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As a company, we aim to achieve our business goals and go above and beyond with as few resources as possible. And content is an integral part of the whole dynamic of the website and client conversions.
In a previous SEO Jokers blog post, we discussed in detail why content is still king and how to produce high-quality content. You can read more on creating unique, high-quality content here.
Producing and creating high-quality content significantly affects your conversion rates and is a deciding factor in improving client relationships. Even if you drive a lot of traffic to a subpar website via paid ads, without quality content on the website, it’s a lot of dollars and missed opportunities.
Another vital advantage to content is improving your search rankings since Google’s algorithms have metrics to find and reward unique quality content.
However, for the content to be most effective, it needs to be appealing, readable, and valuable for the target audience, which brings us to content engagement. It’s a term that most expert marketers and SEO content writers know dearly to heart.
In this blog post, we will cover the nuances of content engagement and how to get the most out of your content efforts to build long-lasting relationships with clients and achieve company goals.
Let’s get started.
Although a broad term, content engagement refers to the actions readers take when interacting with your content. It’s one of those parameters that let you know if your content is relevant to the readers or not.
To put it in simple terms, when the content is interesting, educational, solves problems, or gives readers a positive impression, they are more likely to “engage” with the content by either sharing it, leaving a comment or liking it.
Over time if the content is valuable and entertaining, you can develop a long-lasting & profitable relationship with the customer, and the likelihood of them converting increases significantly.
And that is one of the main reasons why improving your content engagement should be your top priority. Working on it is crucial if it affects the bottom line. The upside is that it’s possible to track how the readers interact with the content and make the necessary adjustments.
However, content engagement typically varies depending on the social media platform, type of content, format, etc. For example, readers usually like, comment, and share the standard Instagram post, while they can also respond to polls on IG stories.
Content engagement works both as a way for us to know that the content is helpful for the reader, so much so that they start a dialogue with the brand, while at the same time giving us a hint that they would like more of the same. On the other hand, there is content engagement on our blog, typically sharing, commenting, and clicking on the links on the post itself.
However, not all forms of engagement would be relevant for you, depending on your business goals.
In any case, the content builds a connection between the business and the user, directly or subconsciously. The more the reader interacts with the business content, they associate the company with the value of the produced content.
That further builds the reader’s trust, loyalty, and overall opinion about the business. It also helps Google’s algorithm know if it should show specific content to the reader. The more they consume our range, the more the algorithm knows to show more like it.
That said, content engagement is critical to our SEO and content strategy to reach the top position on search engines. It also plays a very powerful revolve in the user’s experience and journey on the website.
Utilizing tools and techniques such as interactive marketing is an excellent example of engaging with clients and generating valuable data while positioning the brand for long-term growth.
In summary, to further build a long-lasting relationship with the target audience, we must ensure that the content is engaging, frequent, and entertaining. That should be the top priority for our business, to scale up the customer base.
Constant monitoring of the content strategy is key to maintaining high-quality content that is entertaining and valuable for the readers. Using analytics and data-oriented metrics, we can specify how to optimize the content strategy by starting with new techniques and limiting or removing ineffective ones.
To be able to accomplish this effectively, we must use the right tools that have the capability of collecting data, as well as analyzing it, for example, Google Analytics. Such methods can help you access important user information about their interaction with the content, time-on-page, etc.
Google Analytics is an excellent example since it offers one of the most relevant engagement metrics: The average time on a page. As the name suggests, this metric helps us track how much time the user spends on each page on our website.
The average time on a page is a valuable metric to understand because if the average time on a page is short, it indicates that the content is not engaging enough. You can also compare your best-performing pages (with the highest time on page), analyze, and replicate the success on other pages.
A straightforward way to apply content engagement is by making the content more user-friendly and digestible. For example, we can see an increase in results and average page time for blog posts containing images, videos, infographics, etc., so use that to your advantage.
