Where do you start in building content? People want their questions answered. That's a benefit you can provide that immediately builds your credibility with them. The strategy is building the system that converts.

You must capture to convert

Nothing happens until you get the contact’s information. I say “contact” because you can use your website to capture information from people reluctant to give it up in person. These people have no trust in you or your business… yet. And if you are going to get them as a customer (and you want this type of customer- if you’re a subscriber to my newsletter and want the answer, hit reply to any email I sent and ask me. If you’re not a subscriber yet, now’s a good time to subscribe and get your questions answered!), you need to get that trust.

How do you get their trust?

They need to get to know you and like you. That does not happen in a one-time meeting at a trade show or even in your store. That will take more than your “word” alone. It takes a well structured website that has the elements in place that people look for- expertise, history, social proof.

Conversion

The website I build for my clients is ready to add the lead capture form. That is a system in itself with the function it provides. Any “dumb” form could capture a visitor’s information and deliver it to your inbox. This system is capable of automatically confirming that they used a real email address. Then sends them the information they requested. But it is still not finished. The visitor’s information is in your database and they continue to get follow up messages that help them move through a professionally designed marketing funnel. Once they are ready to take action (not before), their information is delivered to the sales department.

Be the expert

Being the expert doesn't mean saying “I'm an expert.” It's far more effective if you demonstrate it. If you’re in business, you have taken some steps that say “I do this better than my competition.”

You have to think that in at least one way. Otherwise, the hassles of running your own business would not be worth it.

Those differences that make it worth doing for you to provide a higher level of quality to your customer are what you want to focus on. Your experience, the experience of your staff, the history of your company, all of these things and more go into what separates you from your competitors.

These differences all speak to people who place value on them. Those people are the ones you’re looking for to build a lasting and growing business. They are the people who will stay with you and be the community of evangelists you want to grow.

SEO

This is what must be understood before you move any further. Your content is an asset. It takes an investment of time or money to make, but pays off throughout its lifetime. Your content will degrade over time but never become worthless. Even old, stale, and now irrelevant information does something for you that nothing else can – it shows you have history.

The more content you produce on a given topic, the more likely you will return high on search pages. Having more content on that topic can help you own the search page. In other words when somebody searches for a specific term you would have not just one article at or near the top of the page, but several or even the whole page!

That does not come from haphazardly writing content. You need to structure your writing with purpose. Start with the concept and shape the title around that key word or phrase. Then make sure to include that term in the article body as it fits naturally. Don’t try to “stuff” your article with your keyword or it won’t look natural to the reader. The best rule to follow – write for the reader, optimize for the search engine.

Traffic

Getting all of the prior components in place will develop a level of free traffic. Paid traffic may or may not be necessary to achieve your goals. You may choose to use paid traffic at first. The thing about building content as an asset is once your site is established with regular content and gets visitor and customer interaction, the traffic will not just stop if you do. With paid traffic, when you stop paying, the traffic valve closes tight immediately.

Of course, when you’re building your content as an asset, you’re not going to stop when you see results. Yes it will take on a life of its own and will grow and become easier to maintain with interaction and fresh ideas and angles.  But like any living thing, if you stop feeding it, it will die.

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Summary

If your system is missing any of these elements, how can you expect it to work? It is like a car's engine where three elements are crucial: fuel, air, and spark. Without any one of these, the engine cannot function. With any one of these elements in more or less than the optimal balance, the engine will function poorly if at all.

In order for your marketing system to function properly, all of the elements must be present, introduced in the right order, and the right quantity. That only happens by proper design.