The sad truth is that there’s no such thing as the perfect piece of content. The harder you look, the more holes you will find, but it’s not something that all that many people do. The reason? You feel like you’re going backward. That’s understandable, but if you find the holes before your users do then you’ll be more than one step ahead of the competition.
To give you the spark of inspiration you need, we’ve created the perfect 5-minute read you’ve been looking for. Read the advice, put it into action, and then reap the rewards. Sounds like the ideal way forward, doesn’t it?
Understand the Qualitative Content Audit
This may not be a term that you’ve heard of before, but it could very well transform the performance of your website almost overnight.Putting yourself in the mind of your customers can be a hard thing to know how to do, so you need to get to know a customer. Create an avatar of half a dozen different types of people that you’re aiming your products or services at.
Then once you have that starting point, build on it until it acts and feels like a real-life person. How would they first make contact with you? Are they primarily driven by budget or quality? How heavily influenced by reviews are they? Here’s a common list that you can build on that follows from the 3 aforementioned questions:
- How much do they have to spend?
- Will they listen to personal recommendations more than reviews?
- Are they largely shopping seasonally?
- If so, can they be tempted by sales?
- Do they post about their purchases on social media?
- Are they likely to follow you on social media?
- Do they have a rigid budget in mind before they start shopping?
Now you need to work through your site and act how you predict each of your different types of customers would. What you learn may very well surprise you.
Get analytical and look for spikes in your bounce rate
The numbers never lie, but how you interpret them can make all the difference to the success of your business.Of course, it’s great when a page gets a lot more traffic, but what’s happening to that traffic? It’s no use if the spike in traffic is accompanied by a large increase in bounce rate. That would mean that the people who are arriving at your new seemingly thriving page actually don’t want to be there. Or, they intended to go there, but they didn’t find what they wanted and so when to one of your competitors.
Understanding the numbers is crucial in quantifying if your content is doing a good job. You can discuss the style and layout as much as you want, but there’s just no substitute for real-world feedback.
Find a specialist and ask for a second opinion
There is a whole array of different production services you can use to plug the gaps in your content. And the great thing is that all of the following will fine-tune what you already have if you want them to, rather than starting from scratch:Top Writers Review: A website with writing services reviews that will help you find the words that your customers want to hear. Ideal for getting your brand’s core message out there far better than ever before.
Logo Symmetry: A great way to make explainer videos with the click of a button. Perfect when you want to get your core offering across in 60 seconds or less.
DynoMapper: Assesses the overall quality of your page layout and loading speed. Ideal if you want to get a comprehensive overview of how you’re doing.
As well as asking a pro, another thing you can do is ask your customers. Or better yet, put yourself in the mind of your customers…
Break down your content into modules
This is an approach that becomes really important the larger your content network becomes. Let’s take the example of a sales funnel as its end goal is very clear.Now, you know what you want the funnel to do, so how is it doing it? Rather than looking at the final conversion rate and then staring blankly at the overall funnel, work in reverse.
Start by launching a hypothetical product or service that relates to your field of expertise. Now list the key steps in the funnel you would like to have. Do this away from the computer on a single side of a paper so that you can focus on customer psychology. It’s far more basic than font choices at this stage, you’re thinking how to nudge people along so that browsers become buyers.
Once you have this piece of paper, repeat the process for your funnel that’s already live. Break it down as much as possible into the key decision points and buying stages. That way it will be a meaningful comparison to what you did earlier.
Put the two side by side, and then see how they match up. The chances are that you’ll have gotten lost in the details at some point in your live funnel’s development and missed a key stage. It’s only when you take a step back and start abstracting that you’ll see what’s missing.
Final Thoughts
When you want to find the holes in your content, you can’t be afraid of going one step back to move two steps forward. Ignore the naysayers and negativity, and focus on getting the job done the right way.It’s all about getting as specific as possible, and remembering that you’re fine-tuning rather than starting afresh. If you keep this in the back of your mind at all times, then you’ll be able to see the iterative progress that the success of every complex project is built upon.