Apart from the average time on a page, you can use Google Analytics to track another important KPI that, surprisingly, not many people pay attention to, which would be the exit rate on your page.
While there may be many different reasons why the user leaves your website, if the exit rate is too high, that typically indicates that the specific content is not informative, entertaining, or overall engaging.
To determine if your content is engaging, we also have to consider social media. There we can utilize content and track the overall performance of the content through a few different methods.
For example, by using “Insight” on Instagram, we can see the engagement, likes, shares, comments, traffic, etc., per post and over for the entire account. It’s not a stretch to say that less traffic, likes, and words mean that we need to improve the quality of content. As a pro tip: You can also analyze the data and measure per month to track the progress of the content.
The best-performing content types might vary depending on the niche or industry. In any case, measuring the results and tracking them over time is essential to see which content type works best for us and is most engaging for the target audience.
We have compiled a list of the most effective content types that can increase your content engagement significantly and are suitable across various industries and niches.
Videos provide visual, entertaining, and interactive content, and videos help communicate your message in one of the most effective ways possible. It’s almost a perfect combination between motion picture and text, spoken and displayed on the screen.
For example, you can create a how-to, case study, or interview video, but it can also be informative and exciting for the target audience.
One pro tip here would be to try and keep the video up to 3 minutes long, which is just enough for the audience to watch the whole video and engage with it, either by liking, sharing, commenting, or doing the activities that you ask them to.
Another effective way to get your point across in a visual way would be infographics. This content type continuously produces high-quality content engagement through shares and views.
Infographics are powerful because you can convey information in a simple, easy-to-absorb visual format. So powerful that you can use infographics for various content, such as ideas, data, statistics, how-to, etc.
The advantage to using infographics (compared to videos, for example) is the time spent researching and producing the content. It takes fewer hours/days to explore, build the content, design, and publish it than it takes to research, film, edit, and post a video.
You can think of a guide as a standard blog post on steroids. It breaks the standards of the typical length and style we attribute to regular posts. And to build a lengthy and valuable guide for the target audience, we need a great content writer and designer, but all of that is useless if we don’t first build upon the initial idea.
The guide is going to produce the best results if:
For example, if your target audience is car enthusiasts, then a guide for a new car model could be helpful for them, written in a way that would be easily understandable, with designs that match the content.
This content type helps collect email addresses and build long-lasting relationships with your audience by providing something “free” and in-depth.
One of the more unique content types, case studies offer original content by researching a specific topic, which produces information that would be useful for the audience. While typically, case studies include “success stories,” some use case studies to learn how to improve by providing examples of failures.
For example, a web hosting business can provide a case study where their clients have succeeded using step-by-step specific data that can be quantifiable, for example, an increase in traffic, brand awareness, leads, sales, etc.
This content type is a precious source of information that shows the readers how to achieve results by following positive case studies or even learning from the negative ones. Psychologically, the reader can put themselves into the shoes of the case study and learn from it.
The more they read, the more they trust the brand and products/services.
Memes have exploded in popularity on social media and are perfect for conveying a specific type of information, and they don’t require any design skills. We have even used it in a few of our blog post thumbnails because of its effectiveness.
And the best thing about memes is that it applies to almost any niche. If there are popular memes among the target audience, use them to get the point across. Again, psychologically the user might already be familiar with the memes, which puts them in a good mood and even consider the company modern.
However, the frequency of memes should be balanced, just like anything in life. Not too much, not too little. If we overuse them, it might hurt our brand reputation.
Most people compare different products/services and even businesses before deciding to pull the trigger, which is what we can use to our advantage. Although we might seem biased if we compare ourselves to some other brand, doing objective analysis can be pretty effective.
The reader doesn’t have to spend much time searching on Google if it’s all in one format. And this goes back to the fact that the more the user spends time on the website, the likelihood of them converting increases significantly.
Since we’ve covered what content engagement is, how to measure it, and the content types that typically drive the most attention, it’s time to dive deep into the ways of improving it for your business.
