Sam Butterworth from Happy2Move in London provides some tips on how to create content for your company’s website.
Whether your moving business's online marketing has never gone beyond a simple website and a contact number, or you're a fully-fledged digital expert, content marketing may not have been something you've considered embracing as part of your marketing strategy.
Although content marketing has been a major digital marketing strategy for a couple of years now, for some businesses it can seem like too much hassle or something that's really only appropriate for businesses with an in-house marketing department, or agency budget at their disposal.
In reality, however, content marketing is an incredibly scalable way to promote your business online, whatever size it is.
In this article we'll be expanding on precisely what content marketing is, exploring the potential benefits for moving businesses and sharing a few tricks, tips and techniques you can employ to make this technique reap rewards for you. But first, let's start with the basics ...
What is content marketing?
Content marketing is a digital marketing technique widely used to increase traffic, boost conversions, connect with potential consumers, showcase a brand's expertise and help online businesses grow. The technique involves the strategic creation of digital content which could include:
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Podcasts;
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Whitepapers and guides.
There are numerous reasons why content creation is valuable to online brands. Firstly, creating content that prospective consumers will be interested in, and which they may share, can boost traffic, conversions and brand awareness.
Secondly, websites that are active, fresh and regularly launch quality content, perform better in search engine rankings. Other motivations include the fact that the more content rich your website, the more relevant search terms you're likely to be found for, as well as the shareability of this type of content for brands that are active on social media. And that's just for starters.
How can content benefit moving businesses?
With the general principles explained, it's time to delve into the specifics: what are the advantages of employing content marketing as a moving business? Here are a few upsides worth noting:
It can be low cost and scalable
While big brands may have sprawling and intricate content marketing strategies, smaller localised businesses can benefit from the technique with far fewer resources. Every piece of content you produce contributes to your website, and its authority in the eyes of search engines if your content is useful/of interest to your audience and topical. There is constant debate about how much content you should create, but marketing influencers agree that quality is far more important than quantity, so if your budget is fairly small remember that and focus on creating something great every month or so.
It's not rocket science
At its most complex, content marketing can call for the expertise of skilled digital professionals, but for businesses with smaller budgets, even a simple approach can pay off. Simply considering the questions your customers ask you most frequently and creating helpful articles that provide answers can boost your website. Uploading recent news, case studies or guides to the local areas you serve are also simple ways to benefit from the technique.
It helps you target keywords and local search
Many moving businesses are of course localised. That means consumers will search for providers in their local area. Creating content about your service areas is an easy way to make your website more visible in local search, without optimising your website in a spammy way. Any content you create that is relevant to your service will also naturally include keywords, helping you show up for more searches online. Don’t be tempted to stuff loads of keywords in there that you want your website to rank for. These days this is more likely to get you a search engine penalty than improve your position online.
It provides social collateral
Social media is a handy place for local businesses to connect with local consumers and engage with their community, but it can't all be promotional tweets. Sharing content that your followers will actually be interested in is a great way to send traffic through to your website.
It enhances your reputation
Good content that appeals to or helps your target audience is fantastic for making you look like a business they'd like to hire. Showing off your expertise and underscoring your values via thoughtful, helpful content will enhance your reputation, helping you stand out from the competition. Case studies are a great idea for moving companies, showing customers what they can expect if they hire you.
How to boost your moving business with content
Sound good? Ready to give content marketing a whirl? It's easy to get started:
Define your resources
How much time do you have to dedicate to creating content? How much of your marketing budget can you allocate to the strategy? Your approach will depend on the time and budget at your disposal. If you're time rich and confident writing your own content, allocate X hours per week to the process. If you're time poor with a budget you can invest, consider hiring a content writer.
Being strategic about the content you produce can pay off. Investing in things such as keyword research will help you pinpoint the kind of content your target market will appreciate, helping you squeeze more juice from each piece. It's possible to undertake basic keyword research yourself or, if you have the budget, some digital agencies offer a standalone service at reasonable rates. Take some time to look at the content your competitors are producing and get to know your customers via social media if possible to fine tune your content even further.
Once it's been uploaded, don't leave your content to stagnate, make sure you distribute it as widely as possible to generate the best possible effect. Share it via any social media platforms you use, include it in your next e-mail newsletter if you send them, just ensure you give your content as much reach and exposure as possible.
Keeping track of the impact your content marketing is having will help you gauge whether or not it is generating return on investment and help you constantly improve the effects. Set up Google Analytics on your website (if you haven't already) to measure how much traffic your content is generating, which pieces perform best and whether this increased traffic is boosting enquiries.
A few content ideas for moving companies
Case studies
Case studies are a great idea for moving companies, showing customers what they can expect if they hire you. Include photos from your moving jobs, detail the kind of move, the time it took and any other information that makes your service look good. Like testimonials, case studies encourage trust.
Transparent pricing page
One of the main things people want to know when hiring a moving company is what the service will cost. Set up a pricing page with clear costs, and if they’re reasonable people will get in touch.
Local area guides
Creating guides for the areas you cover is a good way to gain web traffic and valuable backlinks to help push your site in search engine rankings. Happy2Move is based in the capital so created a guide of 102 things to do in West London.
But content marketing all boils down to this:
- What do my potential customers want to know?
- How can I best answer those questions for them?