If your small business’s website is not getting the traffic or engagement you’d like, it could be due to several issues. A user-friendly, easy-to-navigate web design and structure is key. So is your web content.
If you’re unsure whether your web content is doing its job, or are developing new content, there are some key considerations to keep in mind. Here’s how to make sure your website content works for you:
Conduct a website audit
If you already have a website, it’s worth conducting a web content audit once or twice a year. Your website is like the front door to your business, so you want to ensure it’s searchable, making a good impression and user-friendly. Our website audit reviews all aspects of your website with fresh eyes, enabling us to identify areas for improvement.
Here’s what we look for and improve:
1. Content value and goals
Your website content should immediately showcase your organization’s value proposition. What makes your business unique from the competition? What are you offering that will help customers or make their lives better, easier, etc? Your value proposition needs to be front and centre so it is never missed.
Understanding your value proposition also means you’ve identified and understand your target audience. Doing so will help you set goals for your content. Here are some questions to ask:
- Who is your target audience?
- How can you reach them?
- What are you trying to achieve with web visitors?
- Are you trying to solve a problem?
- What do you want people to know about your products or services?
- How do you stand out from your competitors?
- What are you passionate about?
- How can website visitors take the next step (call to action)?
When we can answer these questions, we can review website content and make suggestions that will help you reach your goals.
2. Grammatical and technical errors.
First, we ensure your content is well-written, grammatically correct, typo-free and error-free. Then, we check for technical errors. Are all links going where they should go? Are your web forms up to date, with entry notifications being sent to the correct email address? Is there anything wrong with backend coding, plugins or themes?
These errors can diminish your brand reputation and authority, and make the website difficult to use, which brings us to our next point.
3. Consider the user experience (UX)
If users are not having an easy and positive experience on your website, they’ll give up quickly. We ensure your website is easy to navigate and all information is easy to find. In addition, we’ll ensure page load speed and website performance are optimized, as nothing deters potential visitors more than a slow website.
4. Keep it short, sweet and get to the point.
This ties into improving UX. No one is going to read a wall of text on your website. Each webpage should be straightforward, clearly offering the relevant information a user is seeking, while showcasing your value proposition and providing easy-to-find calls to action.
While you want to fill your web pages to help with E-E-A-T, SEO (we’ll cover these soon), and UX, you can still do so without overwhelming visitors. Ensure your web content is scannable by using subheadings, content boxes, and multiple CTAs.
5. Consistent brand voice
Another aspect we look for while auditing website content is ensuring that your “voice” is consistent throughout the website and other communications and marketing materials. Finding your brand voice can be challenging, but we can help you get started.
For example, you can examine your target audience and determine the type of voice that would best resonate with them. Then, think about your company’s culture and personality. You want to blend the two, and then decide how you want to express that voice. Is it casual and funny, serious and formal, witty and clever? Decide on a brand tone that feels natural to you and your customers.
6. E-E-A-T Framework
Language that is clear, concise and showcases Google’s E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness) framework. This is how the search engine evaluates the quality of your content to determine its credibility and whether or not it should produce your website in a user’s search results.
E-E-A-T is becoming increasingly important, as it really impacts how the algorithms rank websites. Plus, writing content that meets this framework naturally provides more accurate, reliable and informative content. In turn, this boosts the user’s experience and establishes your brand as an industry expert they can trust.
7. Search engine optimization (SEO)
SEO best practices are constantly evolving, so it’s essential to stay current with the latest best practices and apply them to your website content. While keyword stuffing is definitely an outdated no-go, you can still be thoughtful and use keywords that are relevant to your topic. There are also other SEO practices that can help you rank higher on search results, including:
- Considering E-E-A-T as discussed
- Using internal and external links
- Using metadata like titles, descriptions and tags
- Using images with relevant alt text
- Ensuring your website has good readability
Learn more about search engine optimization.
Want to improve your website content? Contact us!
A well-designed and well-written website is essential for any business, especially in today’s digital age. If you’re worried your website content isn’t working best for your business, reach out to Circlewood Creative! We offer comprehensive website content audit services to help you attract and engage with web users and potential customers.
Here’s what a recent client had to say about the service:
I had such a great experience working with Circlewood Creative! They helped me with a full website content review, making sure everything was complete and easy to navigate. They also optimized my content for SEO and readability, and even added a blog so I can keep things fresh moving forward. They did a thorough web audit!
The process was efficient, transparent and totally stress-free! They answered all of my questions, worked quickly, and were incredibly easy to collaborate with. I believe this work has definitely increased the traffic to our site. I’m impressed with the results and highly recommend Circlewood Creative to anyone needing this type of support!
River City Kayaking Adventures
