Does Your Content Have a Purpose?

Content is often considered an online business owner's primary resource. It drives traffic. It helps make a sale. It provides authority, credibility and liking - all buying triggers. It also helps you market your business.

Unfortunately, many business owners write their content without any direction or purpose in mind. They may write fantastic content. Yet if it’s missing a purpose, it’s missing an opportunity. So what do you want your content to accomplish? It doesn’t matter if it’s short like a blog post or an article. It doesn’t matter if it’s a larger content piece like a report or e-book. It needs a purpose.

Potential Content Purposes:

• To drive traffic to a web page
• To increase SEO
• To drive traffic to a sales page
• To generate affiliate income
• To boost credibility and authority
• To motivate a response/comments/links
• Collect opt-ins

You may find that occasionally your content has more than one purpose. For example, a report may be designed to collect opt-ins. In addition to the opt-ins you may also include affiliate links within the body of the report to generate income. Or you may link back to a sales page on your website to promote your products or services.

On the other hand, if your content is missing a purpose then you’re missing out on a valuable opportunity.

Making the Decision

The best time to determine the purpose for your content is when you create a content plan. Different people take different approaches. You may plan your content for the coming week. Or you may plan it for the entire quarter. (If you don’t plan your content at all, consider starting a new practice. Planning your content helps you make the most of your efforts.)

When you plan your content you’ll likely determine the keywords and the topic. You’ll also decide when you’re going to publish it and where. It makes sense to integrate your content into your traffic generation, SEO, sales and marketing strategies. This means assigning your content a purpose.

For example, you may know that in three months you’re going to launch a new service. Your content during that month leading up to the launch will ideally support the launch. It’ll generate interest and excitement. The purpose of the content therefore will be to drive traffic to your opt-in page. People can sign up ahead of time and receive notification when you launch. They may also receive special pricing. Your content can also generate awareness for the need of your new service. Or it can send traffic to your sales page once you launch.

How to Include Your Purpose in Your Content

Every piece of content needs to have some sort of call to action. For example, if you want to motivate comments and feedback at the end of a blog post, you have to ask for it. That’s your call to action. If you want to send people to a sales page, you need some sort of ‘Visit LINK to learn more.’ Your purpose will be integrated into your call to action.

Take a look at the content you have planned for the next week or month. Does each piece have a purpose? Do you have a call to action? Is your content part of your overall business growth strategy? If not, make some quick changes and start reaping the rewards.