Is SEO Becoming Irrelevant?
May 24, 2012 at 1:24 pm | Posted in Digital Marketing, Engagement, Relevant Content, SEO, Social Media | Leave a commentTags: bounce rates, content optimization, digital marketing, emarketing, engagement, imarketing, internet marketing, internet marketing strategies, intuitive marketing, marketing, online marketing, relevant content, SEO, web marketing
SEO irrelevant? You must think I’ve lost my marbles. SEO is the granddaddy of all internet marketing strategies. Without it, we don’t have a chance of being found amidst the sea of content online—or do we? Yes, SEO has risen to its peak over the last decade, entire companies are devoted to the practice, and it even has different colored hats to wear apparently (spiffy!), but it may indeed be on the downslope. Why? Because there’s a new cowboy in town. His name? Discovery. Allow me to explain.
Why SEO Has Called the Shots until Now
SEO has enjoyed a long stint of being the star of web marketing efforts everywhere. It’s been so effective in improving website visibility because up until just recently, most everyone used search engines like Google and Bing to find what they were looking for online. “Google it” became a common directive, and homepages on PCs everywhere were set to Yahoo, AOL, or another preferred web browser.
But alas, times have changed. Although search engines are nowhere near obsolete, the clouds are darkening over the land of SEO. A new day is approaching—the dawn of discovery!
The Rise of Discovery
Social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, and recently Pinterest are helping usher in a new era of web browsing. Unlike the previous era, users will no longer be reliant upon search engines to deliver relevant content. Instead, the web will become a more intuitive place where relevant content simply floats around the user just waiting to be discovered. It’s the difference between walking into a room and searching for your keys and having someone present you with several different sets for you to choose from. An improvement? I think so.
The Importance of Relevant Content
In a virtual world dominated by discovery, SEO will no longer play as big a role. That means if you’ve been relying on it as the primary means of driving traffic to your site, then it’s time to go back to the drawing board. With discovery at the verge of overtaking SEO, relevant content combined with a good social media strategy will be among the most important tools in your web marketing tool box. This means you’ll no longer need to resort to keyword stuffing in order to reach your audience. Instead, you can craft your message to real people with real pains and real problems to solve.
How a Content Optimization Service Can Help
The dawning era of discovery also means that the short attention spans of your online visitors will become even shorter. Surrounded by relevant content on their preferred social media networks, they’re likely to get used to the convenience and expect the same from your website. Will your content pass the scan test? How can you be sure that the message your visitor finds will be personalized and engaging enough to prevent a bounce?
A content optimization service that analyzes each user’s digital footprint and uses the data to deliver the most relevant content on your site can certainly help. After all, in the era of discovery, one-size-fits-all content will most assuredly become extinct.
Relevantor LLC
Ready to heighten your relevancy? Learn more about how a content optimization service can funnel your content to the right audience at the right time, sign up for our free service, or request a demo to see it in action.
5 Easy Tips for Making Your Web Content More Engaging
May 15, 2012 at 11:50 am | Posted in Digital Marketing, Engagement, Relevant Content | 1 CommentTags: content optimization, conversion, digital marketing, emarketing, engagement, imarketing, intuitive marketing, marketing, online marketing, relevancy, relevant content, web content, web marketing
Increasing engagement may sound like a lofty and complicated goal, but in reality, there are some very practical and simple steps you can take today to make your most important content (that is, the content on your web site) more engaging for your readers:
1. Use images to convey the message.
If you know anything about writing for the web, you know that text-heavy pages don’t convert. If you have a complex message to convey, however, you may find yourself struggling to keep your message brief. When you find yourself in this pickle, try using a diagram, infographic, or clever image to tell the story for you. Web users are becoming increasingly visual, and while they may not take the time to read your paragraph, they will take the time to zoom in on a captivating image.
2. Use 2nd person in your copy.
Who’s the second person, you might ask. That would be you! Well, the word “you” anyway along with its possessive counterpart, “your.” Using the word “you” in your web copy implies that you’re talking directly with your reader as opposed to talking about him, or worse—about yourself. To get a grasp of why this matters, consider how one might react were he to read this sentence I’m writing compared to the other copy composed by me in this blog post.
3. Try an analogy.
The human brain is constantly looking for ways to compare one thing to another. Peas and carrots. Apples and oranges. Tea in China. You get the picture. Make this process of comparison easier for your reader by offering up a relevant analogy. Make sure this analogy helps the reader envision how your product or service can be beneficial for him. Need an example? Consider this digital marketing analogy on how Katniss from The Hunger Games is similar to a top-notch web marketer.
