“Content” is one of the biggest buzzwords in the online marketing world. No matter what aspect of digital marketing you’re working on, it always seems like content has something to do with it. And it’s true, content is arguably one of the greatest influencers of success in your online marketing campaigns. We could write countless blog posts about why content is important. Instead, we’re going to focus on one particularly essential aspect of online content: Consistency. Consistency is a tenet of creating great content, and often marks the difference between a mediocre content strategy and an excellent one. But why? In this article, we’ll show you exactly why consistent content is so important in online marketing.
DEFINING CONSISTENCY
Before we start, it’s important to have a solid understanding of the term “consistency.” Your content can be consistent in two main ways – quality and frequency. In terms of your online marketing success, both are equally important. The quality of your content is important for obvious reasons. Low-quality content just doesn’t get any traction. As an online marketer, you have to remember that your customers are spoiled with choices. No matter how niche your industry or target audience might seem, you’re likely not the only company offering a particular product/service online. The same goes for content. Just imagine how much content a single Google search generates, or how many ads people see on their social feeds every day. If your content is of a lower quality, it’ll soon fade into the background and be forgotten by the masses. And just like the quality of your content is important, so is the rate at which you create it.
Let’s be honest, no one is going to remember you for a piece of content they read 6 months ago, especially not in today’s online environment. Just like poor-quality content quickly fades, old content eventually does the same for brand awareness. It can also have an effect on Google ranking. While old content can still draw traffic from searches, and do it well, Google likes to see websites publish content on a regular basis. It sends a message that your site is maintained and updated regularly, thus more likely to be relevant. For Google, this means better rankings for your site.
5 BIG REASONS WHY CONSISTENT CONTENT IS SO IMPORTANT
Today’s online climate has forever changed the way we consume information. With 24hr news cycles and constantly updated social feeds, we’ve become constant consumers of all kinds of content. Unfortunately, that means companies like yours now have to work extra hard to get the message heard and make it stick. Below are 5 reasons why consistent content is extremely important to your online marketing success.
1: IT BUILDS AUTHORITY AND TRUST
One of the main reasons consistent content is so important is because it helps boost the authority of your company. It does so in two major ways: First of all, it helps increase your site’s domain authority. Domain authority is a calculated metric designed to give an idea of how likely a site or web page is to rank for a specific search term. Sites with plenty of fresh, high-quality content have been shown to develop better domain authority than sites that don’t. This boils down to the impact content has on search engine optimization (SEO), which we’ll explore in greater detail in point 4 of this article.
Secondly, consistent content helps build authority with your customers. Consistent content like in-depth ebooks or blog articles, for example, highlight the fact that you know and understand your industry. By frequently producing effective content tailored to your industry and niche, you help portray your company as an industry expert. Over time, your audience will naturally begin to rely on your company as a trustworthy source of information for its respective niche.
2: IT BUILDS BRAND AWARENESS
The way we consume information has completely changed over the last decade. For a long time, marketing was governed by one-way communication from a brand or company directly to the consumer. Today, with the rise of social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, consumers have come to play an active role in the spread of information. Hence, it’s not hard to see why online companies are taking to these social channels with the hope of garnering their content some traction. From web copy and blog articles to promotional videos, companies are disseminating their content in online social environments in hopes of engaging their customers. And when they manage to do so, the results can be impressive. Top-shelf content can really go the distance online, strengthening your brand’s image and getting the word out about your products and services. In the long-run, this can help your company draw in more leads and conversions.
3: IT GENERATES LEADS
Online content provides companies with new ways to reach out and interact with their customers. By consistently publishing above-average content, you increase your chances of connecting with potential customers in the future. Some great examples of content that help generate leads include white papers, email newsletters, and blog articles. Sharing this content gives you unique opportunities to reach out to both existing customers and new ones. Depending on how you use this opportunity, you can potentially turn a piece of content into an important lead generation tool.
4: IT IMPROVES SEO
Search engines are at the heart of everything we do online. Whether you’re shopping for a new pair of shoes or looking for something to do after work, chances are you’re using Google or a similar search engine to get answers. Hence, it’s extremely important that your business ranks well in search. Unfortunately, the SEO landscape is forever changing. Every new search algorithm brings new hurdles for your SEO team to overcome. Consistent content, however, has been at the heart of the SEO equation for a long time now. And chances are, it’s here to stay.
At its core, the goal of SEO is to tell search engines like Google what keywords your site is related to. Both the quality and frequency of your content can tell search algorithms a lot about your relevance for a specific search term or keyword. If your content is extremely relevant to a search query (in other words, it’s high-quality), it’ll likely attract a lot of traffic, boast low bounce rates, and encourage a lot of engagement (like comments and shares, for example). Search engines like Google look for these kind of metrics as signs that content is relevant to a specific search query; they analyse the frequency of your content in much the same way. Frequent content tells search engines that a specific site is well-maintained, encouraging them to rank it higher than sites that publish less consistently.
5: IT GENERATES TRAFFIC
Finally, one of the main reasons consistent content is so important in online marketing is because it attracts traffic. All of the points we’ve discussed above help generate traffic for your site. Increased brand awareness and authority encourage users to seek out your site for high-quality, industry-specific content. Meanwhile, increased leads and improved SEO help boost your online presence and sticking power, ultimately directing more users to your website in the future. And who’s going to complain about extra web traffic?
HOW TO CREATE CONSISTENT CONTENT
So, we’ve made it clear why consistent content is a key ingredient to successful online marketing. But how can you make sure you’re creating enough quality content to reap these benefits? Consider some of the following tips and follow our blog for more advice on creating content in the future:
- Start a blog: In-depth blog articles featuring interviews, infographics, and other high-value information can generate a lot of traction online.
- Start an email newsletter: Whoever told you email is dead doesn’t know what they’re talking about. Well-crafted email newsletters can serve as a great platform for showing off your latest content.
- Be active on social: Let’s face it, sites like Facebook and Twitter are some of the most active parts of the internet. Make sure you leverage these platforms to share your content.
- Gather plenty of data: As an online business, you have hundreds of analytics tools at your disposal. Make sure to leverage these tools to find out more about your audience and create targeted content for them.
- Do plenty of testing: Don’t ever assume to know what your audience wants. Instead, make sure you test all aspects of your content and run with the strategies that generate the best results.
- Create a content strategy: Everybody has their own approach to content. Whatever yours is, don’t let it be “I’ll publish something when I can.” If you’re serious about improving your online presence, create a detailed content strategy and dedicate enough resources to it.
- Don’t be afraid to change: The world of online marketing is anything but stagnant. While it’s vital that your content strategy has a clear focus, don’t be afraid to change that focus when need be.
