Content marketing is one of the most powerful tools that you have at your disposal as a small business owner. It’s the process of creating content for your website in order to draw in new traffic, increase your follower count, and boost your sales.
In this article, we’re going to outline several different content marketing tactics that always get results. Let’s get started.
Search for gaps in your competitors’ content, then fill them
It’s a good idea to take a look at the content that your competitors are publishing and see if there are any gaps you could fill. Gaps in content refer to different subjects in your field that your competitors are covering that you aren’t or topics that no one in your field is discussing yet. Targeting these gaps can help you attract your competitors’ viewers and improve your rankings on the search engine results pages (SERPs).
Start by conducting some competitor keyword analysis. Moz’s Ranking Keyword Analysis tool is helpful for this! Enter the competitor you’re targeting in the first field, followed by your own domain in the second. Moz will then show you which keywords your competitor is beating you in. Look for opportunities here! You might see which of your targeted keywords needs a boost or get some inspiration for new content entirely.
Create shareable content people will link to
If you’re able to create sharable content, this will improve your backlink profile, boosting your search engine optimization (SEO), and sending more traffic to your website. This is the process of backlink building or acquiring hyperlinks from other high-quality websites that lead back to your own. When this happens, Google takes it as a vote of confidence in your authority and gives you a boost in the SERPs as a result.
Let’s take a look at a few examples of link-worthy content for inspiration.
Neil Patel, a digital marketing expert, uses visual content throughout their website to supplement their articles. In their article on ensuring your online reviews get you business, Neil Patel uses charts, graphs, and more to demonstrate their points and guide the reader through the process. Visual content like this makes an article more engaging, more helpful, and therefore, more sharable. Other small businesses and digital marketing experts might link to this article in order to help their audience. On your website, be sure to include helpful images and graphs in order to break up large blocks of text and make your content more engaging.
Backlinko, another digital marketing expert, has sharable content on their website in the form of ultimate guides. In their definitive guide to content marketing in 2021, they outline everything a reader would want to know about the current state of the industry. The guide covers promoting content, new creation strategies, top trends, and more. Because it’s so thorough, a variety of small business owners and digital marketers might be willing to share it for their own audiences. On your website, think about what different subjects you know inside and out. Creating guides on them is a good way to secure backlinks.
Need more help? Take a look at the link-building services that Loganix has to offer.
Provide value for your audience with free tools
Offering free tools and templates to your audience can be a very effective content marketing tactic, but it’s one that’s often overlooked. When you offer free resources to your target audience, this helps them solve their problems and build their trust with you as a result — this can lead to them spending money with you down the road.
Think about what types of tools and templates you could provide to your audience. If you have a process you use over and over again, consider how you could offer templates or checklists to help your target audience. If you work in retail or cosmetics, virtual try-ons are a great way to provide value.
Let’s take a look at a few examples of businesses that use this technique well.
FreshBooks, an online accounting software company, offers free invoice templates to anyone who comes across them on their website. FreshBooks’ target audience is full of small business owners and freelancers who might be doing their own accounting. If they find the invoice templates helpful, they could be interested in FreshBooks’ accounting software, as well. On your website, think about how you can use free resources in order to draw people into your business and convince them to use your services.<
H&R Block, a tax preparation company, does something similar with their free income tax calculator. Anyone who comes across this tool can use it to get a rough estimate of how much of a tax refund they’ll receive. If a user finds this helpful, they might be more willing to use H&R Block’s tax software in the future. On your website, think about how you can create a calculator that will encourage people to use your paid services.
Create content inspired by your customers’ FAQs
By anticipating customer questions and answering them on your website, you can show that you understand your target audience. This will drive more traffic to your website and ultimately lead to more sales. Start by heading to a question keyword research tool like Answer the Public. Plugin different words and phrases related to your business, and Answer the Public will tell you what questions people are searching for related to those topics. Basing content off of these questions is a great way to draw more traffic to your website!
Let’s take a look at a few examples of content based on FAQs for inspiration.
Venngage, an online infographic maker, has an article on how to choose the best fonts for your designs. This is a very helpful article for anyone who is new to graphic design! Venngage outlines why fonts matter, how to use fonts to evoke emotion, and more. Not only does this article show that Venngage knows what they’re talking about when it comes to design, but it’s a helpful article that answers their target audience’s FAQs. On your website, think about how you can help answer the questions of people new to your field or industry using content.
Dollar Shave Club, an online razor subscription service, answers customer FAQs in the article on hair gel, hair pomade, and hair paste. This article outlines what each styling product does, who would want to use them, and more. It’s a very helpful guide for men interested in personal styling products. People who come across this guide might be interested in Dollar Shave Club’s other products, as well, making it a very effective tool for finding new customers. On your website, think about how you can showcase your products in FAQ form in order to draw in more customers.
Publish content that showcases your expertise
Creating expert content can bring your target audience to your website! This is part of showing off your E-A-T, which stands for expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness. It’s something Google’s algorithm has been paying a lot more attention to as of late; in short, search engines only want to point their users in the direction of trustworthy and accurate information, so website owners need to create content that shows they are knowledgeable sources of high-quality information. Furthermore, this strategy will build trust with your audience and lead to more sales.
Let’s take a look at an example of content that showcases expertise for inspiration.
Florin Roebig, a trial attorney firm based out of Florida, showcases their expertise in their article on semi-truck accidents. The article covers the types of truck accidents, common causes, when to hire a lawyer, and more. It’s very thorough and shows that Florin Roebig is an expert on this type of accident — a great selling point for a personal injury attorney! Because of this, it’s a great way for them to draw in new customers to their business and build trust. On your website, think about how you can create content that shows that you are knowledgeable in your industry.
Repurpose your content to make it go further
Different people like to consume content in different ways; it’s worth presenting the same information in different formats in order to reach different segments of your audience. Before repurposing your content, consider putting out a survey to see what kinds of content your audience members like. You might find, for instance, that younger audience members prefer video, while older audience members prefer blogs and articles.
Here are a few different ways you can repurpose your content:
- Turn a blog post into a video.
- Transcribe an interview podcast.
- Collect content and turn it into an eBook.
- Find internal data on a subject and make a case study.
- Turn studies or research into colorful infographics.
Google has confirmed that repurposing content does not harm your SEO. Take a look at your content and think about how you could present it in different formats!
Summary
Content marketing is key to running a successful eCommerce business. In this article, we outlined several different strategies that always get results, including repurposing your content, showing off your expertise, answering FAQs, and more. Take a look at your existing content and see what you should do next!
Reporter’s Note: We wrote this article in collaboration with Adam Steele; the COO at Loganix, an SEO fulfillment partner for agencies and marketers.