4. Keep it short and sweet.
Since the average web user is inundated with content from a variety of different sources from sun up ‘till sun down, it’s important to keep your content as brief as possible. Bullet points and copious editing (aka weeding out the stuff that matters least) can help you achieve this goal.
5. Focus on the reader.
Like any other web marketer, you’re passionate about your company and what it has to offer. You likely want to shout loud and proud about how glorious your product and service is. You may even delight in telling the story of your company’s history from its humble beginnings to its triumphant peak. We get it. Unfortunately, your readers likely don’t. They are interested in one thing and one thing only—how your company offering will benefit them. All of the other company-centric fluff will likely be overlooked at best, or at worst, cause your reader to become so nauseous at your ingratiating self-congratulations that they’ll bounce never to return again. Now there’s a sad story.
Which strategies do you use to create compelling web content on your site?
Relevantor LLC
Ready to heighten your relevancy? Learn more about how a content optimization service can funnel your content to the right audience at the right time, sign up for our free service, or request a demo to see it in action.
The Single Best Way to Turn Engagement into Conversion
May 3, 2012 at 3:09 pm | Posted in Relevant Content, Digital Marketing, Engagement | Leave a commentTags: bounce rates, content marketing, content optimization, conversions, digital marketing, emarketing, engagement, imarketing, internet marketing, marketing, online marketing, relevancy, relevant content, SEO, web content, web marketing
Can You Measure Engagement? No, But You Can Try!
In my last blog post, I talked about the intangible nature of engagement and alluded to the fact that it’s not something that can really be measured to any accurate degree. If you found this discouraging, there’s good news. Although you will ever really know how interesting your visitors find your web content (unless you develop some mind-reading software in which case you can just go ahead and retire), there are some techniques you can use to make educated guesses about your visitors’ level of engagement.
For instance, click-throughs are definitely indications that the visitor found the call-to-action compelling whereas bounces may indicate a certain degree of apathy toward your messaging. There is even eye-tracking software available now that can allow you to perform studies to determine where visitors’ eyes are diverted on the page as well as the amount of time they spent reading or watching specific content. Such research can provide you with invaluable data to inform your design and content strategies.
Engagement—The Single Most Important Indicator of Conversion
Although attempting to measure your visitors’ level of engagement can be challenging to say the least, it’s an important aspect of web marketing- maybe even the most important. Although having a solid product or service to offer and using SEO and lead generation techniques to drive quality traffic to your website is no doubt vital, the content your visitors find once they land on your website is equally important. Unless you want all of your web marketing efforts to do little more than contribute to your bounce rate, you’ll need to take steps to ensure that your content passes the scan-test—those few seconds when your prospect determines whether your site is worth his time.
This means doing the dirty work of discovering whether or not the content on your site is appealing to anyone other than yourself, and in particular, whether it’s relevant and compelling in the eyes of your target market. In the process, you’ll likely find yourself where most web marketers do—somewhere in the middle. There’s a pretty good chance that some of the content on your site is engaging enough to convert and some is just downright boring, or worse, completely off-putting.
Then there’s the issue of market segmentation. Not all visitors are alike and while some will be drawn to one form of content or marketing approach, others will have a different opinion. This can make it difficult to decide which content to keep and which to scrap, unless of course, your site is equipped with a content optimization tool.
Make Your Guesses Count
A content optimization tool can help you make those educated guesses we talked about really count. No, you’ll never know with absolute certainty how exciting a visitor finds your clever new video or carefully crafted call to action, but as we discussed, you can use some tools to help you make a fairly accurate guess.
Once you’ve done this, it’s time to put your content optimization service to good use by displaying the most engaging content available on your site to those segments of your target audience that are most likely to find it irresistible. If you’ve been throwing a ton on content on your visitors in hopes that something will stick, it’s time to change that strategy. While you may think more is more when it comes to web content, it’s the carefully targeted, engaging content served up in moderation that is more likely to turn your prospects into paying customers.
Relevantor LLC
Ready to heighten your relevancy? Learn more about how a content optimization service can funnel your content to the right audience at the right time, sign up for our free service, or request a demo to see it in action.
