Understanding why the creation of unique and quality content is important for your business begins with understanding the true meaning of “content.” When people hear the word content, their minds tend to visualize long white documents filled with tiny black words. Sure, that is content, but that is not all that content entails. Everything on the Internet is content and as anyone can tell, there is MUCH more than long white documents filled with hard to read words flowing through cyberspace.
Content is defined as: something that is to be expressed through some medium, as speech, writing, or any various arts.
Websites, FAQ’s, blogs, videos, photo galleries, forums, social media sites, comments, and everything else that makes up the Internet is content. (Yes, that even includes adorably cute cat videos).
How do I choose what type of content to use?
This is a common question with a simple answer. Choose content based on what your users want. Finding out what questions your users are asking is vital in determining what type of content to develop. Developing a wide variety of content using varying types (i.e. blog posts, videos, infographics, etc.) is the best way to keep your customers, consumers, followers and fans intrigued and informed.
How can content affect my business?
Let me break it down for you. For your business to succeed it needs to make money. For it to make money it needs to have consumers/customers. In order for your business to have consumers and customers, those people need to know that your business exists. In order for people to know that your business exists, you need to have the right types of content driving users to your site.
Developing quality content for your business’s website is important for a few different reasons. It can help drive more traffic to your site through SEO (search engine optimization), bringing both old and new users to your site. Secondly and often times more importantly, it gives users the answers and information they were looking for when they first landed on your site. Whether someone is looking for a solution to their west-facing window problem, an answer to their kitchen lighting debacle or something else entirely, strategically developing appropriate content for your site will allow you to help answer the important questions that your audience and potential customers are asking.