Have you given your small business website content a quality check recently?
Good quality website content engages your customers, builds loyalty, encourages backlinks and sharing, and even improves your search engine rankings. What can you do to make sure your content is up to scratch?
Here are 6 questions to ask about your website's content:
Is It Appropriate for Your Audience?
If you write for everybody, you could end up appealing to nobody. That's a scary thought isn't it?
Thankfully the solution is simple: Know your audience well.
The better you know your audience the better placed you are to craft content that really speaks to them.
Think about who you are talking to.
What are their demographics? What problem or question are they trying to solve?
Draw up a profile of your ideal reader, and write directly to that person.
Is It Useful?
As the article "What Makes Content High Quality?" says, quality content is content that people find useful.
Your visitor should finish reading your content with a feeling that they've been informed, helped or entertained.
Before publishing any piece of content, ask yourself "is this useful?"
All content should have a clearly defined purpose. Think about what you want your reader to take away from reading it, and make sure you achieve that aim.
Does It Scan Well?
Your audience doesn't have a lot of time. They have busy lives, and plenty of other content vying for their attention.
Making sure your content scans well gives them a chance to skim over it and see at a glance how useful it is.
Plenty of headings, short paragraphs, bullet point lists and block quotes will all help break up your text. It will be quick to scan, easier to read, and more likely to grab your visitors' attention.
Is It Thoughtfully Structured?
Every single part of your content needs to be carefully structured.
Start with a killer headline. Whether you're writing your website intro page or a blog post, your headline needs to be attention grabbing.
Follow that up with a compelling introduction that lets your reader know what your content is about.
The body of your content should be carefully laid out using headers that break it down into bite sized chunks and create a cohesive flow.
Finally, your closing paragraph should wrap things up nicely. Whatever you promised in your introduction, make sure you've delivered it by the final sentence.
Have You Made Good Use of Media?
Good content doesn't stop at the written word.
Using a mix of different media will help keep your customers' attention and make your content more visually appealing, too.
Crisp images that convey your brand message are a good option, and you can also make use of video, infographics or slide shows to get your point across.
Does It Have a Call to Action?
It's easy to forget the call to action when it comes to website content.
Think about what you would like your visitor to do after reading your content.
Do you want them to subscribe for more? Like or share on social media? Get in touch with you? Make that clear.
If your content doesn't need a call to action, it should at least be actionable.
Your reader should click away with new ideas, a new way to solve a problem, or some wisdom that they can apply in their business or life.
Excellent content will help you attract and keep customers, boost your search engine rankings, and establish your brand's quality.
Start today and polish your content till it shines.