The Power of Engagement: 3 Ways to Convert Emotions into Sales
April 18, 2012 at 12:12 pm | Posted in Analytics, Digital Marketing, Relevant Content | Leave a commentTags: behavioral data, content optimization, conversions, digital marketing, emarketing, engagement, imarketing, intuitive marketing, marketing, relevancy, relevant content, web content, web marketing
In preparation for my panel presentation at Digital Summit next month, I’ve been thinking a lot about engagement, and it’s come to my attention that not all web marketers fully realize the power of engagement.
After all, the term can mean a lot of different things depending on who you’re talking to, and since it’s not a tangible thing, it can’t be measured to any accurate degree. Thus, marketers who live and breathe analytics are often wary of discussing their visitors’ level of engagement. Nonetheless, engagement is an important factor in the conversion process—in fact, it may very well be the most important.
In today’s climate of content overload, engaging your audience is crucial if you want them to give your product or service more than momentary scan. They key to engaging your audience is tapping into their emotions. As most marketers are aware, it’s these emotions, not logic, that drive purchasing decisions. So just how do you wiggle your way into the hearts of your prospects, and what do you do once you’re there? Here’s how to master engagement in three simple steps.
1. Know Your Visitors
In order to know what your visitors are feeling, you have to first know who they are—all of them. Create personas for different segments of your target market and analyze each of their agendas. At a very minimum, ask yourself the following questions:
- What are your clients’ values?
- Why would they want your product/service—what problems does it solve for them?
- What are their primary concerns about the product/service?
2. Tap into Their Feelings
They say all emotions are derived from either love or fear. With this in mind, your job as a marketer is to either wow them with your product or service to the extent that they fall head over heels in love or show them how you can prevent their fears from becoming a reality.
3. Present them Personalized Content
What one emotion unites us all? The desire to be loved, of course. Show your visitors some love by making the effort to present them with personalized content based on their gender, location, previous visits, referring web sites, and more. Not only will the information be more meaningful, but your visitor will take notice of the gesture. After all, people like to be catered to, and when they are, they usually respond in turn.
What efforts are you making to increase engagement on your website?
Relevantor LLC
Ready to heighten your relevancy? Learn more about how a content optimization service can funnel your content to the right audience at the right time, sign up for our free service, or request a demo to see it in action.
What ad:tech SF Attendees Think About Relevant Content and What You Can Learn From Them
April 12, 2012 at 4:37 pm | Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a commentTags: adtech, behavioral data, content optimization, conversions, digital marketing, emarketing, intuitive marketing, marketing, online marketing, relevancy, relevant content, web marketing
In case you haven’t heard, we had the honor and privilege of hosting the workshop, Content Personalization: Increasing Engagement through Relevant Content this past week at ad:tech San Francisco. Brian Baker from Three Ships Media, Geoff Knight from TheOfferMachine.com & AtomicLeads.com, Matt Peters from Pandemic Labs, and myself had an amazing time discussing the current demand for relevant content and the implications of this demand on multi-channel communication. Our very own Jeff Swisher, Sales and Marketing Consultant for Relevantor LLC and Pres. & Chief Sales Officer for Swisher Sales Inc. did an incredible job moderating the discussion, and workshop attendees responded with plenty of enthusiasm and innovative ideas of their own. A good time was had by all!
While at the conference, we couldn’t help but notice the overwhelming number of exhibitors, panelists, and even keynote speakers who either highlighted or touched on the importance of relevant content. Apparently, we’re not the only ones who realize that content optimization and personalization stands to alter the web as we know it. In a way, we felt like ambassadors of a very important message this past week: either hop on the relevant content bandwagon or move out of the way lest your competitors trample you on their way to the top. Relevant content truly has become that important to web marketing, and as such, it was a recurring theme at the Moscone Center this past week. In case you missed it, here are just a few of the ways relevant content was showcased during the event:
- Keynote Presentation: Amazon—It’s Day 1 for Advertisers
Lisa Utzschneider, VP of Global Advertising Sales for Amazon.com kicked off the first day of ad:tech with a presentation emphasizing the importance of content personalization. According to Lisa, the CEO of Amazon, Jeff Bezos, predicted in 1997 that content personalization would drive the process of discovery for online commerce. Since then, the visionaries at Amazon have remained focused on their customers and attribute their success to this intense focus. She cites Amazon’s personalization engine as the backbone of their company and reveals that the company is currently focused on predicting their customers’ wants and needs before they even realize what they are themselves. What an inspiring look at what personalized, relevant content is capable of!
