As a small business owner you no doubt already know that the more professional your physical shopfront is and the more engaging your staff and environment are, the more likely it is that a customer may make a purchase.
These principles apply to your virtual shopfront, (a.k.a. your website) too. The more professional your website looks in terms of layout, flow and content, the more likely it is that the consumer will make a purchase decision.
As 96% of the 2 million or so Australian registered businesses in 2012 were reportedly small businesses, competition is fierce. One important differentiator is therefore the quality of the user experience when visiting your virtual shopfront.
Consumers today need to be engaged. If your website content is informative, it engages current and potential customers. Engaging content ensures your website has a good chance of retaining the visitor’s attention and can help improve your brand loyalty.
According to Wikipedia, “the motivation behind content marketing is the belief that educating the customer results in the brand’s recognition as a thought leader and industry expert.”
Delivering high-quality, relevant and valuable information places your small business in the position of ‘Subject Matter Expert’, and your customers can begin to view your business as a leader in the field. Creating these ideas and ideals within your existing and potential customers may lead your small business towards productive growth, where sales flow from consumer confidence and the business being well regarded in the field.
Another major benefit of ensuring your web content is of a high calibre is that quality content is rewarded by search engines. By simply improving your content and attending to SEO (Search Engine Optimisation), you could significantly increase the visibility of your website.
Besides ensuring quality content on your website, depending on your industry and what makes sense in the context of your small business, you could look into other means of content marketing. These might include producing an informative newsletter for distribution to an email distribution list, or publishing a white paper outlining possible future directions in your industry or other pertinent issues, or creating an informative video. Be creative! Think of ways of getting information out there that will help embed the perception of your existing and future clients that you know your stuff!
There are a number of ways you can ensure a high standard is maintained for your website content. You can of course create the content yourself – you are after all a subject matter expert in your field, so who better to express what it is that you sell than you?
On the other hand, whilst most business people are excellent at their craft, they may not have the writing or marketing skills required to express their value proposition in a succinct and attractive way. Even those who do might not have the time to pen their thoughts or develop content strategies.
Fortunately you have the option to call in the experts! SEO for Small Business Australia is a reputable provider of a variety of web marketing services, with expertise in the small business space, and credibility in content marketing and management.
Discover how we can help with Content
By Bill Vasiliadis
Bill Vasiliadis is the founder of SEO for Small Business Australia. He's been helping Australian SMBs grow online for 25+ years and holds a Master of Digital Marketing from UTS and a Bachelor of Computer Science from Macquarie University.
