According to research, in March 2019 alone more than 4.4 million blog posts were published daily. Content writing has become a full-time aspect of business growth. It helps drive everything from awareness and consideration to conversion.
But what is content writing exactly? It isn’t limited to blogs, and the metrics for successful content have changed throughout the years. Your content can be in the form of articles, white-papers, case studies and more.
You might think you can just sit down and start writing, but there are key components to content writing that make it a sustainable part of any business. Find out how to use content to meet your business goals.
Copywriting vs. Content Writing
First, it’s important to understand the difference between copywriting and content writing. Copywriting is usually for efforts like advertising and web content where you’re trying to communicate your brand value. With content writing, the purpose is more informational or educational. You can also use content writing to entertain your audience.
Most businesses already use copywriting, but they don’t always invest in content writing. Without copywriting, you wouldn’t have information for your website, social media or ad campaigns. Without investing in content writing, you won’t have many opportunities to provide immediate value for your audiences.
The key difference is that copywriting communicates your business value, while content writing should provide value. Both are key to solidifying your brand identity online. To get started with content writing, you should understand your audience’s needs and determine how your content can fill those needs.
Building SEO Through Content Writing
One of the main benefits of content writing is building SEO. SEO content writing helps you grow your organic search engine rankings to make your business more visible online. You can structure your content around specific keywords so you’re more likely to rank for those search terms.
Keep in mind that building organic SEO is a long-term process. While focusing on content, Google prioritizes quality over quantity.
In recent years, Google has pivoted its algorithm to focus on EAT (Expertise, Authority, Trust) content. Focusing on EAT means that to rank high you need to be creating highly trustworthy and informative content. Depending on your industry, consider hiring SMEs (Subject Matter Experts) who can cover a topic comprehensively.
Proving Your Credibility and Authority
While creating EAT content helps signal your credibility to Google, it also proves your authority to users online. The higher you rank for keywords, the more customers will recognize your brand as an authoritative source for information.
Studies show that the first page of Google captures 71-92% of traffic clicks for target keywords. Experts in content like to joke that the best place to hide a dead body is the second page of Google. The truth is, users trust Google and its algorithm. People searching online associate the first page of rankings with more credible, authoritative content.
Growing Loyalty and Brand Awareness
Valuable content can also drive customer loyalty by encouraging them to share with their followers. If you design your content to be highly engaging and shareable, you can create avenues for users to become brand advocates.
For example, say you have a long-form blog that also features a short how-to video. Users can easily share the video on Instagram and Facebook if it includes information that resonates with their followers. Your content writing can guide users to continue returning to your site and sharing with others.
Driving Traffic and Leads
Content writing should be a key part of your overall digital marketing efforts since it helps drive traffic and leads. Without content writing, your options are limited to outbound and traditional marketing that interrupts your audiences rather than meeting them halfway.
If your content writing is successful, it’ll bring customers in for the long-term. Compared with short-term advertising where you may get a burst of activity, content helps source sustained traffic.
With continual traffic to your site, you’re more likely to generate leads. If your content contains clear calls to action, you can drive your traffic to different areas throughout your site.
Consider housing some of your content behind a lead generation form so you can capture email addresses in exchange for your authoritative content. With something like a lead magnet, your content is helping do much of the work that a traditional sales team would do.
Driving Your Content Marketing Efforts
Content writing is the starting point for all content marketing efforts. Through content marketing, you can reach your audiences through channels like email, social media, backlinking and more.
Content marketing is a key component of driving organic traffic online. Without it, your marketing efforts are limited to paid promotion or organic posting without a strategy.
If you’re focused on your content writing efforts, you can create a focused content marketing plan. Your plan will help drive additional traffic beyond what you can gain through SEO.
What is Content Writing Strategy?
What is content writing without a strategy? Unfortunately, you won’t reap its benefits if you don’t have a strategy in place first. To develop a strategy, start with your audiences. Evaluate the information and questions they’re asking that are also relevant to your offering.
Tailor your content to your audience’s needs and develop a long-term strategy that includes all types of content. The best strategies target search intent through topic clusters, meaning content writing that dives into every aspect of the main topic.
Content writing takes a lot of effort, time and resources. Consider using SEO content writing services to take much of the efforts off of your plate. At Vujay Digital, we offer comprehensive content marketing services to help you become an authority in your industry. Contact us today to learn more.
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