So, you’ve got your business, you’ve launched your website, but you’re still low on page views? Here's a guide on how to use content marketing successfully for any business.
Want to know how to use content marketing successfully? Content marketing is the digital buzzword of 2020 – but what the heck does it all mean, and how does it increase traffic to your website? Well, on the surface, it sounds super easy. You write the content, you publish the post to your website, people will read it, and you get more customers. Simple, right? If only!
Most clients we work with quickly realise there is an art to getting discovered on the internet. After all, it’s estimated that there are around 1.7 billion websites in the world today, including 600 million blogs. So, if you want to get noticed and hit those top spots on Google, you’ve got to do something pretty special. That’s where content marketing comes in.
Luckily, you don’t need to have a University degree in digital marketing to create a successful, high-traffic website. Instead, all you need to do is follow a few simple steps to tick all of Google’s boxes. And while these steps do require time, patience and research, if you follow our top tips, you’ll easily increase your web traffic and lift your ranking on search engines – all thanks to clever content marketing.
6 WAYS TO DRIVE TRAFFIC TO YOUR WEBSITE
1. Get your website ‘digital ready’
You can’t expect search engines to rank your site if your fundamentals are not sorted. And what we mean by this is, your accessibility and user experience (UX). There are a few things you need to consider. How fast is your page-load time? Do you have a clear and simple navigation? Is your website mobile-friendly? Are your images compressed? There are a lot of fundamentals you need to get right before you can start your content marketing journey. Check out our free Digital-Ready Checklist to get started.
2. Keyword research
Now that your environment is set, you need to research what words and phrases people use when searching the internet, and prepare to use those keywords yourself. So what’s the point of all this? Well, if you’re using these keywords in your content, you will automatically be answering people’s search queries. And when Google realises you’re a great source of information for these search terms? Your content will rank right up there as a popular search result.
3. SEO optimise your articles
So, you’ve got your keywords, now it’s time to use them. No doubt you’ve heard of SEO, or more specifically, Search Engine Optimization. This is the art of using your keywords in all the right places, so that when Google (and other search engines) crawl the web to find relevant and useful web pages, they find you. So, to hack your way into Google’s eyeline, you’ll want to cleverly place all of your keywords in some very specific locations. This includes your Headline, your SEO Title, your Meta Description, image Alt Text, sub header and first paragraph – to name just a few. There are plenty of places you can use your keywords, so check out our guide to SEO tips for ranking on Google to find them all.
4. Create a video (or a series of videos!)
We love the use of video for three reasons: firstly, readers are much more engaged when it comes to video, which means more dwell time spent on your site. Secondly, Google loves pages with video, particularly those that use YouTube (since they own it!). And thirdly, when it comes to YouTube, it isn’t only a video website – it’s also the second largest search engine on the internet, right behind Google. So, if you can create a simple video (even if it’s just a video of you talking to the screen) add this to your article, because the impact it has on search rankings and visibility across different platforms is monumental. Bonus points for sharing the videos across your social media channels too!
5. Write a killer headline
Headlines account for around 50% of your blog’s success – mind blowing right? The reason being is, you not only need to capture people’s attention with a magnetic headline, but you need them to stick around and actually read your article. Check out our detailed guide on how to write headlines that drive traffic. Spend some time on this one. It’s worth it.
6. Repurpose your content
Once you’ve created your article with your killer headline, you then need to maximise the exposure of the article. You do this by repurposing it for all of your different media platforms, such as LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, email and press releases. Repurposing content is a content marketing skill, because each platform requires a slightly different format. You need to maximise the exposure of your content whilst keeping the format relevant for each platform. What works on instagram is not going to work on LinkedIn.
7. Partner with an established & trusted media outlet
And finally an obvious one: partner with an established media platform. The SEO “link juice” you get along with the reach to a trusted and engaged audience is invaluable and has long term impact on your site’s visibility. Of course, we recommend being featured on Honeycombers – we have over 1 million readers a month, and 12 years of trust and credibility under our belts! You see, when you associate your content with a trusted space (trusted by both readers and by Google), the links back to your site tell Google that you are trusted too, helping with your overall site ranking. And the kicker? This trust continues to build in value over time.
Right now you can get some great content partnership deals with Honeycombers in Singapore, Bali, and Hong Kong – like special teaser packages that are the best value partnership packages we have EVER seen! So it’s a time to seed your content with a trusted media platform and get your site noticed.
If you enjoyed reading this article, you may also want to learn about why you need to define your brand’s voice and tone.
