No matter if you’re a new or established VA, thinking up content ideas for your website can be hard. Apart from the basic website pages, what can you create and publish? How can you attract visitors to your website, without constantly promoting your services? It may surprise you to know that free content is a great way of solving those problems.
Free content is a great way to build the content on your website, whilst also providing something that will attract your ideal customers to your business. Creating new targeted content for your site will always help keep the search engines happy too, so it is great for SEO. And the beauty of free content – the only investment it requires is time.
Here’s a rundown of the different types of free content you should have on your website.
Blog posts
It goes without saying, all online businesses need a blog on their site. Whereas most of your website pages remain static and unchanged, a blog gives you a way to regularly add new content to your site – and this is great for SEO. It’s also an awesome way to share value with your readers, whilst you showcase your expertise.
Need some ideas on what to write? Check out these blog posts for blogging ideas: Blogging ideas for a VA, and Easy and essential blog posts for every new VA business.
Lead magnets
In an earlier blog this month, we looked at the 5 reasons why you need to create a mailing list. If you want to improve signups, you need to give them a lead magnet – something valuable they can opt-in for. Lead magnets are easy to create and help provide additional value to your reader.
Take a look at these articles for more information on creating and promoting your lead magnet: What you need to know about creating a lead magnet for your business and how to effectively promote your lead magnet.
Video
As Social Media Today points out on this infographic – video can keep viewers on your page up to 60% longer than text-only content. People often find it easier to connect with you, if they can see you – but if you’re scared of putting your face to a video, use slides instead. You might have seen a short video testimonial I have had created recently by Naomi Johnson (not a relation that I know of) and these keep people watching – not sure what I am talking about then check out this page here – they add social proof and keep people on your pages longer.
Guides
Often called white papers, guides are a great way to introduce your audience to working with you. You can answer their questions, as well as giving them tips, statistics and advice on the industry generally.
Product reviews
As a VA and business owner there are bound to be products and/or tools that you use and love. So why not share them with your audience? Tell them why you love them and write a few product reviews sharing their main features and benefits. If you have affiliate links for them, even better!
Resources page
Similar to above, this is an awesome way of sharing tools and/or products that will help your audience. Having a one-stop resource page makes it super-easy to share everything that can help them and their business. Think about what would add value to your audience and not just what you want to create.
Case studies
Case studies showcase the story of how you’ve helped someone. They can be based on real or imagined scenarios, as long as they directly relate to what you do. They’re used as a tool to not only showcase what you can do, but also to help your future clients see the potential in working with you.
Need help creating a case study? Check out these 8 tips for creating a great one!
Infographics
Infographics are a great way of sharing important and complex information, in an easily digestible way. They work really well with authority numbers and stats in your business – such as how many hours you save an average client, how many clients you’ve worked with or how of an ROI you’ve achieved with your best client ads etc.
Over on this Piktochart blog, they’ll show you how to create an infographic in 5 minutes. But, I also recommend checking out this article How to Make an Infographic: The Ultimate Guide written by Visme – it’s full of lots of useful information.
Guest articles
This final free content solution is a good way of helping your traffic, whilst also helping out other business owners. We know that guest articles are a good way of raising your own profile, but how about using them on your site to help raise the profile of others? You can invite submissions from any niche that compliments yours – as well as showcasing your clients.
Free content is a great way to build the content on your website, whilst also providing something that will attract your ideal customers to your business. The above list gives you a rundown of the different types of free content you can easily create for your website.
As with any content, the only investment you need to make is time. If you establish a regular routine of creating new content, you’re creating something that will attract your audience to you and help your SEO rankings. But as an added bonus, you’re also helping raise your level of expertise and giving yourself something else to share and talk about on social media and in your emails!