Online content isn’t just some tactic to help grow your business.

Content is what attracts people to the web in the first place. It’s the stuff we seek to learn, be entertained, engage one another, and so on. Content comes in all kinds of formats and types—and as long as you’re creating it, you’ll benefit from it.

Why is content so important for your business success? Keep reading to find out.

Establish and Leverage Your Expertise

Gaining market share is hard both as a fledgling and established business.

Not only do you need to get a customer’s attention but you need to keep it. At any moment they could choose to use an established brand. In an instant, they could question your authenticity and value proposition.

Through online content, you can:

• Establish yourself as a thought leader with knowledge
• Capture attention by covering in-demand topics
• Convince and convert interested parties with information

Online content is your brand’s voice and your business blog its platform.

Helpfulness is one of the easiest ways to get people to like you. Your content could offer that helpfulness. This interaction gives the brand a positive image. And, as one could guess, this image helps sell products and services.

Continue being helpful (by way of content) and you’ll craft a strong brand. And that’s how you gain market share through content.

Improve Site Traffic and Web Presence

Several studies found that long-form content generally ranked first on Google.

The magic number for content length is about 2,000 words. This is long enough to cover a topic thoroughly while also having a sense of value because it’s so beefy.

Why aim for longer content pieces? It’s about the:

• Keywords
• Media elements
• Perceived value

Longer content touches on more sub-topics within a topic. When you do this, you’re injecting the piece with more secondary and long-tail keywords. The content then ranks for all these other keywords and phrases.

Longer pieces often include more media elements. These elements add engagement to the piece. Media also gets index and helps your content get found.

There’s a psychological aspect to it all too. People enjoy sharing great, valuable content. An in-depth tutorial, news piece, or listicle is something you’d put out on social media. It’s also something other content creators will link to—meaning strong backlinks that’ll boost your rankings!

Fuel Your Social Media Efforts

A strong business social media presence involves a lot of engagement. This means an ample mix of content sharing and communications. In doing so, you’ll build the brand identity and presence on social platforms.

Here’s the thing: You’re sending people away if you’re sharing other people’s content.

There’s a value to being a great content curator. But, you’ve got a business to run, and that relies on sales. Driving people away to some other site derails any chance you had at funneling them to your offers.

What do you do?

• Create as much content as you can to fuel your social media shares
• Share other’s content that is aligned with you (or your partners)

You could share community content (more on this next) too. Basically, you’re aiming to create a content “ecosystem” that’ll keep audiences locked into the brand.

Build and Engage a Passionate Community

A fun, effective way to leverage online content is through community engagement.

There are lots of ways to encourage user-generated content:

• Contests, promotions, and giveaways
• Accepting guest posts and media
• Interviews and roundtable discussions

In effect, you’re providing a platform for your community. It’s a place where they can share their passion for your products and services. They’ll feel compelled to contribute and be someone important within it.

People want to be a part of something bigger than themselves. Creating a community around your brand gives them this opportunity. Content, with socials mixed in, is that driving force for engagement.

The stream of community-created content presents all the benefits in this post.

Get Feedback and Learn New Things

The comment section of your blog doesn’t deserve neglect.

A passionate community is vocal. They’ll take to the comment section to talk about the topic or pinpoint where you’re wrong. This is, actually, a really great thing because it’s a learning opportunity for you and the team!

Feedback can come from what people are saying about the content on social, too. What can you learn from content feedback?

• Better ways to explain a topic
• New uses for old products
• Struggles and barriers users face

Think of their feedback as more thorough, in-depth reviews. You never know! Some new product or service ideas may stem from the interactions you have in the comment section or social platforms.

Educate Your Team and Boost Customer Service

Content isn’t only for the benefit of Web users and customers. Content is valuable for your team, too!

Guides are a great way to educate users about how your product works. It also functions as a tutorial for team members who can then use that info when servicing clients.

Think of your blog as the employee training backend—but open to everyone.

You can “scratch the itch” from topics brought up by your team. This answers their questions while also acting as content for the community. A double win!

Open information means customers are well-educated. The same goes for your team members. This creates fewer friction points and greater customer satisfaction. It also means less time dealing with issues so you can focus on the things that matter.

Amplify Your Business With Online Content

If you learn anything from this article, it’s this: Content is a pillar in growing successful businesses online.

Online content is why we use the web. It’s why we’re active on social media. It’s what attracts us to businesses and brands.

See what you can do in-house by tapping into your expertise and knowledge. Get your team on-board, too, by having them brainstorm and create topics. And, leverage content services to fill those gaps in your content marketing strategy.

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