Why Your Online Content is Failing

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These days, when so much of the business world exists to draw customers in from the World Wide Web, content is king. It’s a cliche, but it’s’ true.

Content is your chance to show your customers who you are. It’s a chance for you to engage with them, to offer them something worthwhile, to convince them that you’re the best option to fulfill a need.

So if your content isn’t working, chances are, there are a few reasons why that is.

Guided by Gut Feel
This is one of the most common failures in content marketing.

Gut feeling has a lot of glamor in the business world. All too often, we’re regaled with tales of entrepreneurs who just knew what to do, who followed their gut to incredible payoffs.

Here’s the thing: there’s a time and a place for gut feeling. Your content marketing is not it.

Don’t believe it? Just look at how gut feeling is paying off for everyone else–90.63% of content gets zero search traffic from Google.

The Fix
Here’s the good news: chances are, you already have the tools you need to fix your mistakes.

If you use Google products, you’ve already got access to Google Analytics. That alone is a data boon, a golden opportunity to change your content approach.

Instead of going on your gut, use your data to understand your customers. Take the time to learn what they like, how they spend time on your website, and what they would like to see. Then, you can create content with those wants and needs in mind.

Value? What Value?
Your content needs to provide value. That’s it. End of discussion. If you’re not providing value, then you’re just talking to yourself.

Your content should always be designed to generate value for your customer, whatever that means for your unique customer’s wants and needs. Remember, like any other element of your business, you’re here to provide a product or service that fulfills a need for your customers.

And if your content doesn’t provide value, your customers are going to seek value from your competitors.

The Fix
The quality of the content is of the utmost importance. There’s no other way to spin that fact. So if your content isn’t generating value, it’s time to think about why.

For many businesses, this is because they simply don’t know what content to produce. This can be resolved by creating a content marketing strategy, assisted by some expert input to ensure you’re building the strategy on the foundation of facts.

If the problem is an inexperienced or cheap writer, it’s time to do away with that writer and replace them with someone that creates worthwhile content. They’re not driving value by creating cheap content, so it’s not going to be worth your time and money to keep that writer.

The Content is Poorly Written
It’s harsh, but it’s true.

Unfortunately, writing is not a talent that every person possesses. And that’s fine–as long as you acknowledge this fact about yourself.

If you’re a bad writer, or even a moderate one who doesn’t know how to write for the web, your content marketing is not the place to flex your writing skills. When your audience’s first interaction with you is through your content, poorly written content is a major red flag.

After all, if you can’t be bothered to take the time to produce truly good content, why should they trust you to perform a service for them?

The Fix
Fortunately, there are several ways you can fix it.

First, if your writing is alright but needs polishing, hire copy editing services and have them go to town on your work. Yes, it’s probably going to sting your pride, but it’s also one of the best investments you can make to ensure your content is ready to hit the web.

If you’re a bad writer, it’s time to hire a good writer. You can hire one in-house, but if that’s infeasible due to budget constraints, make a strategic investment by purchasing a content package from a marketing agency. It will be worth every cent to get reliable, high-quality content.

Make Your Content Work for You
If your content isn’t working for you, then it’s time to change the way you think about content.

Remember, content, like any other element of marketing, is your chance to show your customers what you’re made of and why you’re worth their time. If you can’t do that with your content, then your content won’t succeed, and your business, in turn, won’t be any better off for your trouble.

So if you’re seeing your own bad habits echoed back at you in this post, consider this an invitation. Change the way you think about content. Your business will thank you for it.