What’s the difference between good content and bad content on construction websites? I am actually going to put a number on it. Ready? Let’s work through this together. Building a website is easy. Building a website that actually functions the way it is supposed to, not so easy.
When you build a janky deck, you KNOW it’s a janky deck. It’s uneven, it doesn’t look good, it falls down. That’s a bad deck.
When you build a website, no one tells you if it is good or not, and one of the big issues that come up in my website reviews is content. So often, contractors will either write content or hire writers to write content that is so keyword-laced they forget about the actual reader. That’s a problem.
I say that’s a problem because in all my years working online, I’ve never met a search engine who wrote a contractor a check for a deck…people do.
So, let’s get back to that number I talked about…
Let’s assume a deck has a cost of $15k, your milage may vary, but let’s just say $15k.
If you have content that is just slapped up on your site like a bad coat of paint, you aren’t going to get very many people to bite on your $15k deck.
If you have content that is compelling and packed with features and benefits with a strong call to action, that’s good stuff right there. Let’s assume you will convert just ONE more prospect a month with your good content, that comes to $180k a year in top line revenue you just added to your business simply by changing a few words around on a page.
Clearly it’s a bit more complicated than that, but you get the point.
The benefit of content that is well written (for people first) goes beyond just the scenario above. It also helps with search. Here’s how. If you have a page title named “Bob’s Landscaping – Landscaping, Landscaping Services Seattle, Landscaping Design,” then forget whatever ranking you get from the search engines, people KNOW that’s a bullshit page before they ever click on it…so they don’t.
Instead…they click on a page title like this: “Seattle’s favorite landscaping design firm because we bring fun to fertilizer!”
Of course, I am being a bit tongue-in-cheek, but I am making a point. Make your content better by forgetting all about some algo that you hope will show your page to someone looking for your services, and go right to the source!!! Have your content written for THAT person first!
This makes sense for a few reasons. Your content has to convince someone to take a next step, an action, and packing it with keywords that don’t inspire isn’t going to get that to happen.
Secondly, you want to help your community with your words first, that’s how people get to know you. Spamming the shit out of them with bad writing or keyword-stuffed fluff isn’t going to shine a light on your business where you work, live and play.
So get your content up to snuff, keep your readers on your site, and give them a reason to call you with compelling content. If you need help writing that kind of content, get on my newsletter, I talk about it all the time there! Sign up by clicking here.