TheContent

For those of you who remember the grey suited and bouffant haired Fast Show character Swiss Toni, where making love to a beautiful woman was his analogy for everything, so it can be said about content writing!

Jokes aside, producing good quality, useful content for your website is a lot like wooing and then making love to a beautiful woman. You need to take your time, give it every inch of your love and attention, make a few tweaks here and there, and then take the plunge. Having the same kind of mindset for your content writing will be rewarded with more visitors to your site, better page rankings and a successful business. Here are a few thoughts…

“You have to put in lots of effort initially”
Trying to get a beautiful woman in to bed can seem like a lot of effort and you can become disheartened if she keeps rejecting your advances or is simply not interested in you. You need to be interesting, you need to be exciting (just like your content needs to be). If flowers, designer handbags, jewellery and everything else fails, this is the time most men will give up.

The same can be said for content writing. It is not a quick win activity, you may have to do several months worth of work before it starts to convert into profit. Having a realistic timeframe and goal will help you realise that this is not a magic bullet and you will need to put the effort in, whether it is a daily delivery for a month of fine wines, caviar and chocolates for a lady, or you writing three articles a week.

But if that effort pays off, as Swiss Toni will say, you will really enjoy the benefits.

“Being consistent gives the best results”
Wooing a beautiful woman, then dropping her after a few weeks (or chasing other women in between) if she doesn’t succumb to your charms, is not a good plan to achieve the results you want. You need to be consistent, by giving her lots of attention, showing her you are patient, pretending you are really interested in what she is saying, and even being nice to her friends too, so they’ll vouch for you.

In the same way, dipping in and out of your content article activity is not going to yield results. Ditching your content writing in favour of the “latest thing” probably won’t work. Give it time. Planning and patience is key.

Of course, whilst it is frustrating, constant, sustained activity, whether writing content or getting a beautiful woman to want to go to the next step, is the key to getting to your goal. Set yourself a schedule, create a task list and try to stick as close to it as possible.

“Having a plan and realistic goals helps with results”
As an example, you probably already know that just turning up to a nightclub and jumping on any woman that takes your fancy is not always a good way to get results. You may get rebuffed; you may get beaten up by an angry boyfriend or husband; or you may realise that the lady in question isn’t really your type or is on antibiotics for some sort of infection.

Having a predetermined plan before you set foot in a nightclub or bar is probably the best way to get results. You put your best suit on, tidy your bedroom, wear your special ‘pulling pants’ and put on your expensive watch before you get there. Once there, if you see that one particular lady you have been going after for quite a while, all it may take is a smile across the crowded bar, a nod of the head, a show of your expensive watch, and she could be yours for the taking. Likewise, planning your content writing activity is the only real way to make sure you are going to achieve your preset goals.

Hopefully this tongue-in-cheek comparison will give you some idea of what you need to put in place to make your content writing a success.

Disclaimer: This article is no way intended to be sexist – it is actually written by a woman – and the idea is to try inject a bit of humour in to what can be, let’s face it, a sometimes unexciting topic. Apologies for any offence caused!

If you are an insurance website business owner, then did you know that insurance content can be a clever, cost-effective way of marketing your online business? This is because it is multi-functional – it is simply not just words on your website. Content is so much more than ‘throwing’ up a page on your website because that is what everyone else is doing. Insurance content has a real purpose and can really boost traffic to your website.

Well written, keyword-led insurance copy can be used in a variety of ways to do a number of different things such as:

• build natural links;
• inform and improve the visitor’s experience by having lots of useful insurance information and articles etc;
• to promote your product and / or service on external websites;
• to make your website more search engine friendly and so drive more traffic; etc

Certainly, setting aside part of your insurance website marketing strategy for solely insurance content may be a smart move in terms of not only cost but longevity. Once the copy is written, it keeps on working as long as it is online, so you reap the benefits of it over and over again.

Compare this to other forms of marketing such as advertising and PPC – once you stop paying for these, then any activity stops.

So, how may your insurance copy be used?

Again, it’s not just about putting some copy on your website, you need to place articles, guides etc on external sites in order to drive links back to yours. This could be in the form of expert insurance articles placed on article directories; by creating mini sites / blogs; being a guest blogger etc.

The possibilities for and uses of insurance content are endless – so making sure it forms a respectable chunk of your marketing strategy may be your next step.

If you have a finance website, the benefits of finance content may often be missed. However, savvy marketers will know that finance copy offers cost-effective marketing (due to the many way it can be used) that has longevity.

Why is finance content so valuable?

As a busy finance website owner, it goes without saying that you probably may be looking for a fast method of driving traffic to your site. You may already be using pay per click (PPC) schemes and, for some businesses they still can be a valid part of your marketing strategy.

However, there is potentially a more natural and cost-effective option that can also increase traffic to your website – finance copy. Not only that, but it comes with the additional benefits of:

• helping to improve your web page rankings within major search engines;
• enhancing the visitor experience once they are on your finance site;
• and finally, longevity. With optimised copy, you pay for it once, but it keeps on working, driving traffic back to your site over and over again. With PPC deals, once they’ve stopped, the activity stops.

You may think that if it was that easy, why isn’t everyone doing it? There is a skill involved to producing SEO-led finance-related copy and knowing how to market external site copy. There are internet marketing companies that can help you with this.

How can the finance copy be used?
Finance copy can be used in a number of ways both on your website as well as on external sites that drive traffic back to yours:

• finance articles;
• finance guides;
• keyword rich content for search engine consumption and ranking;
• useful information for visitors;
• article marketing;
• guest blog posts;
• mini site content for specialist topics (for example, a blog site on credit cards or savings).

Finance content marketing can be a cost-effective long term marketing strategy for all businesses, not just finance websites and the longevity that copy offers means you’ll get as much bang for your buck as you can.

