I worked for a large publishing firm which was, let’s say, a little backwards about coming forwards when it came to the deadly importance of online content. As I had experience of Search Engine Optimisation I taught my team what I knew, some of them embraced the knowledge and some of them ignored it but I took the stance that only time would tell…And did you know that for Christmas 2009 the sale of ebooks was greater than the sale of traditional material?  Yes, times are most certainly changing!

I’ve just read an article that debates whether marketing magazines are soon to be superfluous. I must admit that I read this particular article in a paper format magazine and that I do like to read magazines on occasion although my daily thoughts are inspired by what I read online. I will read articles by the same people, or recommended by the same people, time and again because I have come to trust their opinions. The magazine I was reading highlighted some key points as times change about the ever increasing importance of becoming known as an authority in your field to maintain interest when it comes to online content and the possibility of charging for this content.

Becoming known as an industry expert is something that I stress to my clients time and again. The way to get people to read your content is to build your brand around being the forefront expert in your industry so that readers come to trust and respect what you have to say. It doesn’t matter whether you’re sharing recipes, fitting windows or selling used cars, if you can convince people that you know what you’re talking about then you are more likely to gain and retain readers.

This is where blogging becomes imperative. It’s a quick and easy way to talk about your business and related industries while naturally including keywords relevant to your business and introducing more fresh content to your website. Not only that, but the more regular your posts become, and the more comments and discussions they provoke, the more of a trusted source of information you are likely to become and people may begin to spend the money that they would have spent on a magazine subscription on a subscription to your blog.

Food for thought…

Would you pay for online content if it was high quality and from a trusted source or are you determined to stick to reading the books and magazines designed for your industry?

Surely, you’re going to consider creating a blog and becoming the specialist in your industry though, just in case offline content can’t compete? Come on; introduce yourself to Joe Blogger, he’s a useful kind of chap…

Chichester Design can incorporate a blog into your website design and development and their professional copywriter is more than happy to get you started writing search engine friendly blog posts. Contact us today.