Is your website traffic as ‘dry’ as the weather outside? However stunning your website may be, the truth is, if you’re not attracting website visitors you’ve ended up coasting in the slow lane. So why keep the Ferrari in the garage? Give it a dust down and see what it can do. Gearing up your web content doesn’t necessarily require all ‘hands-on-deck’, but without a cohesive strategy, driving website visitors ends up as just a matter of luck. Buckle up, here are our 8 key steps to creating killer web content, that will put you firmly back in the driving seat.

Inspect Your Site:

Forget the annual spring-clean, it’s time to give your website a really good deep clean (you may even find a blog or two that’s been accidentally brushed under the rug). Work on displaying your leading pieces of key, relevant content and, at long last, dust-off and polish articles that are in desperate need of a revamp and an update. And don’t forget to review those all important links. Once your site is sparkling, record all content on the site and take note of any things that are missing, lost or misplaced.

That’s what I want:

Relevant content is the way to your audience’s heart, therefore understanding your consumer’s taste and wants is essential. The truth is, you can’t afford to waste your time creating content that your audience won’t engage with. Cater to your audience (s) with real ‘food-for-thought’ by creating personalised, targeted content, relevant to their interests, and that answers their real issues. Don’t forget to review your tone of voice and vocab and ensure it’s on brand for you and your audience.

Mind the gap:

Bridge the gap between your site and your consumers with your content. What big questions do your consumers have that you aren’t answering? What are the keywords that they are searching for that you don’t have responses to? 

Agency Tip: Take a look at Ahrefs or SEMRush, to carry out a content gap analysis. Understanding the content that is bridging the gap and driving website traffic will help bolster your content strategy. 

Flicking through the channels:

Flick, flick, flick. It’s not only our pet-peeve, but it’s also your consumers. Flicking through your social media channels without a variance in messaging will make your consumers virtually ‘switch-off’. You need to figure out where your audience ‘hang-out’ is and stick with it. By doing everything at once, chances are, you’re casting your net too wide (don’t try doing everything at once!). On what channel is your content experiencing the most success? Determine success by web traffic, shares and engagement.

Resource allocation: 

So, beware of running before you can walk or you’ll find you’ve fallen short of the finish line… you have the idea, plan and strategy, have completed a website audit, yet haven’t implemented your new content plan. Deciding well in advance on the digital tools, human resources, skill, workflow, and scheduling you will require to allow for smooth implementation and effective on-going running. It’s a marathon not a sprint, so make sure you’ve got the right shoes!

Book it in the diary:

Make it a date. Content scheduling is one of our top tips when planning monthly and yearly content. Keep it simple, you can track using excel or Google sheets, this will help manage your key event dates, website updates, blog content, social, and PR. Scheduling guarantees content is kept on track, up-to-date and consistent.

How well do you rank?:

Great content is findable, content isn’t great if no one knows it ever existed. Good SEO is part of what makes your content so great. Can the content be found once your site is reached? And how well can it be found from search engines? Align your content with highly ranked keywords. 

Agency tip: You may want to promote your content to make sure it stands out from the rest!

Track results: 

Understanding how the content on your website has been successful is critical to the effectiveness of your content plan. Are site visitors reading the content published on your site? Or is it just driving website visitors? Evaluate your own measures of success to compare the results to. If you haven’t already, pair your website with Google Analytics to track and compare data. 

Brandnation’s integrated digital services can support and grow your brand, our expertise span SEO, content creation, design, copywriting and web development. To maximise your digital assets, get in touch.