One of the most oft-repeated questions in the content marketing world – frequently followed by a little sad-face emoticon for emphasis – is: ‘why is no-one reading my content?’ Usually, the answer to such a question is fairly self-evident, and content marketing boffins such as our lovely team here at Crowdbait can spot the problem(s) in a heartbeat. If your website analytics are showing a steady stream of sweet F.A. funnelling into your blog or news feed, it might be worth running the rule over our Crowdbait troubleshooting guide and finding out just what the Sam Hell is wrong with your content anyway…
It’s boring
Tragically, it isn’t quite enough for your content to simply exist for it to be read. People will only read things they’re interested in, and the more tedious your subject matter or po-faced your delivery, the less likely anyone is going to stick around for longer than it takes them to scan the first sentence. For a start, you can scrap the more obvious no-nos such as excessive industry jargon, niche topics and overblown language, but once you’ve done that it’s time to get down to the hard work and brainstorm some truly engaging content topics…
It’s hidden away
How is anyone supposed to read your content if they can’t actually find it? If your blog is only accessible via a tiny link hidden away on the smallest, most unassuming button on your homepage (or worse, no link at all!) then you can’t expect anyone to simply stumble upon it. If, on the other hand, you have a prominent news ticker or a content feed exhibiting eye-catching images and thought-provoking titles, you’re probably onto a winner.
There aren’t any keywords
To put it simply there are two kinds of people who will find your content: those who spot it on your website and those who find it via search engines. Your potential customers may be looking for something in particular online, in which case they’ll type the terms they desire into a search bar and have a quick browse through whatever Google dredges up. If you’ve taken the time to think about SEO and keywording, what Google dredges up just might just be your feature article or blog post. Hey presto: the searchers read your content, come around to your way of thinking and check out the rest of your website. Before you know it, they’re a customer – but without keywords, this scenario is simply an illusion…
You haven’t promoted it
Ok, so I lied in that last paragraph. There are three kinds of people who are likely to find your content, and the third kind are those who stumble across it via social media. I say ‘stumble’ but in fact, you’ll have done everything you can to shove it directly underneath their noses – that is, you will have if you’ve been promoting it properly. Actively pushing your content via social media will bring it to the attention of more and more people, and if they like it, they’ll share it amongst their peers and the process can repeat exponentially – this is the Holy Grail of content marketing: viral content. Failing to promote your content, however, will prune this potential readership branch back down to the barest nub.
Your website looks dated
Sometimes, it’s not what you’ve written that’s the problem but the way in which it’s presented. The best feature article in the world isn’t going to attract much attention if it’s posted in a poorly-designed blog on a shonky old website without any images, links or appropriate formatting. In fact, dated websites are content marketing poison; not only do they put off potential human readers, but they display poorly on smartphones and tablets and will bump you down the search engine rankings faster than all the Google updates combined. If you want people to visit, read and share, a website that looks the part is paramount.
Our troubleshooting guide should have helped you pinpoint a few areas where your content is going wrong, but you can’t be expected to fix all of these issues yourself. If you want to achieve content marketing success this year then you’ll almost certainly need the input of some experts. Take a look at our content marketing services or chat to one of the team to find out more about how we can help.