Building a successful website takes time — a resource that most small to mid-sized business (SMB) owners lack. For someone busy sourcing materials, trying to improve margins, prove their business model & refine their product, writing a hefty blogpost might seem unreasonable. However, such posts bring real benefits to your business.
How is it possible to enhance your company’s web presence if you don’t have the time? Simple — round up freelancers to optimize your website and create content. Freelance writers, designers, consultants — there are more of them than ever before, and they’re at your fingertips. After exploring why it’s so important to have a great content, I’ll discuss a three-step process for using freelancers so you can hone your website into a finely-tuned machine.
The Value of Great Content
1. It enhances user experience
When I enter a website and don’t get what I want within a few seconds, I leave. I’m not alone either — that’s the nature of the internet. If I need to answer a question or wish to buy a product, there’s a website somewhere that will help me get what I want quickly. It’s not necessary to waste time on vague content or shoddy pages.
The best business websites on the internet:
- Are easy to navigate
- Resolve a problem (answer a question, provide a service or product)
- Naturally move customers from content to points of sale
Great content helps facilitate all of this. It efficiently leads users to what they want, and then encourages them to check out other pages on the same domain — with the goal of eventually guiding them to the checkout counter. If they don’t buy anything the first time, that’s fine too! If your site is optimized to be user friendly, they will be back. Sales will come eventually (if they don’t though, it would be good to invest some time improving your conversion rate .)
2. It will improve your search ranking
If you can consistently provide relevant content to your readers, you will make dividends. Not only will this improve your sales margins and promote brand loyalty, it will also improve your search ranking, which means more potential customers.
Your website’s search ranking is determined by a variety of factors, and in the eyes of Google, content quality is the key one . Google’s algorithms do their best to objectively rate every indexed page of the internet, and if your content is great (unique, well-written, visually attractive, useful) then your site should rank well. You will also need positive feedback in the form of clicks, social media shares, and links back to your website to get your pages to the very top, but none of that is possible without good content.
Optimizing your Company Website: Three Steps
Step 1. Get a Freelancer to Do Competitor Research
Even if your website is unrefined or non-existent, there’s still plenty of time to right the ship. Just like during your school days, it all begins with research. Finding out what your competitors are doing well, as well as what they are doing poorly, is a good way to begin.
Investigating your competition thoroughly can be a large time commitment, so it’s perfectly fine to pay a freelancer to do it for you. An experienced freelancer will help you compare the landing pages and applications of high ranking competitors, take screenshots, give suggestions/advice, and give you a comprehensive report afterward. Once you have an idea of how things stand in your business niche, it will be easier to decide how you want to build your website. If you’re determined to do the research yourself, make sure you understand what information to target so you can avoid wasting time.
Step 2. Find a Freelance Designer to Make Your Website User Friendly
Having a user-friendly site is great because it allows readers to comfortably navigate your products and content. More importantly though, it helps turn web-surfers into paying customers so you can make money. If you’re equipped with knowledge about your competitors, you’re in a good position to work with a freelance designer and architect a successful website.
One way to achieve this is to create sales funnels that direct traffic toward points of sale. A freelance designer can help you do this so your readers aren’t aimlessly wandering around your site. They can also help you build landing pages, put together infographics with valuable industry statistics or trends, and in general can help make your website design attractive for users — encouraging customers to return and interact with your content.
Step 3. Hire Content Writers to Beef Up Your Site
You’ve learned what your competitors are doing right and wrong, and also helped construct an easily navigable website; now it’s time to build up your content. Thankfully, there are freelance writers out there willing to make it happen. One convenient way to find them is to draw from a pre-vetted pool of content writers for hire . Or you could post a job advertisement if you have time to let freelancers come to you (there are many out there looking for work).
Whichever route you go, remember that the quality and relevance of what they produce is essential. Posts should be:
- Informative & free of grammar/spelling errors
- Include actionable tips for the reader
- Link to other helpful pages of your website to reduce the bounce rate
- Built with Search Engine Optimization (SEO) in mind
These freelance writers can help you compose key pieces regarding your product or service, blog for you and maintain a flow of quality content tailored to your business, plus they can become experts in your product over time. Such relationships are a cornerstone for maintaining a successful, well-trafficked website.
Conclusion
The world-wide web is the largest marketplace in history. With over one billion live websites on the internet as of 2017 (or one per every seven people on the planet), it’s clear that a company that thrives online will make some serious money. On the other hand, a company with a sloppy, out-of-date website is severely limiting its potential for growth and profit. Whether you’re in the early stages of planning or just need to boost your traffic, freelancers can help you along the way.
Bio:
Geoff Scott is an editor & community manager at FreelanceWriting.com , where he helps foster a positive environment for writers and the people interested in their services. When he isn’t plugging away at his keyboard and consuming copious amounts of caffeine, you can find him riding his bicycle around town, enjoying a concert or eating spicy food.
