Content marketing is one of the most important tools you have at your disposal when it comes to getting more high-quality traffic to your website. More traffic means more sales! In this article, we’re going to outline how you can use content marketing to drive traffic to your website. Let’s get started.
Map content to every stage of your buyer journey
Some people will do a lot of research and thinking before they make a purchasing decision. You can catch people at different stages of their buying journey by publishing content you created or got from professional content writers that is relevant for customers at every stage. During the awareness stage of the buying process, you could publish introductions to your products or services. During the consideration stage, you could provide buying guides or comparison pieces. At the decision stage, you could offer product demonstrations or maintenance tutorials.
Let’s look at a few examples of businesses that do a fine job publishing this type of content.
Chewy, an online pet product retailer, targets customers at the beginning of their customer journey in their article on dog allergies. The article covers how to determine if your dog might have allergies, natural remedies, over-the-counter options, and when to see a veterinarian. Some of the products they discuss are sold on Chewy’s website. So, if a worried pet owner comes to this article only knowing the symptoms their dog has, they might be pleased to find there are over-the-counter solutions and make a purchase.
Think about what types of guides and articles you can offer to your website visitors — people searching for solutions to these problems will be driven to your website and may make a purchase as a result.
In The Swim, a discount pool supply retailer targets customers at the end of their customer journey. This particular article is a guide to above-ground pool maintenance; it targets people who already have a pool and are looking for help maintaining it. The article covers daily maintenance routines, weekly cleanings, and more. People who come across this article will notice that In The Swim sells several of the cleaning and maintenance products that are recommended in the article and may make a purchase.
On your website, be sure to offer post-purchase content like maintenance guides and product instructions to help customers that need additional assistance — this will build trust with your visitors and encourage them to make more purchases.
Create free tools that will address your customers’ pain points
Free resources can be very powerful marketing tools for many types of businesses! If you can offer your target audience something for free that will solve their pain points, it can bring high-quality traffic to your website. Additionally, free tools can show your target audience what you can do, build loyalty among your target customers, and can get you a lot of shares.
Here are a few examples of free tools that you can offer to your target audience:
- Calculators or quizzes that help a customer find the product or service that’s right for them
- Reusable templates or checklists
- Virtual tours or try-ons
- Tests that help a visitor determine whether they need your services
Let’s look at a few examples of businesses that provide these types of tools well.
Helix Hearing Care, a hearing aid provider, offers a helpful tool for their target audience. Their free online hearing test draws in potential customers that are searching online for a way to determine whether they are hard of hearing. If they find the test helpful, website visitors will be more likely to choose Helix Hearing Care as their choice of hearing aids.
On your website, think about how you can incorporate tests, quizzes, or calculators to help your visitors determine whether they need your help and which of your products or services suit their needs. It’s a great way to draw in traffic!
Similarly, FreshBooks, an online accounting software program, offers free invoice templates to anyone who comes across them. FreshBooks’ target audience is mostly composed of small business owners and freelancers who would likely use invoices — if they search for free invoice templates online, they might come across this page and be interested in the various accounting services FreshBooks provide.
On your website, think about what tools you can offer for free. Free templates and services can help draw in new people to your website who may make a purchase in the future.
Make your content SEO-friendly to boost your search engine rankings
Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of optimizing your content and website in order to boost your rankings on the search engine results pages, thus boosting traffic to your website. When you’re making content for your website, you need to ensure that it’s SEO-friendly!
For starters, you need to conduct some keyword research. Use a keyword research tool like Google Keyword Planner with different words and phrases related to your business. Plug them into the tool, and Google will give you a list of keywords that people are searching for based on their competitiveness, or how hard they are to rank for, and their average monthly search volumes.
Weave these keywords throughout your content, or base your content off of them — this will help improve your rankings for these queries and give you a boost on the search engine results pages (SERPs).
Answer common customer queries with your content
If you can identify what questions your customers have and answer them in your content, you’ll be able to boost your SEO, thus driving more traffic to your website. If you need help identifying what questions your target audience is asking, it’s time to conduct some question keyword research. Take a list of words and phrases related to your business to a question keyword research tool like Answer the Public.
Plug these words and phrases into Answer the Public, and they will provide you with a series of questions that people are asking on subjects related to your field. If you incorporate these questions into your content (or base your content on them entirely), you will show search engines that you have the answers to these queries, receive a boost on the SERPs as a result.
Let’s look at a few examples of businesses that use this tactic well.
RMIT Online, an online university, answers a customer query in their article on the qualifications required to be a project manager. The article covers the responsibilities of a project manager, why you need a formal qualification and more. Prospective students interested in becoming project managers may come across this article and find helpful information, including how they can get the job.
It’s excellent for drawing in these searchers and showing them that RMIT Online could be their university of choice. On your website, think about how you can answer questions in a way that will lead your target audience members to your products or services.
Similarly, Stitch Fix, a clothing subscription service, has a complete guide to wearing men’s boots. Men who want to learn how to wear their boots might be searching for tips and tricks online — if they need help styling their boots, they might be interested in other forms of styling help, including Stitch Fix’s subscription service. This means that this article is excellent at drawing in its target audience.
On your website, consider how you can answer customer questions using helpful guides or FAQs. This can draw more people to your website and ultimately lead to more sales.
Share your content on social media to draw people in
Sharing your content on social media is a great way to help more people learn about your business — it drives more traffic to your website without being overly promotional, meaning it can lead to more sales down the road.
Keep in mind that different social media platforms are better suited for different types of businesses. If you’re just looking for the largest user base, Facebook is your best option. If your business has a lot of image-based content, Instagram, TikTok, and Pinterest are good choices. If you market strictly to other businesses and professionals, LinkedIn is the correct choice. Picking the right social media platforms will help ensure that you get the best possible traffic to your website.
If you need help managing your social media platforms, take a look at a few different social media analytics tools. These tools can help you bulk schedule your posts in advance, find the best time of day to post, determine your most popular content types, and help you learn more about your audience.
Publish content regularly so visitors know they can come back for more
Another great way to drive traffic to your website is to publish content regularly — whether it’s once a day, once a week, or once a month, you want to get into the habit of posting on a regular schedule. If visitors love your content and know when to expect it, they’ll start visiting your website regularly in order to see what you’ve posted. This can drive more traffic to your website and ultimately lead to more sales as people check out your products and services.
If you create a content marketing calculator, you can better keep track of what you’re posting and when. In addition to helping you post regularly, a calendar like this can ensure that you aren’t posting similar content too close together. Need help keeping track of your content? Take a look at some of the SEO templates offered by Loganix. We have a content strategy template, a content brief, and more.
Summary
Content marketing is a very powerful tool for your business. In this article, we outlined how to use content marketing to drive more traffic to your website, including keyword research, regular posting, social media promotion, and more. Take a look at your content strategy and get to work!
Author bio: Adam Steele is the COO at Loganix, an SEO fulfillment partner for agencies and marketers. We build easy-to-use SEO services that help businesses scale. If you liked this article, please check out our SEO guides and templates on the Loganix blog.