Small Business Web Marketing Strategy: 7 Rules to Follow When Developing Content for Your Website

Small Business Web Marketing Strategy: 7 Rules to Follow When Developing Content for Your Website
By Stephen D Heath

When developing content for your site, what is your strategy? Where do you begin and how do you stay on track?

When you started your business, chances are, you had a plan. In addition, you probably reevaluated your plan on a regular basis...probably more often than you care to admit. In the same way, when you start a website, the most important thing is to figure out what you are going to say and who you are saying it to.

1) The Who and the What

This is an ever important question as both of these variables, the Who and the What, will determine how you structure your site, your site design, your writing style and so on. For instance, if you are trying to appeal to a technical audience as a consultant, your language would be very different than someone who is trying to appeal to the average person who has a limited knowledge of your product, service or industry.

2) Does my content serve me or my customers?

In, Be Buzzworthy, No Buzzwordy, Rachel Heath covers some great rules of thumb for your web content. Ultimately, this rule doesn't change your topics, it just changes the way you approach them.

3) Don't edit while you write

This rule is definitely not for everyone, but a good method for writing is to just get your thoughts down, then go back and edit. Focus on what you are writing, not the way you are writing.

4) Just Walk Away

In addition to editing after you write, it can also be helpful to let it sit overnight before you post it. You'll be amazed at how much better your writing gets when you aren't so close to the project.

5) Define "Effective"

The next question you need to ask is, "What results would make me happy with my web marketing efforts?" The definition of effectiveness is different for all of us. The average website only gets 1% of visitors to buy or contact them after visiting their site. That's right...most likely only 1 out of 100 visitors will actually take a next step. This is why its important to take advantage of web marketing tools such as search engine optimization and social media marketing. Being found organically on search engines and connecting with potential customers through blogging and sites like Facebook and Twitter can dramatically improve your traffic and, often, increase the percentage of visitors who take the step to contact you.

6) Let it marinate

When you are aware of the effectiveness of quality content, it can be difficult to just let it be for awhile. I'm not saying you shouldn't be adding content through blogging or adding pages as necessary; just don't change your main site content too often. Particularly if you just launched your site, don't change anything for the first 6 months. This will give you an opportunity to monitor how your site is doing.

At the very least, you should begin monitoring your site traffic through Google Analytics to see if your strategy is effective.

7) Re-evaluate on a regular basis

Now that you've defined "effective" and you've given yourself the analytics tools you need to measure your site's success, the next step is to use this information to re-evaluate your strategy once in a while. Is the content you are providing attracting search engines and increasing your hits? How many people are visiting your site verses how many people are contacting you? What is your bounce rate (the number of visitors who immediately exit the site)? What pages seem to have the most appeal based upon time spent on page statistics?

If the analytics data doesn't support your definition of "effective," perhaps it is time to make some changes. Maybe you see things heading in the right direction and you are excited about it. It may be worthwhile to hire a professional writer, social media manager or SEO Specialist to help give your efforts a boost.

Stephen Heath is the Business Development Manager at The Denver Copywriter. The Denver Copywriter works with small businesses and partners with Web Marketing experts across the country to provide optimized content and consults on effective content strategy. Stephen may be reached at [http://www.thedenvercopywriter.com].

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