Does Your Content Have Purpose?
Written by Alice Seba
So big question, hey? No, I’m not talking about whether your content is deep, meaningful and will cause a life-changing epiphany for your readers.
Not at all…good content doesn’t have to be your life’s work or anything close to it.If you’re writing content for business purposes, it simply needs to serve a need for your readers…and in turn, how does it benefit your business?
A few days ago Annette, gave us some advice on using an editorial calendar and Kathryn provided more tips for planning your content.
All that planning is all well and good, but what I’m wondering is if you have a reason WHY you publish your content? It may not be something you think about consciously, but if you’re creating content, having a PURPOSE for that content is going to go a long way for you and your business. Because let’s face it, publishing content for content’s sake is only going to drain your time and/or wallet. So instead, consciously think about the purpose for each piece of content you publish.
Here are some purposes that your content might serve:
Search Engine Food: Get people to find your site through keyword searches that lead to highly targeted content pages. In other words, create content the subjects your target market is readily searching for.
Word-of-Mouth Material: Content that gets people talking candrive traffic. Whether it’s informative, entertaining or controversial, it can build traffic and readership.
Pre-Sell Material: Pre-sell your readers on your products or services. For example, if you sell a potty designed for easier toddler training, write articles on potty training that talk about your product, publish reviews, show product comparisons, etc.
Ethical Bribes: Quality information can serve as an ethical bribe to get someone on your list. If you sell debt consulting services, give your readers something they can use to learn more about solving their debt issues. For example, a report on understanding your credit, information on how creditors actually work against debtors, etc.
Establishment of Expertise: Content can establish your expertise, so that people will call on you to work with them. Whether it’s as a contractor or contributing author, good content can get you noticed. Put together a report, publish articles, make guest blog posts that highlight your skills and knowledge. Just make sure the people who read the content know how to join your mailing list, request your products and services.
Reader Satisfaction: There’s something to be said about keeping your current readers satisfied. They come to expect certain quality from you, so deliver that. If you use content to build an audience and generate sales, do it with some consistency. That doesn’t mean YOU have to write day in and day out. You can employ ghostwriters, use PLR or guest writers.
Customer Relationships: Content for customers that helps them consume your products, make BETTER use of them and shows how further products can help them is a win-win for all. Give them a surprise bonus guide that shares stories from other parents who successfully used the potty (and include information on other helpful products for parents of toddlers). Or give them even further strategies and introduce products that will help your clients reduce their debt even faster.
A Product to Sell: Of course some content is a product itself. Sell ebooks, checklists, resources, spreadsheets…whatever satisfies your target market’s wants and desires.
So what purpose does YOUR content serve? Are you just publishing content because you heard it was a good idea…or do you have a purpose?
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About the Author
Everybody says "Content is King", but what does that mean for you? 
Shannon says:
That’s definitely something to keep in mind. I often do the Search Engine Food purpose, but forget to do the rest.
Alice Seba says:
Thanks for your comment Shannon as it reminds me of an important point I neglected to include. While I don’t propose that everyone has to use every purpose in their business, relying on just one purpose may bring to trouble. For example, if you just have search engine food and neglect selling, you may have traffic, but no results. Or if you pre-sell and neglect to build your list or traffic…who’s going to buy your stuff?
Cheryl Paris says:
I have recently started blogging and for me one of the most important things is that my content is relevant to my readers so thanks for the pointers
Alice Seba says:
I agree, Cheryl and it should be relevant for your readers and your business objectives as well.
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Angela Wills says:
This is an important lesson that can’t be repeated too often.
I remember hearing you talk about this years ago Alice and it’s funny how I went through periods of totally forgetting to build around a purpose. That was until it finally became a total habit.
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