Before the Internet, small businesses were basically local. They did not compete with the “big boys” who had warehouses and distribution centers all over the country. And they advertised locally – fliers in the mail, possibly some radio and TV if their budgets would allow.
How things have changed. The Internet has become the “great equalizer.” Small businesses have websites and social media platforms and can market their products and services all over the web on a very small budget.
The key, of course, is to do it right. And doing it right means that a small business must have more than a mere website. It means generating content – lots of it – so that it will be found by potential customers.
The best way to do this is to establish and maintain a blog – a place where you provide information/education, entertainment and inspiration to consumers who are looking to solve problems and for relationships with businesses they choose to patronize. Here are five reasons why content is critical to a small business website.
1. Showing Up in Organic Searches
It’s called SEO, and you are probably aware of its importance. When consumers search for products or services, 79% of them conduct online research. This means they type keywords/phrases into Google and use the results to explore companies that offer what they want. You want to be ranked well in those results. You cannot be ranked at all unless you have content that has attracted and engaged a lot of visitors/readers. Search engine algorithms index and rank content based upon its value to users. And that value is calculated by the number of people accessing your content and staying around to read it, share it, and link to it from other places. The more readers you get, the more links you get, the higher you are ranked on search engines.
2. Developing Relationships
You can use your content to show your expertise, you can use it to tell stories, about you, your team, your company and the value it offers to consumers. Consumers develop trust in a business that does these things, and they are much more willing to make purchases when more personal relationships can be established.
If a small business can keep generating great content, and do it on a regular basis, readers will keep coming back for more. And as they develop a relationship with a business, they will patronize that business when they are ready to buy.
3. Creating a Brand Persona/Identity
Your brand is far more than a logo, consistent colors and products you display on your website. Your brand says who you are and what you stand for. For example, customers who know Toms Shoes think first about its giving programs and the impact it has made on the disadvantaged. You may not have such a lofty mission, but you do want consumers to come to see you as authentic, genuine and principled.
Your content needs to speak in one voice consistently. It speaks to the nature of your business and who you are. You want to give your target customers a sense that you understand them, their issues and that you not only solve those issues but you do so with them in mind at all times. If you sell gardening supplies, for example, what are the problems your audience faces – the right types of plants for their climates, for their soil, for their sunny or shady spots, etc. You can develop content that meets these needs in a simple and authentic way and that establishes your brand as one that cares about your audience’s issues, not just about selling your products.
When your brand becomes known as one that takes a personal interest in your potential customers’ problems, you become trusted. And customers feel that they “belong.”
4. Keeping Things Fresh
When a small business stays current on the trends in its niche, it is seen as an expert in that niche. Further, when it also stays current in related niches, it is seen as helpful and committed.
“The only way to stay current,” states Ethan Dunwill, a content manager for Hot Essay Service, ”is to research and read everything related to your niche. And only then can you create content that will be relevant and valuable to your customers.”
5. Consistency and Frequency
Once a small business has made the decision to move into the creation of content – a blog, a social media platform, etc. – it cannot let up. It must develop a schedule of publishing that becomes rather set in stone. Consumers of content come to expect it; they come back assuming that they will see something new, that there will be more information or entertainment waiting for them. Jane Albrecht, a content specialist for Is Accurate review service, states, “Our team develops a content schedule a month in advance, and each of us is responsible for meeting the deadlines of that schedule. If we did not stay true to this schedule, our readers would certainly bounce.”
