Content strategy must always be information driven; it is not an overnight endeavor. Instead, one must work on it persistently and on a long-term basis to see any meaningful results; especially when it comes to content for service based websites. 
Content strategy for service based businesses presents different challenges. You must be aware of the following elements of content strategy when planning content for service based websites. Successful service based businesses rely on showcasing the features and benefits of their services through all possible media. In terms of content development, this means that the content must answer all possible questions potential clients might have. This is usually done in the form of
and general content that is to-the-point and informative. These must be done without burdening the reader with meaningless points or wandering off-topic. The quality of website content is a valuable part of any site’s SEO efforts, and should never be neglected over quantity or convenience. Quality content attracts both real people and search engine crawlers – as website content development is a long-term endeavor, investing in good content may be one of the best expenditures for improving a website in the long run. Needless to say, original content is mandatory to be successful and competitive in any niche. Copying/pasting content from user manuals – or even worse, from competitors’ websites – is a road to certain failure! Good content takes time to produce! In order to achieve desirable results, including repeat clients, more leads, more sales and higher SERPs, any content strategy must be conducted on a long-term scale and with commitment to sustain all content development efforts. Service based businesses often cater to multiple demographics and, when planning web content for a service based website, one must be mindful to write for all the customers – not just subsets of the whole client base. Ideally, you would want to segment your content for every group and subgroup of people who are likely to visit the website of a service based business. This segmentation can be done according to age groups, geo-location and gender, as well as according to what services these customers might have purchased in the past.
Content is of little use if it doesn’t reach the people we are targeting. To that end, there are several ways to create platforms on which to publish content for your customers; you can also take advantage of certain existing platforms -including social media giants- to deliver content directly to your potential customers. Obviously, different platforms require different kinds of content to be optimally efficient, and it may be difficult for a single person to create good content for all available platforms. In that case, hiring a suitable writer, video producer, blogger etc. might be the way to go. Each method has distinct advantages. Let’s see the most popular and efficient methods of content delivery for service based businesses: Blogs A blog linked to a service based website creates an immense SEO opportunity, which can bring in constant traffic in the long term. Such a blog can cover news in the industry. The service based business operates and keep visitors and customers informed on any new services, updates on policies, price changes, offers, etc .that come up. Blog benefits:
Website Articles Articles can either be uploaded on the service based website itself or be dispersed to various article directories and third party websites, from which they can link back to the original site. Self-hosted articles are often “how-to” guides and technical articles about the services offered, while articles submitted to directories can be more general, covering the whole market the business operates in. Website Article Benefits:
Podcasts and Interviews Podcasts and interviews are powerful, new ways with which content can be delivered directly to potential customers. A podcast involves one or two people talking and discussing about a topic concerning the services offered. Podcasts can get more than an hour long while some of them last less than 15 minutes. Many consumers enjoy downloading podcasts to listen to while away from home. Podcast and Interview Benefits:
Video Content Videos may be expensive to make, but the end result is almost always worth it in terms of SEO benefits and traffic increase. Good video content increases brand visibility and can dramatically improve the reach of a service based business. Video Content Benefits:
Facebook Facebook can open a business’ operations to the whole world; famous businesses get countless back-links from Facebook fanpages. Facebook pages are interactive, and can also act to enhance a business’ public profile. Facebook Benefits:
Twitter Using Twitter as a content strategy tool is a cheap and efficient way to promote and deliver your content to your potential customers. Good content can be retweeted, resulting in surges of traffic and leaps in SERPs. Twitter Benefits:
Google+ Google+ offers the benefits of social media in promoting content (and then some!). With enough plusses, your content gets boosted in Google SERPs, and you can use your Google+ business page to claim authorship of your content. Adding your own images at Google+ allows people to easily relate the content to your businesses, giving your content strategy efforts an additional boost. Google+ Benefits:
To achieve maximum benefits from all the content delivery methods discussed above you need to have
It is therefore advisable, if your business cannot commit to this type of long-term resource for the content strategy, to outsource the content strategy efforts to a SEO firm or an experienced content strategist. Before closing, it is important to stress once more that content strategy is a long-term effort that should be sustained, even after the desired results have been achieved. Otherwise, the SEO and traffic benefits may only be ephemeral.
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