It goes without saying: content is king. Content is how you tell your story online and how you help let your audience know who you are and what your business is about. It’s the way you articulate and explain your brand directly. While the visual elements of your brand provide cues that you can’t put in words, writing states directly who you are and what you’re about.
Writing original content for your business is necessary for communicating with your audience and putting yourself out there. On the other hand, it’s time consuming and can drudge up bad memories of high school English class.
So if you don’t want to do it yourself, we completely understand. If you’re looking for a writing package to purchase though, what kind of writing services do you need? We often receive calls about what type of writing package will work for our clients and the short answer is: it depends on what you need.
This week, we’d thought we’d break down the different writing services we offer. Here’s what we have to offer you.
Blogs
Blogs are an excellent way to keep content fresh on your website. Uploading a blog once a week is your chance to show your site visitors what knowledge you offer, direct them to products, promotions, and other specials, and drive engagement. Plus, Google loves new content; it helps keep your SEO great and moves you up Google’s rankings.
That said, coming up with a new idea per week to write about is no easy task. Your blogs need to be relevant to your business an tell your audience something they need to know from you. Plus, there are other SEO considerations, like keywords, paragraph spacing and headings, that need to be factored in.
Also, there are conventions that go beyond those old high school basics of writing: correct grammar and punctuation are still key, but your blogs should be something people want to read. Snappy sentences. Mix up the flow. Make music with your words that draws audiences in and makes them want the next installment. It doesn’t have to be the next Great American novel, but it shouldn’t feel like you’re reading the phone book either!
Targeted landing pages
Ah, web copy. It’s not as widely discussed as blogs, eblasts, or social media pots, but it’s still the backbone of writing for digital spaces. Web copy articulates your pages’ purposes (about us, meet our team, etc.) and like blogs, each page drives engagement and lets your audience know more about you. Also, like blogs, web pages can be used to increase your SEO, specifically in cities you’re trying to market in but aren’t located in.
Enter targeted landing pages. These are landing pages that are specifically worded to appear in searches for nearby cities where you want to market your products or services. So, for example, if your business is in Novi, you could build landing pages for Plymouth, Farmington, Wixom, or other nearby cities.
This will help you show up when someone from those cities searches for businesses like yours “near them” or in your targeted city. BUT: there’s a catch. All your targeted landing pages must have different wording or Google could take them off their search engine results, costing you the SEO rankings you’re trying to earn. Meaning: it’s not as simple as changing the keywords and plugging in the same verbiage to a bunch of pages. It has to be a little more extensive, or it’s counterproductive.
Content Management
Writing also goes beyond actual writing. Editing and publishing are also key factors of any writing package. While editing and publishing should be included with a blog or targeted landing pages package, sometimes, you need a package that can apply to the writing you need.
For instance, if you need short-form content like eblasts, or if you need someone to edit your blogs for you, you should invest in something more versatile than just ordering a certain number of blogs, eblasts, or landing pages. A basic content management package goes beyond just purchasing blogs or web copy and can be applied to any writing you need it for.
Unlike paying for X number of blogs or Y amount of targeted landing pages, content management is an hourly charge. Although that means more variety for your buck, it also means the time it takes to craft your blogs, eblasts, and more is limited. Therefore, being selective about what you can do and what you want your marketing team to do is critical when working with this system. It’s also why we suggest using a content management system for shorter content like eblasts and short (under 300-400 words) blogs.
No matter how you slice and dice it, content creation can be difficult. That’s why we’re here to craft stellar writing for your business. Call us today and we’ll walk you through our different packages and let you know which one fits your needs.