By now you know that — technical details aside — SEO is not separate from content marketing; it’s an integrated aspect of content marketing.
Optimizing your content for search engines is part of your craft and a skill you can strengthen with practice.
But even when you rank well for search terms your audience uses, the real test is what happens when someone clicks through to your website. As Brian wrote on Monday:
“There’s nothing worse than a quick bounce.”
To avoid a quick bounce, you need to focus on content optimization. Since you don’t want to miss any opportunities to connect with your site visitors, study this list of five common mistakes — and how to fix them.
Mistake #1: Your visitors can’t tell if your content’s right for them
A row of four new houses that all look basically the same were just built on the street where I live. When a real estate agent starts taking potential buyers on tours of the houses, do you know what’s going to happen?
The potential buyers are going to examine the properties and make judgments about the differences they notice.
A woman is going to dislike the filigree on one of the front gates and select the house with the simple brown gate and extra large balconies. A man is going to love the house with the filigree on the front gate. Another woman is going to hate the house with the extra large balconies and prefer the house with additional living room space.
You get the point.
While these houses appear roughly similar from the outside, visitors quickly assess which property is right for them based on their personal preferences.
The same thing happens when people search for information about a topic. The websites that appear at the top of search results for a keyword phrase might all look the same at first, so visitors will quickly inspect your content to see if it contains the qualities that are right for them.
If your special qualities (your proverbial front gate with filigree, large balcony, or spacious living room) aren’t clear, you won’t convince the people you want to attract that you can satisfy their preferences.
How to fix it
Take 15 Minutes to Find Your Winning Difference
When you stop trying to attract everyone, it’s easier to attract those who recognize and appreciate your unique selling proposition (USP).
You’re right for some visitors and your competitors may be right for others. That’s okay.
Mistake #2: Your headlines aren’t specific
The quickest way to a quick bounce is a generic headline that could appear on any other website in your niche.
Typically, these weak headlines fail to offer a benefit, or the benefit could be so vague that it fails to capture the attention of the people who you actually created the content for.
They could also be boring.
How to fix it
Ask Yourself These 3 Simple Questions to Craft Better Headlines
If you immediately communicate details about why your content is helpful, you’ll grab the attention of people who need that kind of help.
Aim to infuse your headlines with the essence of your USP and show your site visitors that you’re a match for them — faster.
Mistake #3: You don’t edit
Plenty of websites have success publishing first-draft content. If rough drafts form a bond with the people you aim to serve … cool.
But if your content isn’t striking a chord with the people you want to attract and develop relationships with, you may need to push yourself further.
How to fix it
Discover Why Content Marketers Need Editors
Rough drafts often fail to effectively convey your messages. They may contain too much information or tangents that distract busy readers and make your content less useful.
Editing is about creating a content experience. Rather than expressing raw thoughts, you craft a thoughtful presentation that helps solve a problem. When you click on the link above, you’ll learn how to think like an editor.
Mistake #4: You don’t give visitors more opportunities to learn
Websites with a lot of content may still look like “brochure” websites if they don’t present a different angle or perspective that makes visitors think, “I like this specific approach to this topic.”
When visitors feel you offer them something they can’t find on other websites, they want to hear more from you and stay connected.
If you don’t anticipate a reader’s desire to learn more, he might bounce to other sites to see if they offer more resources.
How to fix it
Add a Tantalizing Incentive that Will Build Your Email List
Ideally, you want to have so much great content that when visitors land on your site they’re frustrated that they don’t have enough time to consume it all in one sitting.
They’ll have to make a note to come back. Now the question is:
Do they sign up for your email list so they don’t miss any new content?
Make signing up for your email list a no-brainer by providing an incentive that is a perfect match for their needs. Your email list could also offer exclusive content the public doesn’t see.
Visitors will feel like they hit the jackpot that day on their journey.
Mistake #5: You don’t empower visitors to make a purchase
Information is … information. It doesn’t spark the buying process.
If you don’t give visitors a taste of what it’s like to do business with you, you won’t convert prospects to customers.
How to fix it
Educate to Convert Your Prospects
When you convince your website visitors to keep up with everything you publish, you’re able to build the relationships that will build your business. And the right balance of content and copy helps your prospects imagine what it’s like to buy from you.
Demonstrate why your product or service will give them the transformation they desire.
Optimize your content to grow your audience
Here’s a suggestion:
Assign each of the mistakes above to a day next week, Monday through Friday, and spend a couple hours each day identifying where you might make those errors and how you can fix them. By the end of the week, you’ll have a wealth of new ideas about how you can improve going forward.
What’s your process for producing exceptional content that impresses your website visitors? In the comments below, let us know how you stand out.
![[08] 10 Goals that Make Content Marketing Meaningful](../../rainmaker.fm/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/sites-008.jpg)
Hey Stefanie, thanks for writing such a useful post. All of these content marketing mistakes, I believe, can be fixed if we write the content keeping our buyer persona in the mind. The more we know our buyer persona, the better our content marketing efforts will be.
Hi Stefanie,
Thanks for posting this. As a content marketer you need to learn to stop shoving your content in your reader’s’ throat and instead give them what they actually want and make it useful to them.
Great post Stephanie! My tip is remove the clutter. It helps visitors to focus on what you want them to do.
*Stefanie! Sorry, as an Editor-in-chief I bet you hate when this spelling is wrong!
It’s a common “mistake.” 😉 No worries, Daniel!
Great post… I had to Google “filigree.”
I like the Google image results for “filigree.”
I’ve found that if I turn my web copy into a 30-second “elevator speech” and test drive it at a few networking events, it evolves. You really have to focus on your core message when you deliver it verbally, especially if delivering anything verbally terrifies you the way it does me.
Great tip, Michael! You can learn a lot when you’re forced to say something succinctly. Even though you have the luxury of writing whatever you want in your content, it doesn’t mean all those extra thoughts are effective.
Hello Stefanie,
Thanks for this awesome and informative post. Crafting a quality post and optimize the content is a tricky part of blogging. Your article will definitely help bloggers like me. Thanks for the post.
The not giving them an opportunity to go further always blows my mind. I saw a great example of how to do this recently. Instead of finishing a blog with a conclusion, she kept writing about a related topic as if it were another paragraph in the content… by the time you had to “click here to read the rest of this blog” you were already hooked on it. Very clever.
Interesting tactic to connect two posts together! I like how (presumably) both posts had to be planned ahead of time to make that work. Thanks for sharing, Dana!
Thanks for a great article, Like many I seem to be spending far too much time on optimisation with very little to show. I’ll take onboard your tips.
An exceptional post, you had me sucked in all the way to the end. Since we don’t have credit card processing to buy homes or to secure sellers, I am conjuring up better ways to grab attention. I am in the process of building my list of buyers, sellers, owners and investors. You provided lots of food for thought. Thanks!