The Ultimate Content for Tech Startups
When most business owners think about marketing to increase sales and brand awareness, they think of purchasing Google and social media ads, or billboards and posters.
Though these tactics may work to jump start your sales, the marketing campaign tides have shifted in recent years putting more importance on content creation. With 4 billion internet users worldwide, content creation is vital for businesses with local and global customer bases alike. The bad news–it is not easy to consistently create relatable, high quality content.
Content creators have a hard job. It takes extreme creativity to make content that users are drawn to and intentionally seek out. If creating video content, it can also be expensive if you need production crews or costly equipment.
If your business is thinking about putting more effort into content creation, there are a few key mediums that are useful:
Blogs
YouTube Videos
Podcasts
Social Media Short Form Videos
Out of all the above mediums, there is one that stands apart in its effectiveness in increasing traffic: blogs. Search engine optimized (SEO) blogs are more easily indexed by search engines, directing potential consumers to your website.
They are also one of the cheapest types of content to create. Filming, editing, and posting a video can take hours. Writing 1500-2000 words on a topic you are passionate about is significantly easier and cheaper.
Benefits of a Blog for Tech Startups
For tech startups, it might not be a first thought to create a blog to attract more users. Startups usually favor the hiring of a sales team or spending money on paid advertisements. These are great tactics, don’t get me wrong, but should be paired with content creation if your goal is to create lasting brand recognition or long term online visibility. Let’s break down some of the benefits of a blog for tech startups.
Search Engine Visibility and Traffic
When customers search for new products or services on sites like Google, they’ll usually trust the companies listed on the first SERP (Search Engine Results Page) to be reputable businesses. Your business’ website should be listed here amongst your competition. If not, your product may never reach your target customers.
Search engine optimization, also known as SEO, is what ensures your blog content and website ranks on search engines. SEO is a process using the tagging of content, keyword usage, and meta data to create organic traffic to your website.
But, how long will it take for your business’ website to rank? Great question! On average, it takes 6-12 months to create a blog that begins generating traffic. Of course, it entirely depends on your content’s quality, search engine optimization, topic saturation, and consistency.
Credibility
If customers are looking for a product or service to solve their problems or increase efficiencies, they’ll be looking for credible companies above all else. Credibility can be built through
Customer testimonials
A large volume of relatable, high-quality content
Placement on the SERP
Backlinks from other credible sites
Your business can leverage a blog to build credibility through all of the above.
If your business can crank out well-written and engaging blog posts 2-3 times per week, you will have a plethora of ranking posts pushing customers from Google’s SERP to your website. This will also show your customers that you have expertise in your industry and are focused on solving problems for people and businesses just like them.
Finally, backlinks are the lifeblood of a successful ranking blog. When other credible sites link to your blog posts or product pages, search engines like Google begin to understand that your site is also credible. Thus, your website begins ranking on SERPs. Also, your customers can find your business’ information while browsing on other sites they already find credible.
Building Your Business’ Brand Persona
A brand persona is the embodiment of your brand. This is the way your business talks (or writes), the mission statement of your business, the values of your brand, and the way you do business. Your company’s brand persona can tell a potential customer a lot about your product. Do your prospective customers relate to your brand persona?
For example, if you are building a business-to-business product, you will want to talk like the personas or the companies you are targeting. If you are targeting financial companies, you might want to focus on creating a brand persona that is professional and formal. If you are targeting the recycling industry, your brand persona may want to focus on amplifying social activism and the things your customers find important.
The brand persona and type of content you create depends largely on the customers you are targeting. Understanding this is key to any content creation.
Types of Blog Content
There are many different types of blogs, and they can be structured in different ways to meet the needs of your prospective customers:
Information on a related topic of your business’ industry
Announcements from your company and new features
Long form customer testimonials
Lists–ex. best gifts for bridesmaids, best podcasts for Christian technology, etc
You do not have to conform to any one type of blog post for all of your content, but knowing how to categorize or which type of blog post to write for specific purposes is vital. For example, if you are focusing on B2C sales, your business may choose to write more informational style blog posts to bring customers to your website from the SERP.
