channels. This a way to attract users that already follow your content, and your audience is likely to comment and share your content through these platforms.
Calls to Action & Internal Links
Relevant internal links keep visitors on your website and give you some control over their interaction with your website. On the same note, every blog post should end with a call to action that encourages the user to take action. Using internal links, send the user to your contact page or a product page to increase conversions.
Off-Site Content Strategy
Unlike on-site strategy, off-site strategy appeals to a different audience: outside sources and publications. This type of content serves to increase inbound links as well as brand awareness. Inbound links are links from other websites that lead back to your own content. These types of links increase your authority in an industry and ultimately improve your rank on major search engines. This strategy requires a bit more legwork and outreach. Here are some factors to consider:
Versatility
Off-site content should be adaptable to multiple niches. In this way, one piece of content can extend across multiple publications. For example, a post about how to incorporate user story mapping in a redesign may appeal to marketers, developers, and companies looking to redesign their website. On the other hand, a blog post about Drupal modules that are ideal for law firm websites only appeals to one type of audience.
Research
Regardless, you should always make sure your content is thoroughly researched and cited correctly. Just as important is the source your plan to syndicate to. Research that the source is trustworthy. Inbound links lost their magic if they come from sources that have little to no credibility in their field. When you do find a solid source to send your content to, explore their content and get to know their brand so that your content fits right in.
Relevance
Consider centering off-site content around current events and celebrations. Content with this focus appeal to a wide audience and garner a lot of attention. Your content should show not only that you have expertise in your field, but also that you’re up to date with the latest trends in your industry.
Message
Off-site content shouldn’t be an advertisement for your products or services. Instead, publications look for pieces that are more informational and unbiased, as opposed to promotional. Let your off-site content speak to your industry knowledge and branding.
The Verdict
You can totally have a content strategy that just makes use of on-site content. However, off-site content gives your website that extra boost when it comes to SEO. Think of on-site content as the foundation of your website. Search engines will use blog posts, tags, keywords and other content on your site to crawl and index. Content on your website is your ticket to audience communication, branding, and conversions.
Off-site content acts as a “hook” and directs users to your on-site content, which where you promote your work and make the sale, so to speak. Traffic comes from off-site content, and action comes from on-site content. Both work together to raise brand awareness and ultimately, increase revenue.
Content is just as important as the way your website looks (maybe even more so). It one of the many reasons users flock to your site, and it’s the first thing they look for before they make a purchase or take action. Keep your content clean and up to date. Consider going through past content to update old posts with current information. Finally, bring in more visitors to appreciate your website with off-site content. Not only is it a great way to promote your company, but it also allows you to build relationships with your community and potential leads.
Talk to us about ways to improve your SEO. Whether it’s a content audit or retargeting, Sevaa Group can help you out!
