You might think that showing potential customers how to wire a plug or change a fuse is giving away expertise for free and taking up valuable promotional or sales space on your website – however, there are several benefits to playing teacher online! Abi Clowes, an industry expert who writes a series of blog posts for the Yell Marketing website, explains exactly what these are and how best to place educational content on your business website.
What are the benefits?
Using educational content engages your visitors and is likely to increase your website conversions which will ultimately lead to more work and more money! If people regard you as knowledgeable, or even better an expert, in all things electrical then they’re more likely to call you when they do have a problem. As with all trades, some customers are prone to worrying that they’ll be ripped off by their electrician because they know so little themselves but educating them on simple jobs goes some way to remove the scary power imbalance!
Make sure that your web design agency builds your site in such a ways that content can easily be added, then think about the creating following:
Blogs: A simple blog, which can be incorporated into your site, is a good place to start. Each post needn’t be too long – between 200 and 400 words is perfect. Make sure you update it regularly and that the content is informative and to the point – quick ‘how to’ posts are great. You can even promote them in email newsletters and on social media channels to encourage traffic and web leads!
Guides: More detailed guides are also good. They’ll take longer to write but if you think about the structure and break it down into sections, which you tackle one at a time, it can be a simple job which really helps to position you as an expert. If you incorporate a form which asks people to enter their email address in exchange for downloading the guide, you could also generate more web leads!
Reports: Why not encourage visitors to your site to take part in a simple online survey? You can publish the findings on your website in the form of a report. Topics can be varied – make some more fun and informal, and others quite industry-focused. Also think about tying your polls and surveys to the news agenda – is there anything you can hook onto? People will always be more interested in timely, relevant information
Industry News: As an electrician, you’re bound to be up to speed with the goings-on of the electrical industry so use this knowledge and publish industry news on your site. People like to stay up-to date, plus it shows that you’re an authority. Think especially about news that will affect your customers
How do I get this content?
You: You might be surprised at how much knowledge you have stored away! Be sure to always phrase things in such a way that the public will understand them- it can be easy to use jargon terms which will make sense to you, but not your potential customers!
Your staff/colleagues: Again, the people you work with will have amassed plenty of expertise over the years. Just make sure that they are good writers, you’ve seen examples of their work and that they have a genuine interest in the topics you’d like them to write about
Freelancers: If you have some budget to pay a writer, freelancers are a good bet. Their writing ought to be of a high standard, but just make sure that they have a good understanding of your industry! Also, reports require a bit of analysis so make sure whoever writes them is capable of looking at data and turning it into something that shows trends and insights
Online Sources: Industry news can be sourced from numerous online sources, as long as you reference where you got the information from. Sign up to industry newsletters and start collating items you feel are interesting and relevant
For more information on all of the above, and other ways to make your website work harder, visit: marketing.yell.com
