You hear it all the time – content is king; content this, content that. What’s the big deal? Content marketing is one of the most effective things you can do for your online presence.
It’s more than a search tactic. Content marketing supports the image of your brand and helps create lasting relationships with your audience. This applies no matter the kind of industry you operate in, how large your company is, or how long you’ve been around.
At the end of the day, you have to use content as part of your marketing and branding strategy. But, it’s not in your best interest to just publish something for the sake of pushing content. You have to create high-quality copy and visuals for your audience.
Here’s a more in-depth look at why quality content matters so much.
1. More Content, More Traffic
At first, people were focused on creating content just for the search results. They figured that the more they posted new articles and social media content, the more users would come to their site. It’s true, that’s basically how content marketing works.
But, Google isn’t stupid. You can’t write an article with thin content or post duplicate content and consider yourself good to go. You have to write original, relevant material in order for your content to be worth anything and bring people to you.
In fact, sub-par content can do more harm than good. This is why having a content strategy for the web is crucial. It’s not something you can be hands-off with or half-hearted about; the best content is created with a clear purpose in mind.
In other words, it has to have a purpose beyond getting traffic. Maybe you want to get people excited for a product you’re about to launch or be the first one to talk about a new trend in your industry. Maybe you want to highlight an employee or create a way for users to connect with you beyond the brand.
Whatever the actual copy is going to be about, make sure it’s excellent. This will help you get the most traffic possible from the web content you share.
2. Good Content Improves Your Brand Authority
One way to leverage the things you write about is to focus your content on creating authority. This improves your brand image significantly.
When you become an authority in your market, people naturally start paying more attention to you. Competitors will be going to your blog for innovative insights and consumers will want to buy from you over someone else.
Authority creates trust. It sends a positive message about who you are and what you do, which strengthens the reputation of your brand.
3. Offering Value Creates Amazing Results
Keep in mind that your reputation isn’t just about you. When you make a good name for yourself, you’re really telling people you can give them everything they’re expecting and more. A good reputation says you offer the best value in the business.
It’s worth driving this message every time you can. Publishing high-quality content on a consistent basis creates a value standard for the entire business. Your insights and ideas reflect the strength of your products and services.
Together, these things boost brand awareness and brand loyalty. Your content becomes less of a marketing strategy and more of a continued conversation with your audience. It encourages the growth of already-established relationships and helps foster new, powerful connections with users.
4. It’s Better to Be Proactive Over Reactive
Here’s another thing to think about: it’s much better to be in a position of increasing the positive awareness of your business than to be fixing negative perceptions.
Put simply, content works best when it comes from a proactive standpoint. Building a strong brand reputation now is extremely helpful if a user has one negative experience later.
People are less likely to stop using your business altogether if they go into a bad situation knowing that such experiences are a one-off with your business, not the norm. The only way for them to know this, though, is through their own past experiences and the form in which you present yourself.
Your reputation is your livelihood. A good brand reputation helps patch up mistakes and keeps you above water, while a bad one is sure to bring your business down.
5. Quality Content Matters Beyond Search
The final reason to create and leverage quality content is that this offers benefits beyond search. If you are focused on using it mostly for search, though, view here to learn about important search rank factors.
But, remember great content drives engagements across the board.
It drives the rate of new customers you convert, keeps current consumers coming back to buy more, and supports how people buy-into your culture, too. This is helpful if you find yourself in an expanding position and recruiting new hires or looking for feedback on what products to roll out next.
Also, your in-house people will be proud to work with a company that is in such good light. This is where quality content comes full circle. It starts as something meant to create a dialogue with consumers and reel them in, then it turns into a part of what your business is.
That’s the best way to look at your reputation, actually – as an extension of your company. The next time you go to publish something, consider whether or not it’s something your brand is proud to stand behind.
Make Your Online Reputation the Best It Can Be
It’s one thing to understand just how much content matters and another to know how to create quality web copy. Plus, writing the right content isn’t enough. You also have to know how to leverage what you publish as much as possible.
Click here to learn how you can improve your content marketing campaign.