Standing out in the marketplace

It is axiomatic — everyone knows that every business must have a website. The trends are clear that more and more people are going to the web to engage in the market place. If you want customers to find you, if you want to effectively call out to them and be heard, you must begin with a website. If you don’t understand this, see my post on Google’s e-book Zero Moment of Truth.

I say “begin with a website” because that is only the start. There are search engine optimization tactics and traffic driving strategies. There are inbound marketing tools and email list building. All of these methods are simply ways to attract potential customers and then engage them.

It’s like a farmer’s market. Exciting displays of the freshest produce, colorfully spilling over the crates stops you from wandering by. It looks so good! You are overcome by the desire to squeeze and sniff the fruit, to fondle and thump the cantaloup. Then you ask the farmer “how much…?”

That display is your website. The keywords help them see you. Your content is the bushels of beautiful fruit that entice potential buyers to stop their mad clickfest and actually learn about the value that your company offers. The single common key to making this whole thing work is CONTENT. People come to your website for the useful and clear information – just like shoppers stop by your stall for the freshest fruit and vegetables.

Your content could be video, audio or photos. But the type of content that will do the bulk of the heavy lifting is your writing. The copy. The text. The words.

Your visitors will quickly size up your website and make a decision about whether it offers them the information they seek or not. If your content is clear, compelling and accessible, there is a good chance they may spend a few minutes listening to what you have to say.They will watch your video, look at your photos. They will spend the bulk of their attention on your text. If they like what they read, then you have an opportunity to continue to engage their attention. This is where you offer twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn. This is where you provide free articles in exchange for their email. This is where they may even pick up the phone and call you. Perhaps they will even act to place an order there and then.

It all starts with the usefulness and clarity of your content.

It ends there too, because it’s the rest of the content that continues to move them down the buying path.

Invest in quality content. Spend good money for the best writing possible — writing that informs, excites and most of all, writing that sells.