Content marketing is one of the most impactful marketing forms today. Not only is it effective at bringing people to your business, but it’s also inexpensive and can even be done yourself. However, you need to ensure you’re using it effectively. If you’re using content marketing to boost sales and revenue, then your content marketing strategy must be optimized to generate traffic to your website.
Statistically, the methods I’m sharing with you below have been proven to work. They’re powerful when it comes to improving your Google ranking, making people come to your business website, and ultimately making sales. Here are the most impactful forms to help your company.
1. Add visuals to your content.
While the informative text is likely to make up the majority of your content, placing relevant images or infographics strategically throughout your content will improve your success significantly. Research by BuzzSumo found that posts with an image every 100 words or so got twice the amount of shares as one without.
Readability Matters.
This all comes down to readability. Your potential customers are likely to bounce if they see a wall of text. Throw in an image at the top and something good to look at every few paragraphs and you have a winner.
Infographics are especially effective.
These can get interesting data across instantly in an easy-to-read and eye-catching manner. You can find studies related to whatever you’re selling and use sites like Visual.ly to create engaging infographics. These get tons of shares on social media and are bound to bring more people to your page.
2. Post About Success Stories
Guides and listicles can interest a lot of people. However, one of the most effective forms of content is success stories.
Blogs often do this by interviewing inspiring people. For instance, blogs about working from home might post success stories about people who created their own home business.
Businesses can also make use of this method via Case Studies. Write about your past clients, what you did for them, and sum up the results. This can really make the difference in convincing potential new clients/customers to do business with you.
Success stories often work best when written like a story. Draw the reader in with details and keep them engaged with significant turning points. Drive the point home with statistics to show the kind of results they (or you) were able to achieve.
3. Create Articles Targeted At Long-tail Keywords
A study by Advanced Web Ranking discovered that over one-third of people click the first result when they carry out a Google search. Instead of trying to climb up the second and third pages, try to skyrocket to the top.
First Page Search Engine Ranking Positions (SERPS)
The best method for getting first-page rankings is by targeting longer, less competitive keywords.
To put this into context, imagine you’re an electronics store. Despite your efforts, you might never reach the first page for “iPhone” or “laptop”. However, you could target keywords like “buy cheap laptops in the US” or “cheapest used iPhones”.
Check out Google’s Keyword Planner and discover what exactly people are searching for. Write content targeted at specific long-tail keywords and questions people ask. Over time, you’ll build up a solid stream of hits on Google for your keyword diversity.
4. Make Your Content Smartphone-Friendly
According to recent statistics, over 60% of people browse the internet with their mobile phones only. If your content isn’t mobile-friendly, you’re losing out of tons of hits and sales.
Content Structure.
Structure your content into short paragraphs and subheadings. This makes it much more easily scannable and readable for mobile users. Make sure your content is easily viewable on an iPhone or Android smartphone. This is where the majority of users will be seeing it.
Larger text sizes and bullet points will also make your content more mobile-friendly. You should also check your loading time. If people can’t load your website fast from a smartphone, they’re likely to go elsewhere.
5. Use A Call-To-Action
Two Call-to-Action Types.
What is a call to action? A call-to-action (CTA) is a link or button designed to make your readers do something. There are two primary types of CTA’s in digital marketing:
- Direct Call-to-Action: This is a direct ask or buy CTA. For example, Buy Now, Sign Up, Register, etc are examples of direct CTA’s you’ve probably encountered before.
- Transitional Call-to-Action: This is a CTA that allows you to provide an action for a customer who’s interested but not quite ready to buy. Examples of these include Learn More, Read Our Success Stories, etc.
Here at King Creative Co., we use CTA’s all throughout our website.
The most obvious example is businesses who post blogs directing people to their sales page. This is easy with online shopping cart software. You’ll be able to make links directing people to specific products they might be interested in buying.
It’s best to include some kind of call-to-action text at the very end of your post. For instance, you could end by saying “You can check out some of the best products at our online store!” Tailor this to the blog and what kind of readers it’s likely to attract.
CTAs are also common for social media. You can give people a reason to share your content, which helps you also generate more traffic and as well as Google love. You can also post it yourself on social media and give people a reason to read.
6. Use Google Analytics and Google Search Console To Your Advantage
Every brand and business should be using both Google Search Console and Google Analytics; OR some other analytics software, to gauge the performance of their website as well as the behavior of their visitors.
Google Analytics is free and gives you a plethora of useful information. You can understand where your hits are coming from, how people are viewing your content, and what kind of content performs the best.
By implementing Google Search Console you can get insights on which keywords people are using to find you. You can use this list to work out what keywords to target in the future and what works the best.
You’ll also get the numbers on page views. This can tell you which kind of content performs the best, and you can even learn which blogs are sending people to your sales pages.
Analytics are the key to successful content marketing, so make sure you use them to your advantage.
Conclusion
Every business today should be posting a steady stream of content that’s engaging, shareable, and easy to find on Google. These are the ultimate content marketing strategies that will help you boost hits and make sales.
Make sure to experiment with your keyword targeting and check your analytics to find out what works best. Make content easy for mobile users to access and find ways to send them to your sales page. Overall, you want a library of content that’s going to bring people in, get more shares, and entice customers to buy.
