When done correctly, content marketing is one of the primary drivers of organic traffic and conversions. An effective digital content strategy can elevate brand awareness, increase website visits, boost social media engagement, and, most importantly, nurture customers.
But with that, 90.63 percent of content generates no traffic from Google. To put this figure into context, only 9.73 percent of all content is converted. SEMrush’s 2023 Global State of Content Marketing report found the most successful content creators have some traits in common. Here’s a rundown of what’s on their roadmap:
- 77 percent will increase their content budgets in 2023.
- 70 percent measure the ROI of their content marketing efforts.
- 61 percent run audits of their content at least twice a year.
- 55 percent create and publish content more frequently than other brands.
- 53 percent focus on improving the quality of their content.
- 47 percent research their target audience to help inform the content.
- 46 percent use SEO to boost their overall content ranking.
- 42 percent update existing content to optimize its marketing value.
- 41 percent analyze the content strategies of their competitors.
- 40 percent enhance their content with video or visual media.
- 37 percent utilize research or data points to give the content credibility.
In other words, these marketers and creators have a clear, actionable plan. And if your content isn’t delivering those same results, it’s time to formulate a new strategy.
Digital Content Strategies That Will Convert
There’s no one way to be successful when it comes to content, but our experts at 10x Digital have learned a few things. Follow the tactics below to start crafting content that’ll grab consumers’ attention and inspire them to take action:
1. Focus on Relevant and Searchable Topics
This might seem obvious, but if you want more users to consume your content, write about topics they’re interested in. This will require some front-end research, but that time and effort are worth the payoff. In fact, Google’s most recent algorithm update ranks “helpful content” highest in the SERP.
So, before typing a headline, think of the target audience and what they want to hear. What demographics? Do they prefer information or entertainment? If a topic isn’t relevant to the audience, they won’t seek it out.
2. Include Backlinks to High-Authority Sites
In case you’re unfamiliar, backlinks are URLs that connect a piece of anchor text in your content to an external page on another site. Backlinks help boost your content’s credibility and encourage visits between your website and the reference page. But not all backlinks are created equal.
A recent survey indicates that 56 percent of marketers agree that quality and quantity matter regarding backlinks—but quality has the edge. Select backlinks from high-authority sites with a domain rating score above 70. This tells Google the links you’ve featured are relevant, authentic, trustworthy, and logical within the context of your piece (i.e., not spam).
3. Prioritize the Use of Multimedia Elements
If you limit your digital content strategy to articles or blog posts, you could take advantage of significant ROI potential. The 2023 State of Video Marketing report from Wyzowl shows that 95 percent of content marketers feel video helps increase brand awareness, and 91 percent feel it generates more website traffic. Video is an excellent medium to evoke consumer interaction, but you can also experiment with other audiovisuals—the idea is to get creative.
4. Don’t Overlook On-Page SEO
Google can’t rank a piece of content in the SERP if its algorithm can’t find the content. It makes no difference how compelling the subject is, how well the copy is written, or how strategically placed the backlinks and visuals are. If you fail to index the content page, search engine crawlers won’t be able to locate it—and your content creation efforts will be lost in the shuffle. Indexing is a form of technical on-page SEO in which you optimize the content’s metadata (tags, titles, subheads, image/video captions, etc.) for searchability. It’s not enough to toss a few keywords into the post itself. You need to ensure that Google can see, crawl, store, and ultimately rank all the content you publish.
5. Showcase the Human Side of Your Brand
Brands often hesitate to infuse personality into their content—which is disappointing! Instead of feeling unique and fresh, content without a human touch can appear bland or generic. Consumers don’t want to interact with a video, blog, or social media post that seems more robotic than relatable. They want to resonate with the voices, stories, values, and nuances that set your brand apart.
When the target audience can sense who you are through the content you produce, it forms a strong emotional connection. Research shows that brand personality can influence high levels of consumer trust. So have fun, be authentic, and let your content reflect this.
An Effective Digital Content Strategy Is Within Reach
If you want to build a more profitable digital content strategy that will rake in conversions, our team of specialists at 10xDigital is here for you. We’ll formulate a content marketing plan with ROI potential that you can see and measure firsthand. Contact our team today, and let’s work together to produce quality, actionable content that converts.