Coming up with a web content strategy doesn't have to be a daunting task.
At its core, your web content strategy is just a plan for how you're going to use your web content to achieve your business goals. It can be as simple or as complex as you need it to be, but it should always be rooted in your overall marketing strategy.
One of the best ways to develop a web content strategy is to start by thinking about what you want your web content to do for you. Do you want it to drive traffic to your website? Convert visitors into leads? Help you close deals? Once you know what you want your web content to accomplish, you can start planning how you're going to make it happen.
In this blog post, we'll cover what goes into a content marketing strategy, how to create one for your website, and offer some tips to ensure your content is effective.
What Is Web Content Marketing?
By definition, web content marketing is the creation and distribution of online material (such as blog posts, e-books and infographics) that does not explicitly promote a brand but is intended to stimulate interest in its products or services.
But web content marketing is not about cranking out articles; it's about making sure your content is relevant, interesting and engaging. No one wants to read another boring advertorial masquerading as an article.
So if you're looking to get started in web content marketing, make sure you have something worth saying — and say it engagingly. By establishing yourself as a thought leader in your industry, you can build trust and credibility with your target audience, ultimately leading to more conversions.
Components of a Web Content Strategy
A web content strategy is vital for any business with an online presence. Without quality web content, your website will struggle to rank in search engines, drive traffic and convert leads.
But what exactly should your web content strategy entail? First, you need to determine the types of content that will best suit your business goals.
Do you want to use blog posts to drive traffic and attract new leads? Or are you looking to create high-quality white papers and e-books to nurture and generate leads? Depending on your goals, different types of content will be more effective.
Blog Content
Blog posts are a great way to drive traffic to your website and attract new leads. But to be effective, they need to be well-written, keyword-optimized and informative. When creating this form of content, it’s also important to consider the overall blog content strategy. Crafting blog posts on an inconsistent basis is not enough to drive consistent visits and engagement.
Newsletter Content
Newsletters are another effective way to keep your audience engaged and informed about your latest products and services. But like blog posts, they need to be well-written and informative. To get the most out of your newsletter content, include links to your website and calls to action. Additionally, consider segmenting newsletters by target personas: Curated newsletters can be used to showcase industry news.
Social Media Content
Social media is a constructive way to connect with your audience and promote your brand. But your content must be engaging and shareable. To ensure your social media posts are up to par, consider using high-quality images and infographics.
Web Page Content
Your About, Services and Contact pages are just as important as the blog posts and articles you write. These pages are often the first thing your visitors will see when they come to your site.
White Papers and E-Books
White papers and e-books can help nurture existing leads and turn them into customers. But they need to be well-researched and thoroughly written.
Editorial Content Calendar
Once you've determined the types of content you want to create, it's time to start planning and scheduling your posts. An editorial content calendar is an organized way to keep track of your content ideas, publish dates and deadlines. It can also help you ensure that your content is timely and relevant.
KPIs
To measure the success of your web content, you need to establish a set of KPIs, or key performance indicators. Typical web content KPIs include website traffic, number of leads generated, conversion rate and social media engagement. By tracking these KPIs, you can better understand what's working and what's not.
14 Steps to Creating a Web Content Strategy
Many businesses understand the importance of web content, but few take the time to develop a strategy for it. By following these 14 steps, you can develop a web content strategy that works for your business:
1. Define Your Goal
The first step in creating a successful web content strategy is by assigning goals and KPIs. What do you want your web content to achieve? For example, do you want to increase brand awareness, drive traffic to your website or generate leads? Be specific with your goals so you can measure your success.
2. Identify Your Audience
Who will be reading your web content? Creating buyer personas can help you understand what kind of content each type of reader is looking for. These buyer personas should include challenges, key publications and solutions. Web content should be mapped to each of these personas, and promotion efforts should be segmented.
3. Map Content to the Life Cycle of Your Buyer
Content will need to be tailored according to the stage a prospect is in. These stages include the following:
Awareness:
The awareness stage introduces potential customers to your brand. These are generally high-level pieces introducing concepts and your business.
Consideration:
This form of content should be more in-depth and focus on building relationships. It can include webinars, thought leadership content and industry news articles.
Decision:
This phase is when prospects decide on the solution they want to invest in. This can include product sheets and case studies.
Upsell/Customer Loyalty:
It’s more expensive to generate a new customer than to retain an existing one. As a result, content marketers can’t forget about their current clients when creating web content. Additionally, there may be cross-sell and upsell opportunities for clients.
Approximately 81% of successful content marketing teams have content for each stage of the funnel, while 70% of the least successful do not. Make sure the content you're producing is relevant to where your consumers are in their journey.
4. Determine What Kind of Content You Want to Produce
It’s important to consider what formats your audience likes to engage with. Consider the following questions:
- What format will your content take?
- Will it be blog posts, infographics, videos or something else?
- Where will you get this content?
- Are you producing, or outsourcing, high quality content?
5. Understand the Channels
Where will you publish your web content? Will you use your website, social media or other channels? And how will you promote your content once it's published? Make sure you have a plan for getting your content seen by your target audience.
