Creating Website Content

As the year winds down and you begin planning for 2022, resolve to improve your commitment to use your website to your advantage. This doesn’t mean you have to run out and create a new website or redo your existing website. Rather, spend time reviewing the content on your website and generate new ideas on how to keep it timely, fresh and aligned with your SEO goals.

Does your website clearly communicate what you want your customers or prospects to know? Does it describe the services that you offer, why they are valuable to the home or business owner and why your company is the best choice to solve the issue or challenge?

You don’t have to spend hours pondering what to write to keep your website updated or spend thousands of dollars on social media to earn likes and impressions. You just need a plan and a consistent approach.

Start With the Little Things.

Most businesses get questions from their customers and prospects daily. Whether it’s via text, email, phone or social media, if one or more customers are asking a question, there are a lot more people out there with the same question.

Quick sidebar: If you do have text, email, phone and social media set up to receive questions, be sure to monitor those sites daily. You can do a lot of damage to your company’s reputation if you don’t respond to questions and comments in a timely fashion. Set a policy that someone from your company will respond by end of business that day or the following morning.

The questions being asked provide the fuel to drive updates to your website and social media content. Remember your social media presence and website content go hand in hand. When searching for an answer to a question, most people search Google or social media for an answer or recommendation.

You can boost traffic on social media and your website by creating content to answer the most asked questions. People will see your compelling post on social media and then click through to your website to get the answers they are looking for and then take action to solve their problem.

Three-Step Case Study.

This summer’s armyworm outbreak hit much of the United States, with lawns suddenly appearing brown, dying or dead. The outbreak happened virtually overnight, leaving homeowners and property managers wondering what was going on.

Sharing timely and accurate information with customers was essential to dispel myths and get needed information in customers’ hands. Here’s an example of a rapid response plan to communicate with your customers.

Remember that your social media content and your website content go hand in hand. Provide answers to your customers’ most frequent questions.

Step One – Identify what’s going on and how widespread the problem is. Determine that it is armyworm, which grass types it impacts and produce a treatment plan and timing for the solution.

Step Two – Once the problem is identified, write a short explanation that explains what it is, why it’s happening, what it does to the grass and what the recommended treatment plan is.

Step Three – Share the story on your website, social media and consider leaving voicemail messages on your customers’ phones. These actions show your concern as well as your expertise to solve the problem.

Once the story appears on your website, create a short social media post — one or two sentences — with a picture that links back to your website for the full story. The social media post will serve as a lead generator.

Your social posts should be conversational. They should answer the questions your customers are asking and what’s being discussed when you’re in the grocery story, your child’s sporting event or when you’re out for coffee. Social media is just that — social — and it notices what people are talking about.

When writing for your audience, don’t get too technical or be tempted to exaggerate the problem to scare them into acting. Remember you’re the expert on the sharing your knowledge and describing your company’s ability to solve the problem.

Your website posts don’t need to be long. Try for 500 words per post and use subheads and bullet point lists where it makes sense.

Developing the habit of viewing your company’s website as a vehicle to share timely news, information or interesting facts. It will soon result in a more conversational communication tool to stay in touch with your customers and generate new prospects.

Cream of the Crop features a rotating panel from the Harvest Group, a landscape business consulting company.