When it comes to getting found in the search engine results, there are hundreds of tactics and strategies that come into play.
In fact, Google uses over 200 ranking factors in their algorithm to make a determination on where your website should show up with any given search.
Chief among them all is the content on your website.
Google uses over 200 ranking factors — but chief among them all is the content on your website!
The more thorough and accurate you cover the topics on your website, the more likely Google is to recommend their visitors take a look.
There’s a reason Wikipedia shows up in nearly every search query!
Imagine if your website was known as the Wikipedia of your industry? Google would have no choice but to consider you an authority and they’d usher people in by the thousands knowing you have all the answers people are looking for.
But creating content isn’t always easy — and it requires a dedicated and ongoing commitment to realize success.
A lot of business owners shy away from content creation because they don’t believe they are a “writer”, or that they can’t do it right.
But writing for the internet isn’t the same as becoming a celebrated author — in most cases your industry expertise and a little bit of time is all you need.
In this article I’m going to share with you 5 of my best trips for getting over the fear of writing in hopes that it gives you the confidence to start producing content that will get your company noticed!
1. Have a clear goal
Step one is to set out what you want your content to achieve. That is, not what you want to achieve with your content, but what your content can do. There is an important distinction here!
What this does is separate what you hope to achieve from what your audience is looking for.
Your content needs to evoke trust in you and your brand and the best way to do this is by addressing the pain points and journey a customer goes through.
We refer to them as customers already—even before they have made a purchase—because if you only think of them as prospects, your aim is always to drive a sale and this will easily push people away.
Ask yourself, how many times have you unsubscribed from a newsletter because all you ever received were sales emails? Probably quite a few times.
So yes, keep your goals in the back of your mind, such as framing content around different products at different times. These are important touchpoints that you can use to measure the effectiveness of your content. At the end of the day, you want to drive sales!
But always remember that the best way of achieving sales and attracting the right customers is by speaking to their pain points and being trusted.
2. Understand your audience
There’s no use in creating content if you aren’t targeting it towards someone.
Marketing used to always work by putting people into boxes. Be they by age, sex, occupation, these categories don’t hold as much weight in modern marketing strategies.
Social media has played a huge role in changing people’s relationships with brands. Consumers are now looking for brands and products that they can trust and that solve a problem.
Think about what stage your customer is in their journey to make a purchase. You can create customer ‘profiles’ based on this.
A great way to understand this is by making a distinction between what content is talking about your product and what product is talking about the problem your audience faces.
If all of your content is based around talking up your product, you will be losing out on the customers who don’t yet realize that the solution to their problem is your product. The way to approach this then is that a large portion of your content needs to be directly speaking to what problems your product solves and how that can affect you, the customer.
3. You don’t need to write a novel
It’s often easier to write a short novel about your product than to write something that is short and to the point.
But why?
You know every little detail about your product! Of course, you do, it’s yours. But that doesn’t mean that your audience wants to or needs to know absolutely everything about it, at least not right away.
This is particularly important if your product has a lot of technical elements. For sure, there will be a good number of people who also know all about the technical details and are looking for confirmation that what you offer can suit their needs.
But remember that other group? The ones who just about understand that they have a problem and aren’t sure what the solution is? They will completely switch off when you start going down the rabbit hole of detail and technical jargon. And, it is these customers that you really want to bring on board.
Mix things up with content that is very direct and content that is technical.
The direct content needs to be immediately relatable and clear. Hold your audience’s hand and guide them through all of the information they need to know about their problem and they will believe and trust in you being the gatekeeper of the answer.
And the technical content, throw it in more sparingly, and when you do use it, go to town with it. You can even have fun with a lead-in by saying something like “this is for all of the lovers of the tech side of [your product].”
4. Write first, edit later
The hardest part of any type of content is just getting it out of your head and down on “paper” (you know what I mean).
Do you know what blank page syndrome is?
It is the creative block and avoidant pattern that many writers will suffer from at some point in their careers.
For “non-writers” this can manifest as either a complete block when staring at a blank page or content calendar. The avoidant patterns will tend to crop up as excessive research or re-writing the same sentences repeatedly in the quest for perfection.
Editing while writing will break your flow and create more barriers. The trick is to stop thinking and just start writing!
If writing is still proving to be overwhelming, you can just record your ideas instead. If you can, ask a friend, family member, or colleague if they would be happy to listen to you and have a conversation about your content ideas.
Once this is done, you can listen back to the recording and take notes on what you think are the most valuable ideas. Direct transcription tools, like HappyScribe or Otter.ai will allow you to upload audio files and then the software will automatically generate text for you.
5. Create a habit
For most writers, writing didn’t just come naturally — at least not at first.
Like with anything, becoming a better writer takes practice.
When I first started writing for my website (the one you’re reading right now), it was a struggle to get 500 words on the page.
Write a 2,000 word article? Forget about it!
Think of it like walking into a gym for the first time to lift weights. If you’ve not spent a lot of time lifting weights before, you have to start small and build up your strength over time.
Sitting down for the first time and trying to crank out large volumes of copy is like walking into the gym for the first time and trying to bench 350 lbs — you’ll most certainly fail!
You have to work those muscles regularly, starting off small, and over time you become stronger and more capable.
Like the gym, the only way to become consistent at is to set up some kind of routine and stick to it!
That might be spending 5 minutes each day doing a little writing, or putting an hour in on your calendar each week to dedicate to content creation.
The schedule you decide on is a lot less important than being consistent. Whatever schedule you create, you need to make it a priority and stick to it.
What most people find is that within only a few weeks their fingers start flowing more freely, and words begin pouring out of them with a lot less effort.
Plan of action
Creating content for your business is one of the most valuable ways you can spend your time.
Your company’s content is an asset.
Blogs, articles, videos, and audio clips live on the internet for years, and have the potential to keep introducing your business to new audiences for years after you create them. Your content can reach anyone in the world at any time of the day or night — no salesperson or employee can even come close to competing with that!
If you want to ensure the long-term success of your website, there’s no better way than by producing regular content — and now you have 5 more ways to help you succeed!
Search Engine Optimization is one of the most common places where companies require expert help and at OGAL Web Design, we do just that. If you want to know more about how to boost your business’ ranking, schedule a call with us to discuss our “done for you” content package and in the meantime, you can download our free guide on optimizing your site.
