new site tips

When you launch a new website, investing in the right content is critical. In addition to “beautifying” your site with great copy that supports your company’s goals and talks to your audience, good content helps you gain online exposure in the SERP results, rankings, leads, traffic – and boosts your chances of converting new clients. But which types of content should you invest in, if you’re just starting out? It can be tough, with questions like do I start a blog, do I create 11 or 50 pages of web copy, launch social media content (and if so, how?), just to name a few. We’re here to help with a guide on ten critical content types for every new site. Keep reading! Content By The Numbers: 5 Reasons to Invest in Content First, let’s explore why you should be considering a long-term investment in content marketing if you’re just launching a site. Consider a few content marketing statistics: 1. More Than 200 Million People Are Currently Using Ad Blockers.  While this might not seem like it matters much for your site, it means that great content is one of the only ways to access the inboxes and computers of the customers you want to reach. 2. Content Helps To Produce Brand Recall. In 2015, IBM did a Digital Experience Survey that proved that 56% of content marketers believed that personalized content helped promote a higher engagement rate with customers. The easier your brand is for customers to remember, the easier it will be for you to drive engagement through content. 3. People Spend An Average Of 37 Seconds On Content. If you want people to spend more time on your website, one of the best ways to do it is to invest in content that makes them feel something. According to Content Marketing Institute, high-quality, relevant content encourages readers to stay on your website longer. 4. Content Marketing Is 62% Less Expensive Than Outbound.  Although many people assume that content is expensive, it’s quite a bit cheaper than traditional advertising and outbound methods. What’s more, it’s also three times as effective. 5. Content Drives Higher Conversion Rates. When people adopt content for their marketing strategies, they enjoy conversion rates roughly six times as high as those of their competitors. With these numbers in mind, it’s clear that not only can you not afford to invest in content for your website, but that deciding which content works best with your brand is crucial to overhauling your online marketing strategy. 10 Content Types Every Website Needs If you’re building a new site, don’t launch it without first ensuring that you have each of these ten types of content: 1. Web Pages What would a website be without web pages? While many of today’s websites are long-page, one-page sites, it’s still crucial you have some pages for your site. For most companies, an “About Us,” “Contact,” and “Services” page will do, although you may choose to add or subtract pages as you see fit. Remember that the length of your web pages is an important consideration. Too long and you risk losing your reader’s attention, especially if you don’t format your pages correctly. Too short, and you risk not providing enough information or detail to be helpful for your readers. As a general rule, web pages should have at least 300 words of copy on them. While this will be too short to cover most topics, it’s a good benchmark to keep in mind as you start creating the web pages for your new site. 2. Ongoing Blogging Listen carefully: you need a blog. Without a blog, your website will not only not perform as well as you’d like it to, but you’ll miss a valuable opportunity to provide your readers with relevance – one of the most coveted and important factors in online marketing. Although many companies underestimate the importance of a blog, Impact Branding And Design reports that: Websites with blogs tend to have 434% more indexed pages than their competitors. What’s more, 47% of customers interact with 3 – 5 pieces of content before they ever talk to a sales rep. And my favorite blogging stat (Hubspot): Businesses that publish over 16 blogs/month (4+/weekly) get 3.5x MORE traffic than businesses that publish 0-4 posts.  Wow! 3.5x more traffic than your competitors, just from consistent, volume blogging. So why are you not already? Having a library of quality, relevant content can make all the difference between converting a customer and losing them to the sea of other companies vying for their attention. If that weren’t enough to change your mind, B2B marketers that blog regularly earn an average of 67% more leads than marketers who don’t. Fortunately, it’s easier than ever to integrate a blog with your website. Today, content platforms like WordPress offer built-in blog functionalities that are easy to manage and use, even for beginners. To manage your blog effectively, use its scheduling feature to post consistently and give your readers something to look forward to regularly. One of our favorite content services is ongoing, consistent blogging maintenance. We write, schedule, create imagery, and publish in our blogging packages. 3. Meta Content Meta content is an often-overlooked form of online content. While it doesn’t get as much attention as sexier forms of content like blogs or social media, it serves a crucial role in the online world. When you Google something, meta content is the snippet of material that appears on the search engine results page or SERPs. Here’s what it looks like:   Meta content works to give you an idea of what information an article contains, and helps you understand what you will learn from a given piece of content. As such, it’s crucial to get it right. If you don’t know how to write meta content on your own, it’s smart to hire someone who does. When done correctly, meta content will boost your SEO and help improve your click-through rate, both of which can have dramatic and long-lasting impact on the salience on your website 4. Product … Read more