Online: Schmick versus content
There's no doubt about it. A schmick looking website makes a good impression ... for the first few seconds. After that, your visitor is looking for content. Relevant content. Answers to their questions and information about how you can solve their problems.
But what do you do when your management wants the 'good looking' without the content to support it. It's a common problem. The CEO usually says something along the lines of, "They'll never read all of that." And she's often right.
But that's not the whole point.
Before you worry about how much your visitor will read, you first have to get them to visit. This is where we enter the confusing world of Search Engine Optimisation (SEO).
SEO is the science of understanding what your prospects and customers are searching for (expressed in keywords) and how you can optimise your site to be as visible as possible (rank highly on the list). It's here that the content - or lack of it - comes into play.
Search engines like Google are very smart. They can tell if you are trying to fool them by loading lots of keywords into a site in an irrelevant way. It's far better for you and your prospects to put your energy into creating relevant content.
So back to the original question. How can you have relevant, keyword rich content and be optimised for search engines, but not have too many words? How can you keep the internal audience happy and at the same time improve search visibility and results? Here's a couple of winning ideas.
#1 Craft a good FAQ
FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions) are a wonderful place to create targeted content that is laden with keywords and management will rarely argue with the need.
- Ask your field representatives and your internal sales team what the most common questions are that they receive. Then ask them what the most effective responses are. This is the basis of your FAQ.
- Monitor social media to find out what your client and prospects are saying and what they are asking each other. If the same questions keep popping up, answer them on your FAQ page.
- Check your Web analytics data to find very specific keyword phrases and questions.
- Think outside your brand as well. Target non-branded keywords because your clients and prospects don't always think in brand terms when searching.
#2 Create regional pages
Adding a new page to service local or regional interests can have impressive results and usually are accepted as useful additions by B2B focused managers who are looking for the visual impact rather than search engine friendly content.
- When you think about it, every prospect or client is local or regional. Somewhere is their home turf ... or they have a branch there and it is the branch's home ground. Capitalise on this fact.
- The strategic research firm The Kelsey Group say 74 percent of internet users perform searches based on local criteria. TMP/comScore, calculates that 61 percent of local searches result in purchases.
- Local searches will often deliver poor results simply because there is not enough specific local content on the site. Create pages that respond to the problems, customs and standard that apply to the country or region. This same principle can be applied right down to neighbourhood level if that's how your market is segmented.
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