Content, content, content…  Adding new written content to your website is an important road to continued or increased success for your online business. We know this because of experience, research and the study of changes in the industry. For example, Google continues to modify its algorithms to give favor to sites that are updating and adding new, original content. In June 2010, Google announced a major update called May Day. The algorithm change directly affected the ranking of pages with deeper page content.

Most recently, Google implemented its update called Panda/Farm in which it aimed to penalize sites for copying and duplicating content – emphasizing the importance of creating original content. For best results, I tell my clients to add content that is DRIC. What is DRIC you ask?

DRIC:
Detailed: This is content that’s specific, but not long-winded.
Researched: Do a little research on your content to write beyond what you know yourself.  This content is supported and enhanced by outside research
Industry-Specific: Your content focuses on your industry or the industries you serve.
Current: This content includes reference to current news and information on the topic.

Written content can be added to your website in several ways: Product Descriptions, Product Information pages, Industry Application pages, Frequently Asked Questions, Case Studies, Testimonials, and more. In all of this writing, details are important: researched, industry-specific, and current details.

First and foremost, content on product pages and about your product takes priority. If you don’t have DRIC content about your product then that is where you need to start.

Recently I made a plan with one of my clients to add original written content – DRIC. This particular client sells an industrial product and is currently successful at bringing targeted traffic and converting this traffic into quote requests. His product page content is well developed, and he would like to further his success and increase targeted traffic for the products that are sold most often. To do this, he created a brief list of industries that buy his product. First on his list was the grain industry.

We discussed and wrote a plan for adding new original content. First he wrote a few paragraphs on the problems his grain industry customers have and how his products can solve these problems. This writing was brief but detailed. We also included relevant keyterms, examples, and researched information to support his statements. Next, we added images that exemplify the grain industry. With this new content, we were able to create a new web page specifically for the grain industry. We will continue to create pages and content related to the grain industry including frequently asked questions, product lists, case studies, and testimonials – all content that is specifically designed to help the customer in the grain industry.

The goal of developing this new content is to teach site visitors and the search engines that my client and the product he sells can help those in the grain industry. It will teach them that he is an expert in his field and knowledgeable about related products. Ideally, search engines like Google will begin to send unique searches from those types of customers to his website. Directories and referring sites within the grain industry may even begin to link to his site. All of this is aimed at increasing those targeted quote requests that lead to more sales.

Next time you question how you can improve the content on your website, remember the acronym DRIC: Detailed, Researched, Industry-Specific, and Current. Then dive into updating your current content or creating content around a new topic that is designed to help increase website visitors and increased sales. Do you have another idea for adding unique content to your site?

What Do I Write About in My Blog?

My products & services, RIGHT?  Better not.

Your company blog content is a great way to communicate with your potential and current customers.  It’s a way to give them the news they are interested in.  Reading about the best features of products A, B, and C can easily be done via your website and for a blog post, can be really boring if done too often.  The common question I hear from my clients is, “So what DO I write about?”

I recently came across a blog by Urban Outfitters – a retail clothing store.  They are making the UO Blog thee Go-To Place for current fashion trends.  They are writing about fashion from all over the world – not just their own store.  Their focus seems to be: what else do our customers want to know?  They are writing about things that their clientele care about, in this case, looking cool and wearing the latest trends.

UO’s blog content considers the consumer instead of focusing on specific products.  Their content is updated often, which makes people want to come back for more.  Don’t be taken aback by UO’s choices of clothing in the photos, videos, and set up.  It is uniquely designed to target a specific audience.  Great work UO.  They seem to know their customers well.

But you’re a small business that can’t spend the time or money investigating and traveling and researching.  What is your blog about, then?  If you go back to Urban Outfitters’ focus, it’s simple: what else do our customers want to know?  Do you get phone calls from customers asking questions about how to fix something, how to determine the correct size, what are the best ways to use a product?  Take the answers you provide over the phone and write about them.  Do a little research on Google to enhance your content, and wallah!  You have a great post with little effort.  Write about the latest updates in your industry, the trends; the big news.  Write about what is going on within your business location – remodeling? A party? A promotion? A new hire? The owner’s hobby?  The list goes on and on.

You are an expert already, just write it down.
Where do you get the inspiration for your blog? Write back we would love know.