If you are looking for a natural way of driving traffic to your motoring website, that also has added benefits, then investing your time or a little money into producing keyword-rich, optimised and unique automotive content could be the solution for you.

How can automotive copy benefit my business?

Motoring content is a multi-functional marketing tool that can help:

• improve your internet page rankings in the major search engines;
• add value to the user experience so that they perceive it as a useful resource that they revisit;
• build natural, credible links back to your site;
• heighten brand and name awareness;
• shows that your website is up to date (nothing is more than a turn off than ‘old’ and unrefreshed copy on a site);
• keep you within your marketing budget, as automotive copy has longevity.

Motoring copy has longevity

Relevant, optimised automotive content keeps on working for you long after you’ve paid for it and put it live. This is unlike most other marketing tools – for example, with pay-per-click deals, once you stop paying for it, the activity stops. With keyword-rich automotive copy, you pay for it once, yet it keeps on working for you, sending traffic back to your site repeatedly.

Car content can take many forms and can be used in a number of ways on and off your motoring website to really boost it. For example:

• car reviews;
• car insurance and car finance articles and guides;
• industry news;
• optimised content for search engine consumption and ranking;
• blog content, on your own site or as a secondary site;
• useful information / advice content for users;
• article directories;
• guest blog posts;
• content for specialised topic mini sites (for example, a blog site on 4×4’s or sports cars).

Automotive content marketing is a valuable tool to have in your marketing toolbox. It’s multi-functional, cost-effective and well-loved by the search engines.

An often underestimated and undervalued way to not only add to the user experience but to boost your traffic to your travel site and your web rankings within the major search engines is by adding keyword-rich, unique and relevant travel content both to your website and on to external related sites (that then link back to your travel site).

How?

• onsite and offsite travel copy can work in a number of ways, with the end result of more traffic being driven to your website via inbound links, higher rankings in search engines, and an overall higher visibility online;
• longevity – once added, content lasts forever. It will continue to provide possible site visitors and search engines with ongoing opportunities to find your online business;
• this longevity drives down the cost of your traffic as time passes;
• for site visitors, travel articles, travel-rated copy and travel guides will typically provide a valuable resource, meaning it will be your travel site they will come back to when they next think about a holiday;
• in summary, keyword optimised and unique content for travel websites can be a valuable and often affordable way to add real long term value to your site.

Travel copywriting ideas

Keyword-led travel copywriting may include articles, guides, blog posts and reviews on:

• destinations;
• countries;
• resorts;
• hotels
• things to do;
• what to pack;
• news;
• travel advice etc.

If travel content isn’t part of your online marketing strategy, now may be the time to start focusing on this often overlooked yet so multi-functional marketing tool. It’s fun, affordable and just keeps on working really hard for you!

Does your Internet Marketing strategy consist of just having a website which you throw loads of money at with PPC campaigns? Then, why not make this the year that you shake things up a bit, using a variety of what can be low cost marketing methods such as onsite and offsite copy and video content, in order to boost your business?

There are many exciting, affordable and natural ways to promote your business within the search engines that will also boost its credibility as well as the visitor experience. So before you finalise your budgets, why not get in touch with us for a free consult? We will explain all the options available to you for a Marketing strategy that really works hard for you, for what can be a very little cost. For example:

• what techniques you can pay for once this year and earn the benefits of traffic and leads for years to come;
• why Pay Per Click is a double edged sword;
• how to build your Internet presence to generate multiple sources of business that you control;
• how to create ‘natural’ links to your website that will hold more credibility than a paid-for advertisement;
• how to have more than one first page ranking in Google.

Outsource your Internet Marketing

We offer a wide range of online Marketing services specifically targeted at Travel, Property, Automotive, Finance, and Insurance websites. Whether you are small to SME company requiring a low-cost solution or a large corporate, we can help any sized business attract more customers.

Content, both in the written form and via optimised video content, should form a major part of any business’s ongoing marketing strategy if they wish to rank in the natural search engine results for their keywords and search terms as well as enhance their visitor experience.

Having a strategy for adding content regularly and consistently has proven time and time again to be a winning formula to driving traffic to a website and boosting its rankings.

Yet sadly, just a snapshot of some of the websites within the finance, travel, property, automotive and insurance industries show that this seems to be the last things on some company’s minds, if it is at all. It appears that they feel that content provided at time of launching a site is still good enough, with some of these not having added content within the last 3 or 4 years.

Maybe they would argue that their travel, finance or property content (or whatever industry they are in) is evergreen and therefore still relevant. However, from a search engine and a user perspective, it is neither fresh, nor changing enough to warrant either to come back to the site with any regularity.

After all, if a company cannot be bothered to update their website regularly, what does that say about how much they value their customers?

Some insurance and finance companies believe that rate tables and quote facilities are enough content to be adding and updating on a regular basis. However, these tools cannot be accessed or indexed by search engines.

Then businesses wonder why they are not attracting any web rankings and/ or traffic.

Content via SEO-led copy and video content

Regular content is key, as it shows the search engines that your site is fresh and being worked on. It also allows your business to rank for more search terms and have more chance of your pages being listed in the search results. The more your website changes, the more likely search engines (and visitors) will come back to your site faster.
Text content can boost your website, rankings and traffic in the form of:

• articles;
• guides;
• news;
• faqs;
• reports;
• even blog posts can be an excellent way to increase the amount of content and the regularity of the uploading of content.

Optimised video content complements all the text content activities.

So now you know why you need to be adding new content regularly, how do you get the content you need? Contacting a specialised content company, such as ourselves, who offer content solutions as well as internet marketing solutions, may be your next step.
And once your onsite content marketing strategy is up and running, then you can think about offsite content … but that is another article!