Just How Important Is Content? Using Content to Increase SEO, Engage Visitors and More

You may have heard of the importance of content marketing and wondered if it was all it was made out to be. In the first place, it can be helpful to set some framework since content takes many forms and can be used for many purposes ranging from engaging your customers to increasing the SEO value of your online presence.
Content production as part of a content marketing campaign is an irreplaceable component of increasing your business’s brand equity. With effective content, you can reach a wider audience by offering value to your customers and you can generate more traffic to your website as part of an SEO campaign. To put it in perspective, almost 80% of marketing professionals predict that the use of content as a marketing device will grow in the coming years.
There’s more to this picture though. Yes, marketing professionals overwhelmingly believe that content will become increasingly important in building an audience, and they also believe that over 90% of it is effective. That is, they’re confident that consumers receive content favorably and find value in it.
Research also indicates that over half of consumers polled do not believe brands are effective in creating and delivering content. There is a big disconnect between the way brands view their own content and how consumers receive and digest it.
So, you’ve heard of the importance of content production. You might have a few questions you want to be answered before you put more resources into content production to make sure your efforts pay off. Here are some of those questions, and how some of the members of our team weigh in on the matter.
Q. Do I really need to invest in content production?
An excellent question to start with. We already served up some pretty concrete metrics on what marketers believe about the direction in which content marketing is traveling. We asked Mike, 1Digital’s® Director of Business Develop, about the overall importance of content production for your digital presence:
It can be hard to answer such a multi-faceted question so succinctly, but that’s a fairly concise way to put it. Content production can be a critical component of an SEO campaign, but it can also be used to craft your unique voice and brand image.
If it’s received favorably by users, and it must be in order to be effective, it also presents opportunities for sharing on multiple platforms. That, in turn, will also increase your visibility to a broader audience, so the process can result in a multiplicity of favorable effects.
Q. Can I use content production to increase exposure to my target audience?
Alright, so written information crafted with SEO marketing in mind can generate higher organic traffic which means that you can expect to see an increasing trend in visitors to your online store. But what about reaching your targeted market directly? You’re in luck because a well-crafted written piece can do just that.
It’s not just about the value that content production as part of a keyword strategy can bring you. Those results are a part of the mix, but if well crafted, it can also increase exposure to your target audience by getting their attention once it’s in front of them. Let’s see what Logan, a content producer and coordinator at 1Digital®, has to say on the matter:
He’s right, too. Expertly crafted content doesn’t just appeal to search engines, though that is a large part of the picture. Once it’s in front of an audience, well-written material provides insight into the value of your product as well as solutions it provides and maybe even creative uses for it.
Not only will creative, targeted, engaging content appeal directly to your target market, but it is more likely to be shared among the community of users or a community of people with similar needs whose problems your products or services can address. Buzz in marketing is one of the most powerful ways to generate leads for your business and cultivate trust, and getting in front of your audience and providing value will do just that:
“Your content is a way to express your brand. The more target customers can relate to your brand, the more successful it can be,” says Kevin, a content producer and coordinator here at 1Digital®.
True words.
Q. I’ve heard about sharing content and how that can generate traffic for me. Is there any other way to leverage content that isn’t on my site to generate traffic to my site?
There’s something else to note about the importance of using written and other material for marketing purposes and SEO initiatives. Content doesn’t have to appear on your site in order for it to generate traffic to your site, which means that with the help of the right partner, you can leverage that material to generate traffic to your online store even when it doesn’t appear on your site. As explained by Colin Fox, SEO analyst at 1Digital®:
What does this mean for you? You can leverage content posted elsewhere to generate traffic to your site through backlinks. That means that you’re effectively creating a ‘web’ of references. When other sites link back to yours, it increases your authority and tips off search engines that your site is a valuable source for customers looking for associated keywords. In other words, a complex campaign doesn’t only include production for internal purposes.
Q. I’ve heard personalization is important. Can I offer a personalized experience with content production?
Offering a personal shopping experience to your customers isn’t just the future of eCommerce – it’s the future of commerce in general. Brands that don’t cultivate a personal relationship with their customers are increasingly unsuccessful, whereas brands that create a personal experience and foster loyalty from consumers rise to the top.
The content you offer, being an extension of your brand, is only one way that you can create a personal experience for individual shoppers interested in what your company can offer. Yet it is just as important to offer tailored content to consumers as it is to craft other personal experiences like product recommendations and fitting search results.
According to another 1Digital® SEO analyst Shawn Slavkovsky:
So in other words, creating original, unique content is not only a way to boost your visibility online. By offering original content crafted with the voice and interest of your targets in mind, you can offer them a more fulfilling experience. Visitors who consume content that feels as though it’s speaking directly to them will be more potent than generically produced content without the individual shopper in mind.
In this age, most consumers are unforgiving of generic content and are quick to bounce when they don’t receive just what they want to find. Offer them original material and you’ll create trust and strengthen your brand – two things that might not be measurable in liquid terms, but will certainly affect them.
From positively affecting your ranking on SERPs and helping to ramp up organic traffic to offering your customers valuable, innovative, share-worthy content on the value of your products or services, there’s no denying the importance of good content creation. It plays a central role in marketing efforts, communicating with your audience, and impacts your search engine optimization endeavors. If you’re wondering about how effectively your online store is leveraging content production, a free SEO audit or a brand appraisal is a great place to start and will offer you some insight into how visitors to your website will interact with it.
At 1Digital®, we’ve been solving complex eCommerce challenges for online businesses since 2012, and content production is only one of them. Whether you think you might want to put our skilled content creators to work for you or you need a site redesign, we’re the place to start. Contact our team at info@1digitalagency.com or give us a call at 888-982-8269 today.