Are You Overlooking Something on Your Website?
Redeveloping your website? Don’t wait until your site is completely built to think about your content strategy. Content is often the last thing people think about, but it’s the most important part. Google crawls it to determine your ranking. It tells your story and is ultimately why people visit your website. It’s the driving force behind conversions.
Despite its enormous importance, content is consistently overlooked so don’t ever consider taking your old content and reworking it to fit your new site map. It deserves more time and strategy than that. Constructing your content strategy around the stages consumers go through when making a purchase is an effective way to build trust, stay top-of-mind and rise above the competition.
Consumers usually go through four stages when making a purchase:
1. Awareness: They become aware of their desire to buy
2. Research: They gain insight to ensure they’re ready to buy
3. Evaluation: They evaluate different providers to determine who they purchase from
4. Conversion: They’re ready to purchase and go for it
At any given time, there are always more who are unaware than aware, more who are aware than researchers, more who are researchers than evaluators and more who are evaluators than converters. It makes for a nice funnel.
Researcher content examples: Blogs and articles addressing popular questions and needs your customers have.
Evaluator content examples: Testimonials and case studies about how you are the best solution.
Converter content examples: Calls-to-action and the information they need to purchase from you.
However, most websites focus primarily on the conversion stage. They include a little bit of copy about the product for the evaluator and then blast you with “Buy Now!” over and over. Your website strategy should include content that meets the needs of those in the research stage too.
If you’re thinking about buying an RV you don’t just go out and immediately buy one. You research–you see how much they cost. You consider where to store it, how to insure it and how much maintenance it will require. When you’re newly aware of your desire or beginning to research, you’re not shopping brands. You’re deciding if now’s the right time to buy. This is where companies lack content on their website, and where you have enormous potential to succeed. Consistently posting blogs and articles on your website provides value to prospective customers in the research stage that other businesses are not.
If you can win your prospect over as a go-to resource or a reliable authority on the topic, then you have a much better chance of becoming their brand of choice. Once you establish that trust, your copy should simply help them choose you over your competitors–using testimonials, case studies, etc.– and then place the right calls-to-action in the right place to convert.
