Why fresh content matters to your marketing.
Way back in 1996, cofounder of Microsoft, noted philanthropist and now the 4th richest person in the world, Bill Gates coined the phrase “Content Is King.” In an essay of the same name, Bill correctly predicted that content would drive the growth of the internet. Here we are, 25 years later still talking about the importance of content (it’s almost like this guy is really smart about tech or something).
Bill was right about another thing, too: creating content was going to be a challenge in a lot of ways. And as someone who creates content on a daily basis, I can speak personally to how much of a challenge—or annoyance or pain point or thing that I literally drop to the end of my personal to-do list—creating fresh content can be. But there’s a reason I always log back on and start writing: content may be king, but fresh content is queen.
Fresh content on new pages can drive traffic to your site, help your site rank for more keywords, and rank higher on search engine results pages, aka better SEO. A steady flow of fresh content, like blogs or landing pages that use relevant keywords in a conversational manner will get the attention of Google. And once you do that, you can get the attention of the people who are using the search engine every day. And once you have captured their attention, you can build a stronger relationship with this audience, improve engagement and brand recall, and ultimately translate this interest into sales.
The same principle is true for social media, too. Nothing is less useful for a business than an infrequently updated Instagram or Facebook page. And if video is more your speed, video-based content can get you ranked in both text-based search engines like Google and video search engines like YouTube.
I’m often asked why fresh content is so important, and why making small updates to existing pages (a much smaller lift) isn’t enough. Let me give an example: you know Business of Home, the home industry’s leading business media brand? I check them out just about daily to stay on top of design industry news and trends. But if they didn’t publish new content so often, I wouldn’t check their site so often. It’s as simple as that. And that logic applies to every site on the world wide web.
“But Jen!” I can hear you saying “Business of Home is a media site. Publishing new content is their job. My job is design!” And I hate to be the one to tell you this (ok I don’t actually, because I think this is super important for you to understand), but do you remember what it says on that button you push to make something live on your site? Does that button say “Publish”? Congratulations, you’re a publisher, too.
(I’ll wait for you to update your title on your email signature)
Basically, publishing (there’s that word again) fresh content on your site keeps people coming back. No, you don’t need to be updating content at the frequency or rate of a news site, but all websites need new content to keep readers engaged and to continue to drive SEO. Every post is an opportunity to keep established users engaged while attracting new ones. These users can all be converted to customers through an overall content marketing strategy focused on content creation, social media and retargeting.
New content on new pages helps new people to discover you and your site. By creating pages with high quality content, and focusing on high-ranking keywords, you’re following our signature approach to Google success. Whether you are a world-class natural stones manufacturer or an interior designer just starting out, the formula is the same: fresh, high-quality content is the best way to establish credibility and build trust with your audience. And that, in turn, leads to higher search result rankings. And more sales.
Fresh content is all about providing value and giving something unique and useful to your prospective audience. That content builds trust in a completely different way than paid advertising does. It still moves prospects through your funnel, but in a way that feels more organic to them.
It can also help to build your brand authority and reputation as an expert in your industry, too. You know your stuff, and your audience should know that about you, too. You did the work, wear that crown proudly! And rest easy knowing that your online content is reflecting your royal status.
Schedule time to talk to ultraviolet and allow us to help you create content and an overall content strategy. Our design industry content specialists uniquely understand your needs and can help you through every step of the process, from concept to content creation.