“If I only had an hour to chop down a tree, I would spend the first 45 minutes sharpening my axe”. This quote by Abraham Lincoln fits perfectly for almost everything else in life, including our content.
Before starting to write the content, we need to start by answering these questions:
The answer to these questions is the perfect base for your content, marketing, and overall company strategy. It will help you create a marketing process to produce engaging and compelling content.
A target audience is our customer base of potential and current customers, for which the content will be most relevant.
In marketing and business terms, the more we tailor the content/product/service to our target audience, the higher the chance they will convert, increasing our revenue.
The questions that you would need to answer would be:
With a clear and defined target audience, we can shape and build the content accordingly to make it as effective as possible.
The other phrase is IBP (ideal buying persona), a visualized representation of the target audience. It represents insight into our target audience by showing us metrics like age, gender, interests, location, etc.
After understanding the target audience, we can publish effective content that produces results by creating content around the benefits of our services/products. Content like this will build long-lasting relationships and boost conversions.
You can use tools like Google Analytics and other tools to build the target audience and online or in-person surveys, which might require a bit more effort but is worth it in the long run.
More people skim through multiple pieces of content and usually just read the headlines. Although we might overlook it, the headline is the gateway to the content. Because of the headline, in a split second, the client will determine if the content is worth reading or not.
The fact is that writing a good headline is just as crucial as writing engaging content. By simply reading the headline, the target audience should know what benefits they will get from the content.
A pro tip is to find a way to include a sense of urgency within the title, creating a bit of FOMO (fear of missing out). Subconsciously, it lets them know they should read the content now and not put it off for some other time, which increases the time-on-page and conversions in the long run.
Other pro tips are:
A good headline will real readers in, while the content will keep them on your website longer, ad a big part of that is a great introduction.
The pathway started when the target audience saw the content and the headline and decided to click on it. Next, we have to reel the target audience in with a captivating introduction that will build curiosity which continues to the rest of the content.
Most experienced marketing specialists advise adding facts and numbers at the beginning of the content to create that curiosity. Specific data that is related to the content has a natural way of intriguing your audience to read the whole blog post.
Another way to entice your readers is to start with a story that ties in with the content topic. For example, we started the blog post on Quality Score with a story that fits in perfectly with the content topic. Read more about how to improve your Google Ads Quality Score here.
Alternatively, you can start the content with a personalized question that will get the readers to start thinking about the topic. We have also used this content engagement tactic in a blog post about how to choose the perfect domain name for your business. You can learn more about that blog post here.
No matter which route we choose, we must ensure that we give the users enough information at the start of the content to pique their interest and get them to continue reading. However, providing too much or all of the valuable information at the beginning will likely result in a decreased time on the page and a higher exit rate. So, balance is critical here.
Recent history has shown that having a face of the brand tends to increase client trust in the brands and the products/services. Psychologically, they can tie in the person with the brand, which builds the client relationship even stronger and faster.
Great examples of “the face of the brand” are:
Another excellent example of a face of the brand would be the late Steve Jobs at Apple.
While it can be a specific person, some brands like Mcdonald’s and KFC have used an illustrated depiction of their brand faces. In any case, associating a brand with someone or something would make it easier for the clients to understand the company better and build a closer relationship with it.
If you don’t have the resources at the moment, you can demonstrate this by having a unique brand voice specific to your business. The more familiar people feel with your company, the more they associate with it. The brand faces establish a more in-depth trust and familiarity with the client.
Another great way to increase content engagement is by creating interactive content. As the name suggests, the audience can interact with the content, making it more entertaining and personal to them.
Additionally, interactive content is an excellent way of asking the user to provide feedback, which you can then use to shape your future content strategy.
A few effective ways of using interactive content to your advantage would be:
Social media platforms are a great way of utilizing this strategy, for example, Instagram stories, but they can also do wonders for your blog.