- Breakout Session: Google—Driving Response: Making the Web Work for You
Google’s Director of Agency Development, John Nicoletti had a thing or two to say about relevant content as well. Among many pearls of wisdom, Nicoletti stressed the importance of finding and delivering the type of content different types of online visitors respond to. To give a bit of credibility to his argument, Nicolleti pointed audience members to the guys at Orabrush who increased online sales by a whopping 500 percent by serving up video content on their site. The Google director also suggested an integrated marketing approach, advising that the key to increasing sales is to reach your audience where they are with the content they crave. We agree!
- Breakout Session—Behavioral Targeting: Still Here and Here’s Why
Wednesday’s breakout session immediately preceding our own featured Charles Duhigg, a reporter from the New York Times, Dave Hills, CEO of Twelvefold Media, Tim Jenkins, CEO of 4Info, and Tim Waddell, Director of Product Marketing at Adobe as they discussed how behavioral targeting can help consumers cut through the digital clutter and get to exactly what they’re looking for. Of course, the upside for businesses is increased conversions and a better return on investment. They were definitely speaking our language.
What were your takeaways from ad:tech? Did you hear any other buzz about relevant content that we missed? We’d love to hear your insight!
Relevantor LLC
Ready to heighten your relevancy? Learn more about how a content optimization service can funnel your content to the right audience at the right time, or request a demo to see it in action.
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If Katniss Were a Web Marketer and What Your Website Can Learn from The Hunger Games
March 30, 2012 at 2:17 pm | Posted in Relevant Content, Digital Marketing | Leave a commentTags: web marketing, online marketing, content optimization, emarketing, relevant content, relevancy, web content, digital marketing, marketing, web traffic
First things first, SPOILER ALERT! If you haven’t watched the wildly popular film, The Hunger Games or read the book that precedes it, then you may want to bookmark this post for later. I’d really hate to spoil it for you.
Ok, here goes. We all know that the world of web marketing can be a harsh one. As harsh as being thrown into an arena with 23 of your peers and having to fight to the death for the mere entertainment of rich, gluttonous onlookers? Well, no. But, I can’t help but draw some parallels between what Katniss, the darkly beautiful heroine of the film, does during The Hunger Games to walk away with her life intact and what we web marketers should be doing to fight our own battles.
So, if she were a web marketer, what would Katniss do?
Play to the Crowd
As an added element of cruelty, the Game-makers force the tributes from each district to campaign for sponsors whose gifts could very well save their lives during the Games. Basically, they have to smile and act proud that they’ve been “chosen” to represent their districts. The more beautiful and charming they are, the more likely they’ll be to win the affection of sponsors who could help them at the very moment their lives are on the line.
Katniss figures out exactly what the viewers want from her—a love story. Once she realizes this, she puts on a great show and gives the audience exactly what they want—a kiss at precisely the time they want it—when she is alone in the cave with Peeta and he’s very near death. One long kiss and she’s immediately rewarded with an ointment that heals Peeta’s wounds.
Would she have rather stood up and screamed at the cameras around her looking on as her fellow tribute dies? Of course. But, Katniss is different. She’s smart, and she knows that if she gives her audience what they want, she’ll be richly rewarded.
Takeaway: Get over yourself. It was never about you or your company or your business plan. It’s about your audience—your visitors. Give them what they’re looking for when they want it (that is, as soon as they land on your site) and they will reward you with a site-saving conversion.
Form Alliances
During the course of the Games, Katniss forms two alliances both of which save her life during the massacre. One with Peeta and one with Rue. Since the Game-makers know that the citizens of the Capital want a good love story, they favor Peeta and Katniss. The other alliance is a bit more complicated. Katniss allies with the young tribute from district 11 out of compassion and because she reminds her of her sister Prim. This alliance pays off big toward the end of the games when the male tribute from Rue’s district, Thresh, allows Katniss to live out of respect for the fallen Rue.
Takeaway: Form partnerships with like-minded businesses and affiliates. Who knows? You may be able to help each other survive in the online arena.
Hit the Target—Every Time
Katniss’ claim to fame in her district is her ability to hunt with a bow. She is known for her ability to shoot squirrels right in the eye every time. Of course, this skill pays off time and time again during the Games as she hunts for food and defends herself against her competitors. Her precision keeps her fed and helps her stay alive until the very end.
