Producing quality content is of paramount importance but even when you get it right there is still no guarantee that anyone will read it.
Clearly, there’s more involved in getting your posts read than just content alone. Let’s look at why your content isn’t getting the attention it deserves and how you can fix that.
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Do you have a content strategy in place?
If you are planning on developing your web presence you need to have a content strategy. This is an action plan that include both short and long-term goals for your content. A content plan helps you stay focused on the outcomes you want your content to achieve for the business and also considers the frequency, timings and channels of when and where you post.
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Is your content what people are looking for?
It doesn’t matter if you create the world’s best article if it isn’t what people are looking for. In other words, is there an audience for your content? You need to be constantly making use of tools like Google Trends to see what people are searching for in real-time.
If you can’t identify new opportunities you can revisit existing ones but you need to ensure your content is unique and fresh—find new approaches to old ideas to keep it interesting and informative. Search engines like Google reward quality content so if you find the right balance you will move up the search rankings.
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Do you know your audience?
Hand-in-hand with delivering quality content is making sure you know who you are producing content for. Knowing your audience matters because it may mean changing your marketing strategy. For example, does your audience spend much time on social media? If so, which ones? At the moment, younger people prefer Instagram whereas more mature audiences still favour Facebook. Often the best strategy is to couple a traditional website with selected social networks and post regular content to both.
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Is your content professional?
In addition to being fresh and interesting content also needs to be presented professionally. Is your grammar and spelling correct? Are you using consistent branding and a sensible colour scheme? Is your content well laid out so that it is visually appealing? What you are looking for is a balance between being personal without being overly corporate or impersonal.
You also want to avoid being too pushy with your sales pitches. Readers want to be informed so make sure you maintain a customer focus even if your objective is sales.
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Is your content mobile-friendly?
This one’s really important because Google ranks content based on how mobile friendly it is. That means you need to adopt a mobile-first strategy to ensure your content is responsive. Does your content adapt to all screen sizes? Is your navigation system easy to use even on small screens?
Another important consideration is whether your content is optimised for speed. Slow pages annoy readers and given that the vast majority of search now comes from mobile devices you need to optimise content for delivery. Remember, many mobile devices will be connected to slow, less reliable networks.
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Can people find your content?
Just because you have good content doesn’t mean people can find it. To determine how well your content is being found you need to make use of analytical tools like Google Search Console. These allow you to see if your Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is effective. We have published lots of articles about this if you need to learn more.
These tools also show you which keywords people used to find your content. You can then use that information to optimize other pages if they are underperforming.
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How are you boosting your reputation?
It takes time to build a reputation. Search engines are constantly indexing content and evaluating how to rank what they find. The longer you have had a web presence the better your reputation will be. Sometimes you just have to be patient and trust your content strategy to help you think long-term rather than just here and now.
If you are just starting out then you might want to consider leveraging other digital marketing strategies to help your content find its audience. Some of the ideas you can explore include:
- Paid promotion (Google Adwords)
- Social media campaigns (e.g. Facebook Advertisements)
- Establishing a Google My Business presence
- Traditional strategies like email campaigns
Don’t resort to short-term spammy tactics to get high view counts on your content. Utilising the right strategies and implementing them with patience will pay off.
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