3.1 KEY CONCEPT: Content Strategy
When creating a website, content strategy is a necessary first step. What will the website say? All websites have a specific audience so finding out about what your audience needs, wants and expects from the business is the key to its success. This means web content, as well as design, must be human-centred.
When we build content with a specific strategy for success it also meets search intent, a key component of search engine optimization. Writing effective content focuses on the readability or usability so that the target audience is more likely to get the message you want them to receive, and your website is more likely to achieve its intended purpose.
Donal Miller and Dr. J.J. Patternson identify some key things to avoid in their book “Marketing Made Simple”:
- “You are using too much insider language
- You are using too many words in the heading
- The call to action buttons use passive language
- The call to action buttons are not repeated down the page
- The images do not relate to the product or back up the words you’re using on the page
- The language is cute or clever but not clear
- The site does not promote a lead generator
- You’re using a slideshow so the text changes too fast a frustrates potential customers
- The site tells your story rather than inviting customers into a story.” (Miller, D. & Peterson, J., 2020)[1]
A website should clearly indicate the “problem” the business is trying to solve. This includes what happens when the problem is solved, by using or purchasing the service/product and most importantly how to go about purchasing it.
Designing a website is like designing anything: it requires a clear purpose. Understanding your target audience, writing content and choosing design features that will best achieve your purpose. In essence, you must understand the flow of content and how you can most effectively convey the desired message to that audience.
Search Intent
Interviewing existing customers helps copywriters and business owners better understand what content is expected on the site. Without a direct link to the company’s main stakeholders, the customer, and copy editors may miss the purpose as seen by the audience. If the business is new and there are no “users” to interview, then considerable market research should be completed. What are businesses in the same field doing well, where is their space for excelling and differentiating?
While there will probably be many different types of customers, the main target audience is what the content should be directed towards. Finding this data and separating it into themes is often cost prohibitive, both in-terms of time and money. There is an alternative though, and that is through the use of search intent analysis through search data. Google is the king of search engines with more than 90% of the market share worldwide.
Google uses search intent categories to design its Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs). When researching which terms and