Takeaway- Identify the various segments of your target audience and hit them every time with content that is relevant and appealing to them. It may just mean the difference between your business’ success and its imminent demise.
Oh, and one last thing before you put these strategies to the test on your website. Yes, that’s right: “May the odds be ever in your favor.”
Relevantor LLC
Ready to heighten your relevancy? Learn more about how a content optimization service can funnel your content to the right audience at the right time, or request a demo to see it in action.
Why You Should Optimize Your Web Content Now
March 26, 2012 at 12:50 pm | Posted in Relevant Content, Digital Marketing | 1 CommentTags: web marketing, online marketing, content marketing, content optimization, emarketing, relevant content, web content, digital marketing, marketing, web traffic, conversions, bounce rates, optimization
Content is being called a lot of names these days. While some refer to it as king, others resign it to the only slightly less powerful “queen” position. At any rate, “content rules” as the saying goes. You may have even heard that content is the new currency, and surely, by now you have a spiffy content marketing strategy designed to generate leads and add value to your product or service. Great!
Don’t consider your job done yet, though. You’re not the only one who has jumped on the content marketing bandwagon. In fact, according to a recent research report conducted by the Content Marketing Institute (CMI) and MarketingProfs, it’s estimated that 9 out of 10 B2B marketers will employ content marketing strategies and will spend an average of over a fourth of their marketing dollars on content. You can bet that your competitors are among those spending their money wisely.
What does that mean for your company? It means that in order to gain a competitive edge, you better get ready to take your content marketing to the next level with optimized content, or as Christos Cotsakos refers to it, quantum content, and not just in your blogs, articles, and white papers. It’s time to take a very close look at the content that matters the most, the content that affects your sales and ROI more than anything else you publish—the content on your own website.
Not convinced? Here are some startling facts and figures to contemplate as you decide whether your web content needs a tune-up:
- According to Google, an estimated 30% of visitors bounce off of any given site because they can’t find what they’re looking for. Content Optimization is a solution to the bounce epidemic.
- A single irrelevant piece of information, advertisement, or form field is enough to make online visitors abandon your site, leaving that perfect path to conversion you had laid out for them. Content Optimization is a remedy to revenue-draining abandonments.
- Search engines sometimes take days to find the updated content on your website and present this content to web users. Content Optimization is a way to take back control over your website.
- Google’s new search encryption may be limiting the amount of traffic your site is receiving. Content Optimization can help you make the most of every hit.
- Approximately 150,000 new websites are created each day. Content Optimization is a sure-fire way to set your website apart from the competition.
How can content optimization solve all of these web marketing problems and more? Easy—by presenting relevant, personalized content to each of your online visitors. When they find exactly what they’re looking for on your home page without having to sift through a sea of content, they’ll be much more likely to follow the path toward conversion and return to your site again and again for more of that irresistible content optimized just for them. So, that’s got me thinking. Maybe content alone isn’t all it’s cracked up to be after all—perhaps it’s been usurped by a new kind of content—optimized content. Is your site ready?
Relevantor LLC
Ready to heighten your relevancy? Learn more about how a content optimization service can funnel your content to the right audience at the right time, or request a demo to see it in action.
3 Proven Ways to Make Your Site Gender-Optimized
March 23, 2012 at 9:37 am | Posted in Relevant Content, Digital Marketing | 2 CommentsTags: web marketing, online marketing, content optimization, emarketing, intuitive marketing, relevant content, relevancy, web content, digital marketing, marketing, web traffic, conversions, bounce rates
Let’s start this post with a word from Captain Obvious, shall we? Ready? Here goes. Men and women are different. Shocking, I know. If you ask any random person on the street to list some differences between guys and gals, you’d surely get an earful. We could rattle off a dozen such differences without batting an eyelash, so why is it that digital marketers are still, by and large, treating both genders to the same one-size-fits-all content?
The Product Pitch
Think about it. If a man and a woman walked into a clothing boutique, do you think the salesperson would treat them the same? Would she hold up the latest designer dress that happens to be on sale despite the fact that she’s talking to a 6 ft-tall slightly overweight male customer? Of course not, but that’s exactly the faulty tactic many online stores are still using. This is despite the fact that content optimization tools are available which would allow them to present different products to their male customers than the ones showcased for the females.
