Revamping your website content

So you’ve decided to upgrade your website content. It’s a necessary–and sometimes daunting–undertaking, but it can profoundly impact your business. 

Good websites have a strong design, but great websites are content-driven (and have a strong design). Website content is all the information that you deliver: text, images, diagrams, videos, PDFs, forms and other downloads. 

What do my visitors want? 

Remember that every element of your website should serve a specific purpose. (We’ll cover that in a separate article.) Each element should tie into your users’ wants and needs, and the actions that you’d like them to take. 

• Think about your visitors, and categorize them. How old are they? Where are they located? What’s their business role? Do they understand your industry jargon, or do you need to use layperson’s language? Do they respond to high-tech “flashy” design, or do they want a simple presentation? 
   
• Define when and why visitors in each category visit your site. Will they only visit your site for a one-time product purchase? Will they visit daily or weekly? If so, you should deliver fresh content often to keep them interested.
   
• What do you want your visitors to do, and how will you prompt that action? If you want visitors to take action while visiting your site, prompt them to do so. Create clear calls to action, and motivate them to follow through.

After you’ve answered these questions about your audience, it’s time to create your content.

Getting content ideas 

If you’re “stuck” at this point, consider these options for generating content ideas: 

• Talk to your team. Work together to create strong content ideas that speak to each type of visitor that you’ve identified. Target your content to your visitors’ needs, and make sure to prompt them to take action. You might choose to create several content pieces about the same topic, and present them in different formats.
   
• Identify sales-oriented content. If your ultimate goal is to sell your product, your content should reflect that goal. Create interesting content about your products to excite your visitors and attract new ones via search. Buyers research products on the web. If you sell snowmobiles, include articles about different brands, models and features. Better yet, promote all of the fun things that interest snowmobile riders: upcoming races, trails, snow forecasts and group events. Search engines will deliver new snowmobile fans, and ultimately new customers.
   
• Use search. Check out common search terms and see what Google delivers. Then, make sure that your content is search engine-friendly. This can get very detailed, but at a high-level, match your URL, page title, headings and keywords. Check out online resources or consider hiring an SEO firm to optimize your site.
   
• Check out the competition. Before you get any further into the revamp process, check out your competition. What do their sites include that you overlooked? Do they have content that grabs your attention? Consider how your site will compete against your competitors.
   
• Make a list of other miscellaneous ideas. If you have additional content ideas that you haven’t already captured on your list, add them. For example, if you have a page on your current site that always gets great traffic, it’s probably worth keeping–even if you’re not sure why your users like it so much! 

After you’ve collected your list of content ideas, prioritize and organize each element. What pieces are absolutely essential? Which elements could be cut? Then, start creating it! 

Mostly importantly, be creative. Visitors are looking for quality content, and fresh and creative content sells. If you don’t believe me, check out how Tom Dickson sells his blenders.