7 Dos and Don'ts When Creating Website Content

So you've finally set up a website for your small business and you're ready to start attracting clients and customers. But where are they? How do you move yourself up the search engine ranks so they can find you?

You need to start creating website content.

Website content is how you boost your SEO. It's a part of any good small business marketing strategy, and it's easy to start! We're here to talk about a few "dos" and "don'ts" that can get you on the right track toward creating great content.

Read on to learn more.

1. Do: Keep It Simple

Many people who love writing or are used to writing complicated papers in college often try to use those writing skills when they're creating content. Unfortunately, this isn't going to be an effective strategy.

Most people don't want to read complicated articles full of professional jargon. Unless you're exclusively writing for other people in your field, your goal should be to make your website content as accessible as possible. That means that you have to keep it simple.

Use short sentences and avoid any unnecessarily complicated words. Aim to keep your content at a middle-school reading level.

Remember that most people are just searching for an answer to a question when they look at your website content, so they don't want to parse through a wall of dense text.

2. Don't: Be Repetitive

When you're publishing content for your industry, it's inevitable that you're going to have some similar posts. After all, it's likely that you only have a small pool of topics to choose from. With that in mind, you should still try your best to diversify as much as possible.

When you post too much identical content, you're going to make your website less valuable for potential viewers. Why would they look at your new blogs when your old identical ones are just as good.

You can, however, repurpose content. Link to old content from new content. Use your content to make videos or social media posts, or include it in your newsletters.

3. Do: Use Valuable Keywords

Do you know how to do keyword research?

Your keywords are going to help you with SEO optimization. Keywords are how search engines find your content to show it to people inputting queries.

Make sure that you know the right keywords to use for your niche. You want to use a combination of niche and broad keywords (as well as local keywords if you own a brick-and-mortar business for a local audience).

For example, let's say that you run a hair salon in Detroit. You'd use keywords like: "hair salon," "hair salon services," "hair care," "dyeing hair," and so on for your basic and niche keywords.

Then you'd move on to local keywords, like: "hair salon in Detroit" and "Detroit hair salon."

This way, people in your local area who are searching for things like "Hair salon near me" will have an easier time finding your website.

4. Don't: Keyword Stuff

This might seem confusing, but stick with us here. While you do want to use keywords, you don't want to over-use keywords.

Keyword stuffing is when someone tries to fill their content with keywords even when they won't fit naturally. This makes the content look cluttered and unprofessional, and it might also harm your SEO value.

Some people also hide irrelevant (but popular) keywords in meta descriptions or in the content itself by typing them in white font with a white background. This is an attempt to "game the system."

Google doesn't like it when you do that, so they'll penalize your site. It's not worth the trouble.

When you have a lot of keywords to use, be tactful about it. Make sure that they all flow naturally. It's a good idea to read it out loud to yourself to make sure that it sounds right.

5. Do: Include a Call to Action

Including a call to action (CTA) is crucial when you're creating website content. Even if you've created the best blog post with the most helpful information, it's possible that readers won't utilize your services after reading! While this is always going to be a possibility, you'll have better chances if you include a CTA.

A CTA goes at the end of your content. It tells the reader what you want them to do. Most of the time, CTAs instruct readers to make appointments, purchase products, or contact the business.

Make sure that the CTA has a convenient link that readers can click so they don't have to go searching through your website for your products or services.

6. Don't: Skip Editing

It makes sense that you'd want to churn out content quickly, but unless you're a savvy writer, you're putting yourself at risk of making serious mistakes.

When you write a new piece of content, you want to come off as an industry professional (because you are one). You're trying to make yourself more trustworthy so people will want to use your services.

When you publish a piece of content that's full of errors, you're displaying poor professionalism.

Instead, give yourself time to edit. Take a few hours away from your content before you hit the "publish" button so you can revise it with fresh eyes. You may discover that you missed something important!

7. Do: Hire a Professional to Help

As a busy small business owner, you don't have a lot of free time on your hands, right? You're trying to devote time to your marketing strategies, but you also have to manage your team, make sure that your services are top-notch, and so much more.

It's in your best interest to hire professionals to help you. Whether they're writing, editing, or helping with your overall plan to increase website traffic, they can be a huge asset.