The Type of Content
Presenting different products to males and females is just the tip of the iceberg, though. There are many different ways to present gender-optimized content. A recent study conducted by ClickZ revealed that men and women respond differently to different types of content. Whereas women prefer “how-to” and informative, magazine-type articles, men like concise bits of information such as news blurbs, stock reports, sports scores, and weather predictions. While your site may not be able to replicate the exact nature of the content men and women like best, it can take some cues from the types of content each gender prefers. For example, why not present your content in article-form to women while displaying a bullet list of key points to your male visitors?
The Time Factor
This same study also showed that women tend to spend a significantly longer amount of time on any given page, indicating that you may be able to get a gal wrapped up in a long article or lengthy sales pitch. Men, on the other hand, revealed much shorter attention spans, meaning you will have to present them with something engaging immediately, or they’ll bounce away from your site quicker than your kids’ rubber band collection.
Keep these three gender disparities in mind as you optimize your web site content, and you’ll soon find popularity among both the skirts and the suits who visit your site.
Relevantor LLC
Ready to heighten your relevancy? Learn more about how a content optimization service can funnel your content to the right audience at the right time, or request a demo to see it in action.
How Curiosity Killed the Bounce and Why Your Website Needs a Free-Standing Broomstick
March 14, 2012 at 2:40 pm | Posted in Relevant Content, Social Media, Digital Marketing, Web Design | 1 CommentTags: web marketing, online marketing, content optimization, emarketing, relevant content, relevancy, web content, digital marketing, bounce rates
Have you seen the rash of photos, videos, and articles on the web lately featuring free-standing broomsticks? If you’re one of the unlucky few who missed the news about this curious phenomenon, here’s a little back story on the topic: apparently, broomsticks across the globe have been standing (but unfortunately not sweeping) all by themselves, sometimes even overnight. What pray tell is the explanation for such an oddity? Well, the jury is still out on that one—while some of the more superstitious among us believe it has something to with solar flares or the alignment of the planets, others attribute it to a mere buildup of static electricity.
Whatever the force is behind this yet-to-be-explained phenomenon—one thing is for sure—people find it fascinating. Don’t believe me? Just search “standing broomsticks.” If you’re using Google, you’ll get about 6,870,000 results. From a web marketing standpoint, that alone makes it interesting enough to want to probe a little deeper. So, just what is it about a simple broomstick (albeit a standing one) that propels people to admire, click, post, share, and chat on end? And here’s an even better question—how can you make the free-standing broomstick work for your site?
Just to clarify, I’m not suggesting online marketers everywhere race to the nearest cleaning supply and start posting pictures of it on their website. What you do need on your site though is something (or preferably many things) that just beg to be clicked, shared, and discussed. To that end, let’s take a moment to ponder the broomstick enigma and just exactly what makes it so compelling.
Shock-Value
While some web marketing experts will preach that you should always give your audience exactly what they expect, minus the surprises, I would beg to differ. Most people like a little something unexpected to break up the monotony of their day. Of course, there are good surprises and bad surprises. No one wants to be shocked by an additional charge or inappropriate image, but a quirky video, funny photo, or interesting contest may just tickle your audience’s fancy and compel them to engage with your content and even share it with their friends rather than bouncing off of your page. No matter how serious your niche or professional your clientele, your audience is still human, and we humans like to let loose and have fun every now and then. Perhaps your company should too.
Entertainment
Evidently, there’s just something about a free-standing broomstick that people find super entertaining. Perhaps because it doesn’t jive with the laws of the universe, or maybe just because it’s an unusual sight, but for whatever reason, people feel compelled to stare in awe for hours on end and even take the time to research the topic and share their own theories online. If you want to get your audience talking about your brand, then try engaging them with something that has entertainment value. While there’s plenty of evidence that web users are looking for quality, informative, and useful content online these days, there’s no rule against luring them into this content with something of interest like a cartoon, video, or experiment.
Relevance
While the shock and entertainment value of the broomstick phenomenon is indisputable, I would have to say that the number one thing that drew me in to the conversation (yes, I admit it) was that it was directly relevant to me. Why? Because, I like millions of people across the world, am the proud owner of a broomstick and it just happened to be nearby. Thus, the very first thing I did when I saw the photos of my friends’ broomsticks on Facebook was to try it myself. The takeaway—provide relevant content on your site that is applicable to your visitors’ lives (even in just some small way), and they’ll be much more likely to interact with your site. If you’re offering how-to-guides, tips, or strategies, make them practical enough that your reader can begin implementing them right away.