On the other hand, if you sell B2B primarily, your potential customers will be very interested in your company as a whole, your economic standing, and your sustainability practices. This is because doing business with your brand impacts their company’s reputation as well.
Choosing the right type of blog content for your business will determine your blog’s ability to rank in search results. Make sure that your team is crystal clear on the goals of your blog in order to select the perfect type of content.
Guest Blogging for Added Benefits
There is also a well-known tactic in the blogging world known as guest blogging. In order to drive traffic to your website, representatives from your business write content for other blogs. This is a great method of blogging to add to your marketing campaign, though it does take a good amount of time pitching and writing free content.
When you write a guest blog, your business won’t be able to post that copy directly to its own website, but you will now have a great link to another site, a backlink pointing to your website, and credibility by creating excellent content that others find valuable enough to publish under their brand name.
Guest blogging is hard work, but worthwhile if you’re new to the scene or want to add some additional backlinks to improve your SEO. Also, your business may reach new customers that would otherwise not have heard of your product or service.
Tech startups should absolutely add guest blogging to their marketing strategy in 2023!
Repurposing Blog Content
The best part about creating blog content is that it can be repurposed for other mediums. Your business can use this blog content to create social media posts, email marketing topics, podcast talking points for further learning, and videos.
For tech companies, blog posts can also be repurposed as support content. For example, if your blog focuses on new features or user testimonials, you can point prospective or current clients to read these blog posts when they need support on specific issues or concerns.
Repurposing content is not skeezy; it’s the best way to create consistent content across all of your marketing platforms and websites. Also, pushing traffic to your website from any direction increases your ranking capability on search engines. Google, for example, uses traffic as one of the 200 factors that may affect your ranking status.
Repurpose when you can, and even begin to think about creating blog content to be repurposed in another medium. This is a great way to consistently push out content and reach customers wherever they are online.
Blog Like a Publisher
Businesses should create content as if they are a publisher. This means that your business focuses on creating quality information rather than copy written to sell clients. This is beneficial for a couple of reasons:
You won’t seem too pushy and turn away potential clients by salesy lingo
You will think about content that is genuinely interesting to attract customers rather than focusing on your own product
Your business will gain credibility as a source of good information
Your content will rank much quicker as you gather backlinks and traffic based on the quality of information you share
Really, there is no upside to writing like a marketer when creating blog content. Consumers are tired of being sold to 24/7 – they get that enough from your business’ competition. Your business needs to set itself apart from the competition by creating better content and reaching more customers through quality, volume, and consistency.
As a publisher, you should also consider whether your blog will list the authors or not.
Personally, when I read a blog post, I like to know the name of the author of the content I’m reading. It makes it seem more like a 1:1 relationship and I’m more willing to engage in conversation with the author if given the opportunity to comment on the post.
On the flip side, if your company has a very big brand, it might seem a bit odd to have an author’s byline listed. For example, if the content is written for Coca-Cola’s blog, it might be weird to list the author’s byline, especially if the writer is a freelancer.
Your business can also use a freelance ghostwriter if you’d like blog content authored by your brand persona. By omitting the freelance writer’s byline, you may pay additional fees to the writer. This is because they are losing backlinks to their own website and therefore not increasing their online visibility. Hiring a ghostwriter is a good option for businesses that want quality content but do not have the time to sit down and write.
Start Your Blog Today
Starting a blog for your tech startup has never been more satisfying. With the many analytics tools available today, you can visually see the impact your blog content brings to your business. By linking your blog content across other platforms like Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and podcast descriptions, you can also see where your customers are finding your business.
Businesses that use blogging in their marketing strategy get 97% more links to their websites. With so many different blogging strategies, this post only scratches the surface on the many benefits of creating a blog for your tech startup or online business.
Interested in learning more about the Sierra Agency’s content creation services? Contact us today for a free 15-minute discovery call!