Tag: SEO

Content marketing, SEO, Social media

Why B2B thought leadership content is worth the effort

Whether you call it thought leadership, opinion, comment or insight, if you are a B2B business, there is huge value in taking the time to write and publish articles.

First and foremost, it’s a great way to demonstrate your knowledge, expertise, understanding of the market and wider issues.

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It can demonstrate your understanding of your clients’ needs, what challenges they face and the pain points.

And thought-leader articles could help to reinforce your company’s brand values and help develop trust and authority.

As part of a content marketing strategy – and regular publishing – writing thought leader content can help build an audience and relationships with new clients, particularly if you allow comments.

Getting a bit more technical, it’s good for SEO. Google checks your website regularly for fresh content, and it is also looking for dwell – time spent on site. Alongside a good keyword strategy, it can help to drive traffic to your website.

Extra value

The time spent writing B2B thought leadership content carries extra dividends.

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B2B media, Copywriting, SEO, Writing tips

Is your website copy clear about what you do?

‘Of course, our website copy tells people what our company does,’ I hear you say.

Slightly different question: Does your website copy describe what your company does using the same words and phrases your clients would use?

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Because that’s the thing, the words you use and those your potential clients use might not be the same. And it’s a crucial distinction if you want your business website to appear in searches.

When you are in the flow of writing about what you do, talking about your services and offer, it’s tempting to make it sound, well, a bit more flash. You might want to use technical terms or marketing lingo.

Here’s an example. I came across a company name, and I wanted to check what they did. I had an inkling were an office fit-out business.

So I Googled the company name to find their website and clarify what they did.

After spending 10 minutes scrolling through various pages on their website, I was still not 100% sure if they were an office fit-out company.

Fancy phrases vs clear and simple

The reason? Nowhere on the website did it mention ‘fit-out’. Instead, they used phrases like ‘end-to-end workspace solutions’.

If you were looking for a company to fit out your new office, would you search for ‘end-to-end workspace solutions’? Or would you search for ‘office fit-out company’?

It’s not unusual for B2B website copy to leave visitors confused about what the business actually does.

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SEO, Social media, Writing tips

Learning the hard way how to write web content headlines

When I first started writing my theatre blog 11 years ago my headlines were rubbish.

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I was trying to be clever or witty, sometimes using puns or a play on words.

But the more I learned about writing online content, the more I realised my approach was entirely based on what worked in print rather than online.

My experience and background was magazine journalism after all.

An article in a magazine or newspaper has images, graphics, tables, box-outs, subheadings etc. which help grab attention.

And an article in a magazine may already have context.

If someone has picked up a copy of ‘Window Box Weekly’, they are probably interested or at least curious about window boxes.

Try to find your own content

A big test was trying to find my own theatre blog content using Google. I knew I’d reviewed a particular production, but my ‘clever’ headlines meant it wasn’t coming up in searches – certainly not on the first few pages of results.

For example, I saw a play called Grief by Mike Leigh, and the headline of my review was ‘Good Grief?’

See what I did there? It might work if the piece sat in the theatre review section of newspaper or magazine, alongside a production photo and a subhead.

But out of context and with just two words to go on, it didn’t work so well.

Getting savvier about online search

As I started to understand how people find stuff to read online (search engines, social media etc.), I realised my headline style needed to change so that people could find my blog posts.

And know what they were about from the headline.

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B2B media, Content marketing, SEO, Writing tips

Simple ways to improve dwell time on your B2B website

Web search tools such as Google, like your B2B website more if people spend time on it rather than having a quick look. It’s a sign that your website is useful and interesting and content can play an important role in this.

Photo by Jilbert Ebrahimi on Unsplash

First of all Google et al check your site to see if there is new content being published regularly, so having a regular flow of news, blogs posts, insight – whatever form your content takes – is a key part of optimising your site for search (SEO).

Your B2B website is also monitored for the time visitors spend on it which is often referred to as ‘dwell time’ or just ‘dwell’.

Having good quality, relevant content to read is, of course, important but also having some longer pieces helps.

It is good practice to include an image or photo with all content – it not only helps tell the story but can help grab readers attention if they are scrolling.

Longer pieces can additionally be broken up with subheads, infographics, pull quotes etc all of which can also help grab attention and keep readers engaged.

(There’s a practical reason too, big blocks of text are harder to read on screen.)

Interaction – engagement – with your B2B content can also increase dwell time so you could allow people to comment on your posts.

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B2B media, Content marketing, SEO, Social media

Unlocking the benefits of regular B2B content – and my goal for 2021

It’s been two years since I set myself a goal of writing regular blog content here on my business website but like a lot of New Year’s Resolutions, it fell by the wayside.

I knew I needed to blog regularly because it is good for business, helping to build authority and traffic for my website. And I also knew I should practice what I preach.

Photo by Michael Dziedzic on Unsplash

But it wasn’t until a lightbulb moment in September last year that I was finally on the road to achieving that goal – and as a result, it’s unlocked a new content marketing opportunity for 2021.

Up until last Autumn, my blog post writing was sporadic at best with some months going past without publishing anything at all.

It meant my web content wasn’t delivering with no discernible rise in traffic or engagement. And few business leads came from my website.

Content ideas weren’t the problem as I was publishing regularly on social media – LinkedIn – and getting good results.

So what changed? The spur – or perhaps kick up the backside – was a conversation with a fellow freelancer who refocused my B2B content strategy.

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