I was listening to my good friend Michael Cirillo and Robert Wiseman’s podcast, The Dealer Playbook the other day. The topic was content marketing and their guest on Episode #49 was Marcus Sheridan who spoke about how a business’s website content should be the Wikipedia for consumers in their industry.
While I may disagree about being Wikipedia, I think many websites fall short of this content goal. They provide very little educational content that would help their customers in their decision making process.
The common denominator for all website content should be that it is engaging and inspires consumers to contact you. Website content can mean a few different things. It could mean new pages on your website, updating your current website pages, blogs, social media posts, videos, infographics etc. but still it must engage the reader.
By focusing your website content towards providing education, it will position your company as the expert in your industry and will inspire consumers to contact you.
Examples of Educational Website Content:
- Provide specific information on why consumers need your service.
- Explain the process of consumer-interaction with your company. Too often websites only have a form to sign up for a product or service with no explanation of what will happen after.
- Explain how your service saves them time or money or provides the solution to a problem they may have.
- Provide independent third party articles about your company.
- Provide customer testimonials that reference your successful solutions and service.
When you have built your website content as an informational hub for consumers, it prevents them from having to leave your website. Why would you gamble that once they left your website they will come back.
Example One:
If you are car dealer that provides vehicle service, why not create a series of videos focusing on the top 10 questions you receive about service.
- How often to change wiper blades?
- Why do we need the right tire pressure?
- How to add windshield washer fluid?
- What should I keep in the trunk for long trips?
Example Two:
If you are a carpet cleaning service, why not provide answers to these types of questions.
- Why you need to clean your carpet regularly?
- What types of bacteria live in carpets?
- What are the best ways to remove stains?
- Why have a hypoallergenic carpet?
- What are the best carpets for pets?
The list goes on and on.
In both cases you will be seen as the expert, providing useful educational information to consumers.
The next step would be to share this content across the web to make it available to more consumers.
I have encountered hesitation by some business owners to the idea of providing educational content. Their fear is that if they provide this content, then the consumer will not need their services or they will take this information and just shop for the lowest price. I disagree.
I subscribe to the rule of thirds. A third of the consumers will take the information and do it themselves. The good thing is they will return to your website for more information. They may also use your company if they run across a problem they cannot solve. In their mind, you are now their expert for these services.
The second third of the people will take the information and do nothing with it. They have all good intentions, but in reality they do not really want to implement a change.
The final third of the people will engage with you because they realize that they cannot handle the issue themselves. By presenting this information, in their mind, you must be the expert to take care of their problem.
I will always take a third of the room’s business any day of the week.
Take a moment to review your website. Or better yet, ask a friend or someone you trust who is not in your industry to look at your website. Ask them what their experience was and if the content on your website inspired them to reach out to you.
We all spend so much time on our websites that we stop seeing any issues it may have. Getting this type of feedback will help you to mold your website into an information engagement tool that attracts more customers.
