Frank Schulte-Ladbeck

New websites are popping up every minute; however, this does not mean that quality content is being produced. How would you set yourself up to be the source of information in your field?

I have been doing research on why users come to my site. This involved finding how they came to the site, what content did they examine, and what content was actually read. That last one was important to me. You have a short time to attract a visitor to stay on your site, so I may want to improve content where people arrive on the site, but I need to understand which posts caused people to stay and why. Those posts (not the ones that have the most visitors- which may or may not be read) will show you what your readers truly want. For example, users of my home inspection site fall into different categories. Two main categories are people looking for my service and people who want to understand how a repair to their home is made. The first group will find my phone number, and they leave the site. The second group will spend seven minutes on average reading an article. Obviously, this second group can become important to me in marketing, so I do want to cater to them.

    Why do people come to your site? There is an attitude among users that they want something for free from you. This is not to stay that they want everything free from you, but if you want them to stay on your site, you do need to give them something. Most often that will be the content on your site. Let’s say your a candle maker. You have a site advertising your candles. Will a user stay on your site if that is all that you have? Probably not. Write a post about how you make the candles, what inspires you when making them, or how you choose materials for the candles. This will cause potential customers to appreciate the effort that goes into the making of your product.

    Fine you say, others are doing that too, but how do I stand apart from the competition, who is doing the same thing?Become a thought leader in your field by building upon the type of posts that are causing people to read your site. I do not repair homes. I wrote about home repairs, because it tied into my inspection reports. I cannot always determine why something is broken or functioning during a home inspection, but I might have an idea as to why that might be. Those blog posts became popular. Those readers become my advocates, or in marketing terms, they become my word of mouth advertisers. By focusing on creative solutions, and giving the latest information in my field, I establish myself as an authority. How would I do this as a candle maker? If I made aroma therapy candles, I may report on the latest findings of people studying this subject. I could discuss shows where candles are featured, or why buying handmade candles is better than mass produced versions. Become the source for candle making.

    What steps can I take to become a thought leader? I took a look at others who are doing well in their field, and I came up with this list which may give you a guide for producing content for your site:

1) Be passionate about your topic. If you do not want to write about your topic, then you are not going to draw users in. At that point a static site with little content may be better for you.

2) Reduce the number of posts on your blog. The rule of thumb is post three times a week to gain readers. Post three times a day if you want to be a news site. If you are posting at this frequency, is your content at the highest quality? Striving for the highest quality is the goal. You can post three quality posts a week. Most of us cannot post real quality. I admit to writing what I consider to be throw away posts. Sometimes these posts became the most popular articles though. My focus now is to write one really good post per week. I try to make each post move the site forward. I still have filler material, but I do attempt to make them relevant and useful to my readers, but I am trying to avoid this habit.

3) Keep learning. No matter what your field, there is some new development. That is why I picked the candle maker as an example. In the seventies, I remember seeing all of these candles that were so sculptural. Now, I see candles with elegant geometric designs. Moreover, aroma therapy is really growing. I do not know everything that is happening in the world of candles, but I can imagine that there are concerns and developments in the field.

4) Spread the message beyond your site, and bring messages back to your site. Yes, there is Facebook and Twitter, but you should not concentrate all of your effort on those sites. There are forums and other blogs, where you can comment or write guest posts. There is also television and newspapers. Anywhere we people gather can be an opportunity. I also write about discussions that I have seen on other sites or in press releases. Being involved outside of your blog is great, but you want your readers to take part in that discussion also.

5) Write an ebook. Any informational product, like an ebook, can be a great marketing tool; however, such products carry a weight of authority. They can be free, or you could charge for them. I have seen them for a little as two dollars to as much as eighty dollars. I have several free ones which are a compilation of posts that I edited to stand alone. I have taken an idea that could be an ebook and turned them into a series of posts. Once the posts equal a number that would make a good ebook, or I complete the series, I put the book together.

   Those are the basics. To become a true thought leader, you will have to actively advertise yourself as such (just as much as you advertise your business). Will the candle maker end up on the local news for a new type of candle? I would not think so, but there are local shows that might want tour candle maker on the air. There may also be magazines. If this takes away from your core business, you might not want to go fully along this route, but the above steps will work for your website.

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