Sites with great content are the types of things you know when you see them. You don’t even know why you love them. You just do.
Creating it can be a different story.
It’s easy to get lost in the trappings of a great site and lose focus on what makes it great.
No matter what your brand is about and what you’re trying to sell or convert, you can create a site with great content. You just need to break down what makes those sites great in the first place and use the same approach for whatever your topic is.
How Important Is Good Content?
You know when you’re drawn to specific websites. You spend more time there. You always read their newest blogs and click through on their social posts or in their newsletters. You look forward to consuming the content, and you spend lots of time on the website absorbing it all.
Content refers to everything you create on your website for the visitors’ consumption, including written pieces, videos, images, and more. Content covers everything from blog posts to product descriptions to case studies.
Basically, if it’s on your site, it’s content.
Because people engage more with sites with great content, they spend more time on the website, which improves your SEO. Further, people who love your content are more likely to share with others and convert customers.
What Makes Good Content?
Search engines have gotten smart, and people have grown accustomed to truly well-created, resource-rich content. As a result, you can no longer get away with following specific sneaky techniques to game the SEO system or trick people into visiting your website.
Good content answers the questions people search for on search engines and provides educational, entertaining, insightful, and empowering information.
Best practices for more in-depth written content include pieces running about 2,000 to 3,000 words and easily skimmed.
Good content is consistent, as well. People remain more engaged with your brand if you are regularly putting out high-quality content for them to consume.
Examples of Sites With Great Content
We’ve put together a list of websites whose content stands out for a particular reason. Let’s explore what makes sites’ content great and why.
1. Tell Engaging Stories: charity: water
We humans love stories. You can leverage this proclivity by telling stories in your content.
The best stories appeal to people’s emotions. It’s easy to assume your brand doesn’t have stories to tell—but you do. Think about what your brand brings to the table. What do you do? Who do you help?
Check out charity: water for an example. They provide water resources to people who need them, but their writing focuses on reaching those who can get water at the turn of a faucet handle. By telling stories of those who don’t have that luxury, they can reach the best help audiences.
Stories can change the narrative.
Case studies are excellent for telling stories. Think about your most loyal and happy customers or clients. What did you do for them? Tell the story. You can keep specifics and identifiers out of the story. Even a vague story is better than no story.
You can also tell your own story. Help people understand what you do and why. charity: water does this on their About Us page.
2. Stay Current and Break Industry News: thredUP
Sites with great content update regularly, and Google notices. Websites that update more often are seen as current and relevant, and therefore usually rank higher than websites that grow stale.
As a result, posting current, even breaking, news is a great way to do this. But not every brand can be a news site that’s rolling out the latest headlines constantly. So how can you stay current without going into a newsroom? Check out thredUP.
thredUP is a secondhand clothing brand, but their blog is a treasure trove of information about sustainability, clothing trends, and more. They see a bigger picture in their content. In fact, they have set themselves up as an expert to turn to for news.
Any brand can do this. What are your customers interested in? Set up Google alerts and create blogs and posts that react to the latest news in your field. Get ahead of the game and write articles exploring and expounding on trends to set your brand up as the expert.
3. Use Subject Matter Experts (Industry Insiders): Etsy
As you build content, don’t be afraid to pull in other voices. Subject matter experts can help you appeal to a broader audience and dive deeper into topics your audience cares about. They can also lend credibility to your brand, which matters for your SEO.
Google uses the EAT acronym to describe and rank quality standards in human analysis. EAT stands for expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness. Bringing in subject matter experts can bring those qualities to your content.
For example, check out Etsy’s blog. They pull in industry leaders and changemakers all the time.
You can also interview experts. And you aren’t restricted to written work—you can host these on YouTube, Instagram, or Facebook. You could even start a podcast.
4. Make Sure Your Copy Sounds Human: Bissell
Human copy is personal and conversational, not necessarily casual, but approachable. It brings emotion without being salesy or pushy. It’s clear and straightforward.
For a more human touch, check out the Bissell blog and website. They take what could be a dry, boring topic and make it approachable and personal.
If you have trouble with this style of writing, give yourself a break. Be authentic and write as naturally as you talk. You can use a voice-to-text app to help you translate genuine conversation into writing.
5. Offer Interactive Content: QVC
One of the best ways to remain human and build engagement with your audience is to use your website to interact with people.
Interactive content can start with allowing your audience to offer you feedback and respond to your content. This can be in the form of comment boxes after your blogs or social media posts.
You can also add audio and video elements to your post to engage your viewers.
QVC leverages this type of content to keep its audience invested and coming back for more.
During live shows and events, they invite their viewers to interact on forums and social media groups. As a result, they become more than customers. They feel part of the QVC community.
6. Incorporate Different Media Types: BarkBox
Sites with excellent content pull in lots of different types of media. This might include a video on a blog post, a slide deck, a downloadable, lots of images, photos, videos, audio, and more.
Using different elements can bring your stories to life while helping you get your message out in many ways people can absorb it.
If you need some inspiration, check out BarkBox’s blog.
7. Answer Users’ Most FAQs: NeilPatel.com
Strive to answer frequently asked questions your customers have. Sites with effective answers to frequent questions can get picked up for featured snippets in search results on Google.
You can do this by asking and answering questions in your content. Make sure those are prominent and easy to scroll. Style is up to you: You can incorporate questions into headers and subheaders or use lists or bullet points.
Not to toot our own horn, but we think we’re pretty good at this! Check out our method below:
Frequently Asked Questions About Good Content
What is an example of great content marketing?
Great content marketing makes visitors want to return and consume more. Sites with the strongest content provide current information, interactive elements, and answers to questions.
How is website content strategy different from social media content strategy?
Website content strategy focuses on what will be posted on the site itself. In contrast, social media content strategy focuses on how and what information will be posted to social media sites. The way things are presented on your site and social media will likely be quite different.
What are the different types of content?
Many different types of content can be used on your website, including audio, visual, interactive, and written content. Using a variety of content can enliven your message and entice a growing audience.
Is short or long content better?
In general, longer written content ranks better for SEO. However, even long-form content should be broken down into digestible paragraphs with headings and bullet points, answering frequently asked questions along the way. Video and audio content varies based on subject and audience.
Conclusion for Sites with Great Content
The internet is full of sites with great content. You probably know of plenty of examples that draw you back for more.
As you put together your digital marketing strategy for your brand or e-commerce shop, think about the elements that make those websites great.
What’s your favorite type of online content?
from Blog – Neil Patel https://ift.tt/3DyNqhR
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