Another year older: Give your content a birthday

It is official: I’m now two 21-year-olds! (That sounds so much better than 42.)

This past year has definitely brought many changes in my life. (Check out my Not another thankful post to see what I mean.) It is safe to say that I am not in the same place in my life that I was a year ago.

Although things may not have changed as radically for you as they have for me – I bet you have experienced some change during the last twelve months.

You may wonder, “So what?”

Well, if you have changed, don’t you think other things have changed? Has your content marketing kept up?

What’s new in your business?

Has anything changed in your business? This can be something big (new management and mission statement), something small (different store hours), or something in between (new product line). Depending on the year, it could be any number of things.

The question you need to ask is just “What has changed?” Don’t just take a minute to answer – really think about what has changed since you last updated your website. Create a list of all of the changes.

Anything that is important to your customers should be updated on your website.

What’s new with your customers?

Has your client base changed? Are you targeting a different market? Has the economy changed (for the worse or the better) and affected the habits or needs of your clients?

Check your copy. Does it include benefit statements that address your customers’ question, “What’s in it for me?”

Does your marketing copy have the appropriate tone and feel for your current target market?

If your website no longer matches your clients’ needs, you need to update it.

What’s new with the industry?

Hopefully, your website has been filled with useful, quality content from the beginning. But if it was based on various “content marketing tricks,” you may have been penalized by one of the many Google updates.

The industry is constantly changing and your content marketing best practices need to keep up.

Make your content’s birthday special

Mark each year – on whatever date you deem your content’s birthday – by updating your website and your messaging. If you keep up with this on a regular basis, it will not become an enormous project.

If it has been a while since you updated your copy – or if your content is sorely lacking – don’t become overwhelmed. Focus on the low-hanging fruit, including:

• Fix typos and outdated information
• Check your analytics to determine what is working and what isn’t
• Ask for third-party feedback on your website to determine where the biggest issues are and start there

Your company is another year older and hopefully your content marketing plan is wiser.

How often do you update – or at least review – your website copy? If your answer is, “I don’t remember,” it is time to take a look.

Photo credit: w:es:Netito777 (Own work) [GFDL or CC-BY-SA-3.0-2.5-2.0-1.0], via Wikimedia Commons