It’s no secret that spring is the season for change. Winter is long gone, the sun is re-emerging from its hibernation, daffodils are popping up anywhere and everywhere. We think that makes it the perfect opportunity to blow out some of those content cobwebs to give your company website the boost it needs to bloom. We’re talking the whole shebang – new copy, new focus, new targets, and most importantly, new opportunities for success. A Content Spring Clean, if you will!
But why is updating your website content so important? And what difference is it going to make to conversions? We’re glad you asked…
Why should I update my content?
The most important reason for updating your website content comes down to one very simple equation:
Recent = Relevant
Search engines love it when you start updating your website content, and we mean really love it.
Whenever something new appears on your website, a search engine will send out dozens of tiny bots (otherwise known as crawlers or spiders) that will crawl along (get the reference now?) all the new links that they’ve found on your website and index them for the search engine. The search engine will automatically consider new content to be more relevant to the searching user and likely pop your website right at the top of that search results page.
Unfortunately, however, it works both ways. Your content could be the best thing ever written on the internet, but if it’s been sitting there static for the last five years, search engines will consider it old news and bury your website on the search results page of doom… Page 2.
Regularly updating your website content is only ever going to have a positive outcome (and keep your company off Page 2, which is all anyone ever really wants, isn’t it?) and really will make an impact on conversion rates.
That’s great, but how am I supposed to go about it? And how do I know which bits to update?
More excellent questions; it’s like you’re reading our mind! Luckily for you, we have all the answers today…
One of the first things you should do when contemplating updating your website content is to consider your target audience. Think about what they’re searching for and how you can adapt and fine-tune your content to provide the perfect solution. You may find that your target market has shifted slightly – there may be new trends that they’re trying or topics they’re interested in. You can utilise these in your content to ensure that you’re attracting the right customers for your company.
Take the time to perform a target market audit (there are plenty of apps and tools out there to help with this). You may notice that your target market demographic has evolved, or you may be attracting customers from a broader range of locations. You can take this information and filter it subtly into your content (hello, keywords) to pull in the perfect prospects.
Another thing to consider is how your target audience is using your website. An excellent tool for this is Google Analytics (and it’s free!). All you need to do is set up a simple account (if we can do it, you can do it), and it’ll tell you everything you could ever need to know about the ins and outs of your site.
It can be a bit overwhelming at first (is it just us who still gets the maths-lesson-fear every time we see a line graph?), so we’ve picked out a few of the best Google Analytics tools to help with the content update process:
- Landing pages – this will tell you which page visitors to your website are clicking on first and, it may surprise you, but this isn’t always your homepage! One of our most popular landing pages, for example, is our blog page. We’ve filled our blog posts with keywords that we know our customers are searching for, and therefore it’s popping up whether they’re searching for our specific services or not. You can use the landing page information to do the same – if lots of customers are landing on a particular page, how can you improve it so that they stay longer? How can you improve your other pages so that they begin appearing in search results?
- Exit pages – this one tells you which page uses are on when they decide to click off. The aim of the game here is to improve the content on this page to such a high standard that consumers are encouraged to convert rather than click off. Can you add an incentive to this page? A deal or promo code, perhaps? Improving your exit page content will increase the chances of conversion.
- Bounce rate – bounce rate indicates the number of users who click onto your website and then click off without engaging. A high bounce rate indicates that your content isn’t resonating with users enough to encourage them to perform an action. Double-check your bounce rate and, if it’s higher than you’d like it to be, it’s time for a content update!
There’s plenty more that you can discover through using Google Analytics, but here at The Edwards Company, these are the main three metrics we use to make informed decisions about our content. Ten out of ten, would recommend!
Okay, so… I want and need to update my content regularly, but how do I do that without completely changing everything?
Simple, you don’t change everything! Giving your content a spring clean doesn’t mean scrapping everything and starting again (unless you want to!). Updating your website content is all about adding a few extras here and there, making a few tweaks and ensuring your content is as good as it can be. Think of it as being like adding a few vases of flowers and fancy wall art to a room – it doesn’t change the room itself, but it makes it look a whole lot nicer! Here are a few ways you can regularly update your content without making massive changes:
Start a business blog
Blogs may seem like one of those trends that everyone is doing because, well, everyone is doing it, but they can actually be hugely beneficial to your business. Setting up a blog page on your website and frequently populating it with new, valuable content not only ticks all the SEO boxes (new content for crawlers, more keywords etc.), but also gives users a reason to spend more time on your website.
You can write articles about your services, products, topics of interest, industry insights, top tips and hacks or anything else that may be of use to your potential customers. By doing so, you’ll be able to bring them into your sphere of influence, build trust, make that connection, and convince them to convert, all by just writing a few blog posts per month.
Add Location Pages
If some of your services or products are location-specific, adding location pages is a great way to update your content. These pages may be similar to other existing content but will include location-specific keywords. This gives crawlers yet another opportunity to index and present them to users in your specified area.
Again, a huge change here isn’t necessary. It’s just about adapting what you already have to give your business the best possible chance of optimum exposure.
Provide free content
Consumers love free stuff, so if you’re looking for ways to pad out your website to give it an SEO upgrade, you could consider providing free content.
How-to guides, downloadable resources, whitepapers, infographics – you’ll be encouraging users to engage with your content, come back for more, and, you guessed it, you’ll be providing even more links for crawlers to index!
You may also want to consider:
- Adding more new pages like a testimonials page, portfolio page or social media showcase page
- Edit exit pages to encourage click-throughs rather than click offs
- Update product or service descriptions to reflect the current target market
- Change the tone of your copy to better speak to consumers
There really are so many ways to give your content a spruce-up for spring, all of which lead to more positive exposure for your business. Whether it’s adding new pages or adapting those you already have, any changes you make will be sure to have a positive impact on your conversion rate.
Now, if only you knew of a fabulous copywriting team that could take care of your spring content update for you…
Here at The Edwards Company, we provide businesses with captivating copy that converts. Our varied range of affordable copywriting packages allows you to dictate exactly how much content you require, exactly when you want it. We’ll work closely with you to ensure that the copy we provide really works for your business.
For more information on our copywriting services, please do not hesitate to get in touch – we’d love to write for you!