CONTENT STRATEGY

CONTENT STRATEGY - What is it?

Why does your favourite web writer and copy writer take it so seriously? What businesses are hiring writers to define their online strategy?
For businesses to make their mark in the digital revolution and outshine their competitors, website content which has been optimised to deliver better search engine results is becoming increasingly important.

The days of a visually appealing website with flash intro pages are fast becoming numbered. In its place are home pages no bigger than a finger roll on the mouse, littered with keywords and links to capture the attention of search engine robots in hopes of directing web traffic their way.

With technology evolving so quickly and businesses looking for better ways to engage with communities and provide a greater user experience on the web, content begins to work its way into online strategies.

What is content strategy?

Content strategy is the process of planning, developing, implementing and measuring editorial copy or website content.

While it’s not a new concept, it has been undergoing a resurrection of sorts thanks to the digital revolution and businesses small and large are beginning to see the value in having a clearly defined strategy for online content.

How can content strategy help me?

Depending on what your online goals are, whether that is to sell goods, promote a service or simply raise your community profile, a well executed content strategy will increase your website ranking on search engines and help build incoming links which increase your website’s overall online authority.

Content strategy doesn’t have to be complicated; in fact the simpler your strategy, the better.

What are some things I can do to increase website page ranking?

Doing your research on what keywords your customers are using to look for your product or services will help if you incorporate these words into your website content.

To make it difficult for web writers or perhaps to make sure legitimate content receives better search engine rankings, Google doesn’t release the algorithms it’s robots use but experts estimate that a keyword density – that is the number of times a keyword or phrase appears compared to the total number of words in a page, is optimised between two and eight percent.

I can’t afford to hire a web writer but I want to try writing content for my website.

Some keyword programs are quite costly so a budget will help you decide whether it is affordable for you and your company. Alternatively, website writers will usually have subscriptions to these databases and can include the cost of a keyword research in their proposal.

If you want to find the best keywords to use in your website content, some good websites to start exploring are:

• Google Ad Words - Probably the most comprehensive free keyword research site. Offers a handy download button so you can keep your results in excel sheets on your desktop.
• Keyword Discovery - compiles keyword search statistics from  all the major search engines and offers a free trial version.
• Word Tracker - Easy to use interface with plenty of help for those starting out in SEO. Costly but offer a free trial.
• Google Trends - Enter topics to see how often they’ve been searched for online. Also gives news stories related to the search.
• Google Alerts - Notifications are sent to your inbox based on the keywords you entered. Good to see who is talking about your business or products.
• Tweetbeep – A handy and easy to use alert system which lets you keep track of who is tweeting about you, your company or products. Free to sign up and easy to use.

How HybridPR can help

If your website needs an overhaul or you are thinking of starting a website for your business, HybridPR can help you put together a content strategy to ensure you are getting the traffic you want and deserve. Read more about us here. We can tailor a program to suit your business and budget so contact us now to see how we can help you.