Any company wondering how to get found online has probably done their research. But, with so many guides and how-to manuals floating around the Internet, how are they to know if the advice they’ve received is any good? Well, the best way to be certain is to seek out a reputable source. With a team of search engine and web design experts on staff, Creative Marketing Group has been getting sites found since the dawn of the Internet.
In the last decade, however, search engines have changed. Extremely sophisticated, search engine algorithms are continually adapting. They’re always looking for ways to deliver more relevant results. And, that’s what it all boils down to: relevance.
If you’ve done your keyword research, you’re halfway there. After identifying three to five relevant keywords that you’d like to focus on, it’s time to build a strategy. Your content marketing strategy is a roadmap. It informs your writing efforts and ensures that every piece of content you create contributes to a wider, greater purpose. Without a strategy, you’re throwing darts in the dark. You’re putting a lot of effort into an uncertain result. And your company deserves certainty.
How does content marketing help me get found online?
When you create a content marketing strategy, it ensures that you spend time creating relevant content that speaks directly to the things that people are searching for. It helps your website gain ranks on Google by informing your search engine optimization efforts. It ensures that you’re not overlapping your efforts by creating multiple pages that focus on the same keyword. And, if you want to get found online, you’ll want to leverage the power of every word you write.
As we said, your strategy is your roadmap. It should be a spreadsheet that contains a list of keywords you want to target, a headline for each keyword, and an approximate word count to aim for. Also, and maybe most importantly, it should assign a priority to each keyword. A priority tells you which words and phrases to target first and reduces the amount of time you spend hemming and hawing over your list.
An example spreadsheet of a content marketing strategy used to get found online.
After you’ve completed a piece of content, add a link to that piece to your strategy spreadsheet. Then, move on to the next one. Content strategies are a great way to visualize the work you’ve done and the work that you still need to do.
Okay, so how do I use this strategy?
As we’ve said, your strategy informs your SEO efforts. Every time you sit down to create a new page, a blog, an article, or a resource for your website, open your strategy spreadsheet. Look at the keywords that you’ve targeted and – more importantly – the keywords that you haven’t targeted. Then, craft your new piece of content around an unused keyword. In this way, you use the strategy to continually expand your site’s reach on search engines.
Additionally, keeping a spreadsheet allows you to reinforce the substance of your other pages when creating new ones. If you’re creating a page that focuses on ‘luxury restaurants,’ you can consult your spreadsheet and create internal links to pages with similar keywords, such as ‘high-end restaurants’ and ‘expensive restaurants.’
How often should I write to get my website found?
There’s no delicate way to put this: you should be adding content to your website on a weekly basis. If you have any hopes of overtaking your competitors on Google, you need to dwarf their efforts. If they’re writing posts that are three hundred words, you need to triple that. If they’re posting twice per month, you need to triple that. In all things, you need to triple their efforts.
When determining whether you get found online, search engines crunch a lot of data. But, above all else, they want to see a steady stream of relevant updates. If you haven’t added anything to your website in years, search engines – and probably customers – rightly assume that your company isn’t active.
To get ranked, you need to show Google that you’re active, authoritative, and engaged with your customers. If you’re lacking inspiration, think of the questions your customers ask. Then, take thirty minutes every day to write out answers to the most common questions. Of course, if you can’t find the time to write, you can always hire an SEO specialist. Or, if you really want to crush your competition, you can get started on a website redesign to update your entire site all at once.
Whoa, that’s a lot. How long should my blog posts be?
In a perfect world, your posts should be three times the length of your biggest competitor’s posts. Realistically, this isn’t always possible. But, in most cases, you shouldn’t post anything that is less than three hundred words. Under that amount, Google considers the content ‘thin’ and it has little value for the purposes of improving your site’s rankings.
Rather than writing very short posts, consider combining topics. If you’re having trouble writing three hundred words about ‘luxury restaurants,’ you might have more luck including information about ‘luxury hotels’ and ‘luxury spas,’ as well. You can then use these additional keywords as internal links to other, related posts that speak about those topics in more detail.
Remember, also, that you’ll want to drive traffic to your posts once they’re finished. As ‘dwell time’ – the amount of time visitors spend on a page – is an important metric when determining your rankings, you’ll need to create content that encourages interaction and convinces people to stick around. Whether you’re crafting compelling newsletters to complement your blogs or posting your new content on social media, it’s important to give your visitors a lot of information to chew on.
Want to get found online but need a little help?
At Creative Marketing Group, we’ve been helping companies work out how to get found online for years. With a broad portfolio of clients in Kalamazoo – and across the country – our writers have crafted compelling, memorable content for a wide range of industries. So, no matter what audience you’re speaking to or what products you’re presenting, you can rest assured that we can help.
If your website has been struggling to attract attention, you might just need a little guidance. You might need assistance putting together a content marketing strategy. Or, you may want someone to handle all of your company’s SEO and content marketing needs. Regardless, the team at Creative Marketing Group can help. Our team is ready, willing, and available to get your site found, all you need to do is reach out to us today.
