When Good Content Goes Bad

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Most companies have good content – information that could make prospects want to learn more about their products or services -- if only they had access to it. Unfortunately, most of it dies a slow death in the literature closet. Here’s why:

• Prospects can’t find it – Traditionally, companies create marketing and sales materials in print. To recoup their marketing investment in whitepapers, data sheets, and case studies, companies must re-purpose and edit these tools into electronic form for website posting. This same content, when turned into informative video slide shows and posted to YouTube, can also bring prospects to the company website at little or no cost. 
• Search engines ignore it -- Even when published on the company website, most content does not score high enough in search engines to be easily found. Unless the content is keyword optimized and a concerted effort is made to push it to search engines, blog directories, and social media, there is little chance that interested prospects will ever see it.
• It is too much, too soon – In today’s world of “short attention span theater”, few people will plod through a 25 page white paper. However, when the same document is edited into a series of bite-sized, informative blogs, interested prospects often gladly request the full document in exchange their contact information. And of course, even the complete document should be edited and shortened to make key points without losing the attention of the reader.
• It is a tough read – Ideally, the reading level of most web content should score at the secondary school level. On the Web, a tedious read almost guarantees that you will lose the reader before you’ve made your point. As in most writing, simple language and short sentences move the reader quickly through complex ideas to your conclusion or call to action. When “difficult” content is repurposed into short, easy to follow text, it is easier for the reader to both understand the message and appreciate the author's subject matter expertise.

To generate inquiries and sales, content has to be search engine friendly. The key to getting it in front of potential customers is to repurpose it into informative blogs, white papers, and “how-to” articles and videos – then optimize it for search engine discovery. When done correctly, it makes it easy for interested prospects to find you.

Are you struggling to convert your sales and marketing materials into web-friendly "good content"?

If so, Leadsource can do the work for you by interviewing your subject matter experts -- and re-purposing your existing content -- into informative content that prospects are looking for. To find out how easy (and inexpensive) it can be, contact us at sales@leadsource.com, or call us at 412.922.6415.