Relevance, of course, is what it’s all about. Shock value and entertainment can only go so far. If the sticky content you provide on your site isn’t relevant, then it’s not likely to resonate with your visitors. In fact, they’ll probably bounce off of your site and opt for an episode of Wipeout instead, so whatever you do– keep it relevant.
Does your site have a broomstick of sorts that compels your visitors to interact with you and your content? Describe it in the comment section below!
Relevantor LLC
Ready to heighten your relevancy? Learn more about how a content optimization service can funnel your content to the right audience at the right time, or request a demo to see it in action.
5 Quick Tips for Maximizing Your Relevancy Now
March 9, 2012 at 2:17 pm | Posted in Digital Marketing, Relevant Content, SEO, Web Design | 2 CommentsTags: bounce rates, content, content optimization, digital marketing, emarketing, intuitive marketing, marketing, online marketing, relevancy, relevant content, tips, web content, web marketing
First things first—before we get into the meat of this message, it’s important that you understand our use of the word “relevancy.” Relevancy is a term that has been tossed around a lot within the web marketing industry, especially as it relates to SEO. True relevancy, as far as we’re concerned anyway, is determined not by the search engines, but by the end user. Many website owners and marketers are realizing this simple fact– that their target audience determines what is relevant content.
The reality is—every time visitors land on your site and do a quick scan of your page, they’re evaluating how relevant your business is to their lives, their professions, and their needs. While it may indeed be impossible for you to be relevant to each and every visitor, you can certainly strive to connect with the distinct segments of your target audience. And the good news is, you can implement most of these tips with very little time and effort. It’s really all about changing your perspective, and seeing your website through the eyes of your visitors. In that spirit, here are 5 quick tips for maximizing your relevancy now:
1. Put Content First
At the risk of sounding cliché, I’ll start this first tip by stating what has become quite obvious to most web marketers—yep, you guessed it, “content is king.” The fact that this phrase may have become a wee bit overused doesn’t make it any less true, and if you’re going to remain relevant in a content-driven marketplace, it’s time to put some real action and effort behind this proclamation. You can start by ensuring that your content takes priority over the design of your website. Sure, you want your site to look good, and there’s nothing wrong with showcasing the talents of your design team so long as you do so in a way that accentuates your content. Content must precede design, however, not the other way around. Design is important, of course, but it’s not what your visitors are looking for on your site, so its rightful place is in the back seat.
2. Vary Your Content Genre
Now that we’ve established the importance of quality content on your site, let’s talk about the different kinds of content you should be offering up to your visitors. Staying relevant today means keeping up with the latest trends and available technologies. That’s why it’s important to ensure that your content team is cranking out more than just text. As we all know, there’s nothing more likely to make a weary-eyed web surfer turn and run than a text-heavy page, so be sure that you’re providing some different options for visitors who want to consume your content in different ways. Strike a healthy balance of traditional content, videos, slideshows, infographics, and anything else your visitors are likely to find informative, interesting, and well—relevant.
3. Be In the Now
Web users today are fed timely content on a 24/7 basis. With newsfeeds, constant Twitter updates, and minute-by-minute access to real-time data, they’re looking for the most current information you have available. They want to know what’s happening with your company now, so do your job and update your site with the latest and greatest thing you’ve got going on. This could be a best-selling item of the day, a special limited-time offer, a soon-to-be released update, or a featured blog post. Whatever it is, make sure it catches your visitor’s eye as soon as he lands on the page. Remember, you only have a few seconds to engage him enough that he decides to hang around. You can also give your site a real-time feel by showcasing incoming Tweets about your company or including a ticker indicating new members or customers.
4. Be In the Know
Sometimes it’s easy to get so focused on your own company and its success that you forget to stop and take a look around at your competitors and other industry experts. Although an occasional case of tunnel vision can make you more productive and even more successful, staying in the tunnel too long can cut you off from important information about your specific niche. To stay relevant today, you not only need to be in the now, you need to be in the know.
5. Keep It Real
Another thing web users are looking for nowadays is the real deal. They could care less about company-centric fluff. What they really want to know is how your product or service can benefit them in the real world. Help them figure this out quickly and easily by offering real-world examples, case studies, customer testimonials, and the like.
How does your company’s website rate in terms of relevancy? What are your strategies for staying relevant to your visitors’ needs? Share your tips below!
Relevantor LLC
Ready to heighten your relevancy? Learn more about how a content optimization service can funnel your content to the right audience at the right time, or request a demo to see it in action.
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