Why Content is Important: Even Today
Remember back in 2010 when Google made a playable Pac-Man doodle? The average homepage visitor spent an extra 36 seconds playing the game — a quick distraction that might seem like harmless fun. But according to a study by RescueTime, those 36 seconds, multiplied by everyone who visited, added up to more than 4.8 million man-hours wasted on Pac-Man.
The point is, there’s an enormous number of people — and an absurd amount of content — on the internet. On WordPress alone, 70 million new posts and 77 million new comments are posted every month. 409 million visitors view more than 20 billion pages each month. Competing for attention in this environment seems impossible, and yet content marketing is thriving — so why is that?
At first glance, this is a very puzzling question, indeed. Today’s adults are reading for an average of only 20 minutes per day, and what they do read comes mostly in short pieces online. So why would these people take any interest in your content? The reality is that it’s not likely that many people will read through all of your blog posts, but that doesn’t minimize the importance of the content’s presence online.
Instead of focusing on how many people are actually scouring your website for great content, you should take the time to understand the value of developing blog posts, pillar posts, and case studies on a regular basis. Here are five reasons why you need to create a content marketing strategy, even when no one’s paying close attention to your stuff.
1. Content is Great for SEO
Marketing today relies on search engine optimization (SEO), and there’s no greater tool for improving SEO than a business blog. Each blog post that is created presents a fresh opportunity to make use of keywords and phrases that will boost your relevance in search engine results. Of course, the content must be informative, useful, and not overly “stuffed” with these keywords, lest you be negatively targeted by web crawlers.
2. Consumers Expect It
Content marketing has become a staple, and people just tend to expect reputable businesses to maintain an active blog. When a consumer arrives on your website, they may take a glance at the content that you have to offer. If your last blog post was fairly recent, they will feel confident that your company is up-to-date and on top of things.
If your blog has not been updated in a long while, on the other hand, they may begin to wonder how much you really pay attention to the latest news within your industry or whether you really care about connecting with your audience.
3. Inbound Marketing and Lead Tracking Rely on Content
Your content is what draws people in and directs them to your landing pages. Here, you’re able to offer something of value to your readers in exchange for their basic contact information. Businesses that aren’t regularly developing content are missing out on opportunities to generate leads and track their interactions within a website.
4. Content Goes Hand-in-Hand with Social Media
Social media is a must for businesses that want to connect with their target audiences. When new content is posted to your blog, a post can be generated across all of your active social media platforms, making it easier for you to maintain your social presence.
Your social presence is the best tool you have for interacting with your customers. Your brand has a personality — a combination of the image you put out into the world and the perception people have of you — and your customers want to have conversations with that personality. Social media is how they have those conversations and, more importantly, it’s how you converse back.
5. Content Keeps You Current
Developing topics, keywords, and titles for your blog posts helps you and your readers to stay abreast of the latest trends and changes within your industry. In fact, it’s almost impossible to search for relevant blog content for your own site without learning something new.
After all, you made it to our site and read (most of) this article. That means that our content marketing strategy worked, at least this time — we wrote relevant content that you wanted to read and we set it up so you can find it. That’s what really matters, and that’s why your content marketing is still important — even if it seems like it’s getting lost in the weeds.