The benefit of interactive content is that the user feels more involved in it, which subconsciously motivates them to engage with it and ultimately leads to more leads, no pun intended.
The data to back this up from Hubspot points to the fact that interactive content can increase your leads by 47%.
While it may seem obvious, some websites provide content that doesn’t have a conclusion, putting the readers in a weird loop. A concise decision avoids this.
The conclusion is just as crucial as the content’s thumbnail, headline, and introduction.
We have to put ourselves in the user’s shoes: They have viewed the content, clicked on it, and read it thoroughly. However, if the content is in-detail, are overall message might get lost when they reach the end.
That is why the conclusion is your final content summary, basically providing the main key takeaway points. It wraps up the content in a concise and clear format, and it’s your chance to increase the rate of shares, comments, or likes.
It should also encourage the user to follow through on an action you require them to take. The conclusion is the perfect section where to place a CTA (call to action or button).
Brand trust is one of the most important aspects of content engagement, especially in the modern online-oriented consumer mindset.
Clients buy products/services from brands that they like and trust. And, if client retention is your goal (which should be set as a top priority), you must constantly provide reasons why users should trust the brand.
Free high-quality content is the way to reach high content engagement and build brand trust simultaneously. By that, we mean contact that will solve the target audience’s problem or be an inspiration for them.
Looking at any trustworthy brand, we can see that they have to build a long-lasting relationship with their target audience by providing high-quality content that makes a loyal community of potential and existing clients.
An essential aspect of building brand trust is familiarity, which you can achieve by placing the brand in front of the target audience as much as possible. Over time the quality content will do all the heavy lifting and build a customer relationship that is long-lasting and profitable in the long run.
It’s a slow and meticulous process that is hard to build yet easy to ruin.
Steps that you can take right now to start the process of building brand trust are:
You can take examples of more prominent brands in the same or different industries on how they have established themselves as industry leaders and how the brand trust has increased because of it.
Online presence would include organic and paid content while handing out leaflets, posters, and billboards on a regional basis if the target audience lives close to the business.
While some conversations might overlap among industries (for example, “going green”), you can also engage in and elaborate on industry-specific topics. Organic and paid high-quality content will help you spread the message as much as possible.
An excellent example of this would be Ebay’s United Kingdom Instagram account.
Building an affiliate network of websites that share your content might be tricky, but it is a beneficial tactic to reach more of your target audience on other platforms. We’ve elaborated on the backlinks in another blog post, which you can learn more about here.
A significant factor in increasing your content engagement is also when you publish the content.
Initially, you can use the general already existing data on when is the best time to post on social media and your blog, as well as release newsletters.
Use that data initially and measure when the content engagement is best for your industry and target audience.
We would suggest doing A/B testing at specific hours of the day. Also, a great way to measure the data is by using Google Analytics for your blog, social media metrics under each post, and mailing providers if you are releasing newsletters.
For example, you may find that your target audience engages more on Wednesdays at 11 am and not the standard 1 pm as the general data suggests. That means your content will reach as many users as possible when they are most likely to engage with it.
Simply put: If you nail the perfect timing for publishing, your content engagement will also skyrocket accordingly.
Content is the key for any business to build profitable and long-lasting relationships with the target audience, and content engagement is a big part of that long-term.
The effect is twofold: The current users have a closer and more personal relationship with the brand, while potential clients see the social proof, which may incentivize them to convert right now or in the future.
Keep in mind that content engagement doesn’t happen overnight. The key is constantly improving and adapting, and the engagement will increase accordingly.
If you apply the best practices above and utilize the best content types, the likes, shares, comments, and will ultimately increase over time. Use the metrics from Google Analytics and on your social media profiles to see which content and when is most effective, and use that data to scale your business upward.
However, we understand that content engagement might seem like a huge task to do alone. If you are still unsure about where to start, we at SEO Jokers are happy to have a chat with you on how to optimize your content for SEO and content engagement, which ultimately will produce results.
To learn more, click here.
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