A Call for Content

Often, potential clients will ask us to build a new website for their company. They are typically unhappy with their current site and ask us to do a "facelift" to create a new and effective look. We take a look, click around and find that the visual elements are not the main concern, it is a lack of messaging and content.

People visit the internet to solve a problem, complete a transaction, learn something, be entertained or get information. All of these tasks involve a search for content. Visitors to a corporate website want to know how the product or service will help them achieve their goals.

Simply updating a website’s look and feel equates to little more than the proverbial ten dollar shine on five dollar shoes. A successful site provides visitors with a consistent and purposeful content experience that asserts brand authority, establishes a relationship with its audience and evokes a response.

“Hmm,” says the client, “how do we do that?”

The answer is content strategy. 

Content strategy plans for the creation, publication, and governance of useful, usable content.

Having a few parameters for generating content and pushing it to the world is the easy part, that’s not a strategy, it’s a tactic. Answering the question of why content is being created, what purpose it will serve and how it gets used forms the foundation of content strategy.

With specific goals and a strategy, we can work with a client to craft content that distinguishes them as a thought leader in their industry. We can outline and answer questions like: Who is the target market? What unique point of view and proprietary knowledge does the client have? How will this content be presented in an engaging manner that builds trust? When and how are things presented over time to keep the site fresh?

Determining and creating content for a new site at the beginning of the process has a number of advantages:

• The site will tell a multifaceted, but cohesive story about your brand and how it’s different.
• Visitors will recognize and follow a clear path throughout the site, leading them towards conversion.
• The site will be viewed as a trusted source for decision making, problem solving and enrichment in your industry or niche.

You want a site that not only looks good, but can accomplish the end goal of increasing awareness and revenue. Developing a site around content allows us to take a real look at information architecture, presentation, SEO and keywords. Armed with a strategy, we can create a beautiful and well-designed site with a purpose.

James Dixson, Principal / CMO at Atomicdust, has experience in all aspects of marketing, with core knowledge in interactive marketing, the world wide web and all things Apple.