6. Develop a Content Schedule
Once you have a solid understanding of your audience, it's time to start creating a content calendar. This will help you stay on track and ensure that you're regularly publishing new, fresh content.
7. Create the Content
How will you be creating your content? Are you going to develop it in-house or outsource it? Regardless of how you choose to go about it, you’ll want to get your content produced according to plan.
8. Promote the Content
If you don’t promote your content, no one will know that it exists. There are many ways to promote web content, including through social media, email marketing and paid advertising. Just be sure to put together a promotional plan that makes sense for your business and your audience.
9. Measure the Results
Successful content marketing teams are analyzing their results, with 90% tracking performance, so track your KPIs! Have a way to analyze the data you already have to determine what works and doesn’t. Use your content audit to decide how to proceed with new content.
10. Maintain a Long-Term Goal
Once you reach your original goals, set new ones. Sustainability is key to any content strategy. Commit to tracking and measuring your progress, revisiting content audits and updating your strategy regularly.
11. Outsource Some Content Marketing Efforts
More than half of the most successful content marketing teams are outsourcing at least some of their content marketing. Outsourcing blog and web content can help teams create more quality content on a consistent basis. It can also allow your team to provide outside perspectives from well-established thought leaders and industry experts.
However, 65% of companies are struggling to find partners with industry expertise. Consider leveraging licensed content from world-renowned publications to help round out your content strategy.
12. Promote Cross-Functional Team Collaboration
Teamwork is necessary when it comes to creating a content strategy. The different teams you should think about consulting during the content strategy phase include UX and design teams, copywriting teams and SEO/marketing teams. Also consider working with other departments such as product and sales to get ideas for content based on interactions with customers and prospects.
13. Write for Your Audience
In order to create content for specific types of readers, you should have a clear idea of what they are looking for, as well as the challenges they may face. It may be helpful to craft profiles/personas for those who go to your website. This can help you figure out how to write for them.
14. Determine Consistent Voice and Tone
A brand’s tone and voice will be the first thing you notice when you begin reading a piece. For this reason, these need to remain consistent across your content marketing resources. Your voice not only reflects the personality or your business, but also its identity.
How to Craft Compelling Content
If you're in the business of web content marketing, then you know that crafting compelling content is essential to engaging your audience.
But what makes content compelling?
Great content is a mix of informative and entertaining, with a dash of something unexpected.
The best way to achieve this balance is to start with a strong foundation of well-researched information. Once you have that in place, you can add your unique voice and perspective to bring the piece to life. And don't forget to keep your tone light and upbeat — after all, no one wants to read a dry, dull article.
Looking for high-quality web content?
Look no further than NYTLicensing, which offers an array of quality content to engage your audience. From breaking news to in-depth analysis, our team of experienced writers and editors ensures that all of our content is accurate and timely.
Web Content Marketing Examples
An overwhelming amount of content is available online. To stand out from the crowd, businesses need to use web content marketing strategies that are both effective and engaging.
Here are three examples of web content marketing done right:
1. Toyota's ‘The Scoop’ Blog
Toyota's web team realized that car buyers often research online before making a purchase. So to help potential customers learn more about their products, they created "The Scoop," a blog covering everything from new product releases to tips for getting the most out of your car. The blog has been a resounding success, helping Toyota build an engaged community of car enthusiasts.
2. Google's ‘Helpouts’ Videos
When it comes to web search, few companies are as dominant as Google. But even Google knows that there is always room for improvement. That's why they developed "Helpouts," a series of short videos that offer helpful tips on using Google products. The videos are well-produced and provide valuable information, making them an excellent example of web content marketing.
3. HubSpot's ‘Inbound’ Marketing Course
HubSpot is a company that specializes in inbound marketing, a type of marketing that focuses on creating content that draws customers to your product or service. To help spread the word about inbound marketing, HubSpot created an online course covering everything from the basics of inbound marketing to more advanced topics. The free course is a great way to learn more about this important marketing technique.
By creating informative and engaging web content, you can ensure that your message will cut through the clutter and reach your target market.
4. Fidelity’s Showcase of Industry News
A great example of a web content marketing strategy is Fidelity Investments' Viewpoints. Viewpoints featured a mixture of articles and blogs from internal and external sources, which gives readers different perspectives of the market. Each news article is accompanied by commentary from many Fidelity analysts, who provide valuable insights in order to help investors make more informed decisions.
Final Thoughts
In web content marketing, the finer details make all the difference. While there will be room for improvising along the way, having a solid web content marketing foundation to fall back on is essential.
So if you're ready to take your web content strategy to the next level, here are some key things to keep in mind:
While quality trumps quantity, both do matter. Having inconsistency in a content calendar can deteriorate relationships or make it hard to build loyalty. It's important for companies to have high-quality content on a consistent basis to really get the full effect of content marketing.
Consider supplementing your own material with licensed industry news written by industry experts and thought leadership content. These kinds of pieces can free up the time spent in developing content while providing a fresh outside perspective.
Focus on creating content that is truly valuable to your audience. Think about what they need and want, and then deliver it in an engaging and easy way to consume.
Don't forget to promote your content! Get creative with social media, email marketing and other channels to get the word out there.
By following these tips, you can set yourself up for web content marketing success.
