Why do so many businesses struggle to make their web content relevant to their site visitors?

The content on your website is your opportunity to speak to your audience and to portray your brand, values and products or services, but most SME’s seem to struggle with this.  

They write what they want to tell people, from their own internal point of view. We have read many sites full of technical jargon; lists of facts and accreditations that mean very little to most buyers.  

There is a place for this kind of content, usually in the form of available downloads which are accessible to people who are advanced in the sales process, i.e. they are on the way to purchasing, and want to tick some boxes.  

In the first pages, though, you want visitors to be mentally nodding and saying, ‘Yes, this is what I am looking for, I am ready to find out more…’ 

It is so important to bear in mind relevance and to always ask yourself, “Is my website content relevant to the people who are reading it?”. 

Great content that is focused and relevant will inform your audience and provide them with the information they need to take that first initial step to deciding whether your product or service is right for them.  

Content should have the aim of increasing visitor interest until they want to engage with you (or buy, if you have an e-commerce site).  

To be able to deliver relevant and quality content, you need to be clear on what content is and the different forms that it can take.   

Content refers to any copy or images on your website that your audience will encounter as part of their user experience. This can be written content such as blogs and articles and business information such as opening hours or blurb, perhaps written on your ‘about us’ page.   

Graphical content is visual representations that provide instant knowledge, where your user doesn’t need to read and digest text. Graphics can take the form of images, infographics, charts, maps and many more.  

Then there is the wonder of video and audio information to consider, where a clickable audio or a video might be the best way of getting engagement with the visitor. So why is providing relevant content so important?  

If you and your company are clear on who your target audience is (and with many of our clients - quite large SME’s - this is not always an easy question to answer), then you will be able to find out how to speak to your audience and provide them with content that is of value, content that answers their questions, and content that they will want to engage with and share with others.  

Relevant content that provides value for your audience will be useful and informative for them and in turn, should drive results such as higher conversion rates and increased website engagement for you. 

 

You will probably have two types of content on your site, evergreen and time-sensitive.   

Relevant evergreen content is information that doesn’t date. When it’s highly relevant, it lasts longer, it has much greater staying power than content that is rushed and not clearly thought-through.  

Time-sensitive content is information that has a ‘sell-by’ date. If you’re going to include this, it must be kept up-to-date, as well as being relevant.  

We reviewed a site recently for a well-loved local firm that had ‘live’ tweets, which is a great feature, until you noticed that the last tweet had been 18 months ago. Their latest news was of a similar vintage. It hurts to see such a super group of people allowing themselves to be compromised in this way. It’s better to take it down altogether than look as if you are no longer relevant in the market.  

This is where content planning comes in to play along with content marketing strategies.   

If you are sharing blogs surrounding topics of interest that change very little over time, your blogs will continue to be read over and over again and they will continue to work well for your website by driving traffic to it. Blogs that can be easily updated also work well and ensure your website stays up to date, because as you know yourself, you question the provider when you stumble across out of date content.  

When website content is relevant, well informed, focused and sharp, it helps you to build trust with your audience. They trust that you have what they need. The way in which content is delivered will provide a certain type of user experience and one that you will want to work wonders in building trust with your particular audience.  

Testimonials and reviews for your company’s products or services will provide reassurance and give your target audience insight into others engagement experience with you. It will give new visitors to your website confidence. Their experience will be a positive one and they will more likely visit you again in the future.  

Are you unsure how to deliver relevant content on your website? Have you considered a professional copywriter in the past but not quite got to the stage of hiring? Well we can help.  

LCM creates copywriting that is engaging and complimentary for your brand. Copywriting is a skill and if it isn’t your forte or you don’t have time, we understand how difficult delivering relevant quality content can be. Get in touch if you’d like to find out more.