Still Winging It? Why Your Website Needs a Proper Content Strategy

27 million pieces of online content are shared daily in the United States alone. So it’s not surprising that content creation is up 62% from last year. Yet, only 27% of B2C businesses say they have a documented content strategy.

Digital Marketing
Graphic illustration of why your website needs a proper content strategy.

A content strategy tells you what type of content you have, what you need, and creates a plan to produce and maintain effective content across your website and digtial markering materials.

It starts with a solid understanding of your business, your audience and your desired outcomes.

The results produced by a content audit and inventory help to provide a detailed look at your website’s challenges and opportunities. Each URL, link and document is combed through, indicating areas of improvement. It’s not as scary as it sounds, I promise! Audits and inventories help to locate what content needs an update, a re-design or a shut down. They determine what’s working/not working with the intended audience and why.

One of the final steps is a strategy created for each clients' unique needs, goals and available manpower. This may include a voice and tone guide for your writers, a content lifecycle to keep content fresh, or an editorial calendar to keep content creators on track. It puts a plan in place for the creation of quality content that is useful, usable and shareable to your audience.

Pro tip: Your content strategy shoud include the keywords from in your paid media and SEO strategy. 

Does my business need a content strategy?

Recent research from Ascend2 found content to be the most important factor in marketing and advertising. 72% of marketers cited relevant content creation as the most effective SEO tactic. Your business needs a content strategy because it can’t afford content that is created without your business’ strategies in mind. 

An effective content strategy ensures that your marketing department knows who is saying what and when. It provides a steady stream of relevant new content and ideas. Content strategy helps to create a compelling and cohesive story for your brand on all platforms and is a guiding path for all of your content decisions.

Your content has the ability to build relationships but without a content strategy, it can be sparse, inconsistent or off brand. Engaging content that shares your expertise helps to establish you as an authority.

Things to consider:

  • Is your content producing the outcomes you’re looking for?
  • Is there disorganization or inconsistency in the way your content is being created?
  • Does your multi-platform content have a clear and consistent voice?

If you need help creating the process, workflows, and priorities related to crafting content for your website, give us a call or drop us a line to chat with one of our writers and content specialists.