Content is the ultimate king in online marketing. You can have the best products, but you will be left in the dust if you do not have engaging content to support it.
The thing is, we’re all so busy these days that we don’t always realize how out-of-date our content has become or how much of it is incomplete.
How many times have you read an article and realized they hadn’t updated it in years? It makes me wonder how many other businesses are struggling with this problem.
Of course, we can try some online training content out there as alternatives.
Rather than reinventing the wheel, I thought rather than your search for it, I’d share 5 warning signs you need to update your content.
1. Your Content is Repetitive
If you repeat your words as though they were a broken record, then the chances are that your content is repetitive.
If you want readers to come back repeatedly search for new information, stop regurgitating the same old information and messages.
Think about what’s going on in your business now and what you could add to your site that would be new and interesting.
If you’re repeating yourself, what does that say about you? Are you really as good as you think?
Give a little thought to what new information or messages you can share with your audience and the frequency with which you can share it.
Expand your horizons and be creative. You can join online training content.
2. Your Content is Useless
Many times, businesses offer their product through their content that seems like it was written by an alien or a machine. I’m not kidding!
When I read content like this, my eyes glaze over, and I feel like I’m suffering from information overload because of poor grammar and syntax.
If you can’t write engaging, human-friendly copy, you need to get help or let someone else take over.
You can’t expect your customers to read, remember, and take action on your content.
Photo by cottonbro on Pexels.
Therefore, we’re going to tell you about appealing to your customers’ emotions in the next section. What makes content engaging is an appeal to your customer’s emotions.
When you can do this, you grab your audience’s attention and keep them engaged throughout the entire piece of content.
You also make them feel like they will gain something of value when they read what you’ve written.
That’s what really counts when connecting with someone—making them feel something.
I think it’s also a good idea to join online training content to cope with these issues. Remember, the customer is everything.
3. Your Content is Hard to Find
Not everyone will find your content by doing a Google search for your business name or even the main keywords you’re targeting.
Some people will use industry-specific keywords and even misspellings of those words just if they’re related to what your business does.
Therefore, having an easy way for potential customers to find your content is a must if you want them to come back for more.
The problem is that if you’re not actively promoting your content, not only will you lose potential customers, but also those who already showed an interest in what you offer.
The easiest way to do this is to include links to your content on your website and blog, social media profiles, and email signature.
Even after creating a truly amazing piece of content, it's hard to know if it’s actually working.
By testing, you can see what happens when you change the words or images on a page or even put the elements in a different order.
This allows you to find a solution to what people are responding most favourably to so that you can use that information later on.
4. Your Content Isn’t Mobile Friendly
If you’ve updated your content in one of the first 3 warnings, and yet you’re still struggling to see results, then check if your content is mobile friendly.
Mobile devices are becoming so popular these days.
People open content through their smartphones.
If your site is not mobile-friendly, they will have a hard time viewing your content and not consider your content as their solution.
They may bounce off of your site and move on to the next one.
You don’t want that to happen. If you discover that your content has been optimized for the desktop, then it’s time to optimize for mobile devices.
Photo by EKATERINA BOLOVTSOVA on Pexels.
Here is the solution.
Add brief paragraphs and make sure you use clear and concise language.
Mobile devices are smaller than desktop ones, so you’ll need to keep in mind such things as font size and the length of your paragraphs.
Make sure that the text is easy to read on a small screen. If your content looks good on your computer, you need to check how it looks through a mobile device.
You’ll comprehend if there are any problems with the layout of the site. That way, you can fix them before you see traffic drop off.
At least 3 out of 4 people access the Internet through their phones or tablets now, so it would be wise to optimize for mobile devices.
If you don’t, then your visitors will probably leave your site and never return.
You want them to come back because they found what they were looking for and didn’t find it anywhere else.
If you want to stay at the top in today’s competitive market, you need to make sure that your content is mobile-friendly.
If it isn’t, you may start struggling because your audience will dwindle as more people choose other options. They will go elsewhere because they can’t find what they are looking for.
5. Your Content is Unreadable
Even if you have great content, it won’t matter if no one can read it.
Ensure that any images or graphics that accompany your content are high resolutions, so they don’t get pixelated on smaller screens.
Also, make sure that any links within your content work correctly so readers will find their way around without frustration.
If you have a lot of content on a page, it's difficult to follow. Readers want to scan your page easily and find what they are looking for.
Streamlining is the best way to do this.
I like to use the Rule of 3, which says that you should limit any list to three points or items.
If you have over three points in your content to explain, they can be broken into another section or list.
The purpose of your blog post should be immediately clear from the beginning. If readers don’t know why they should continue reading, they will leave and go somewhere else.
Create a clear outline so that it’s easy for people to follow where they need to go and what they need to do next.
Consider using an infographic template. Most infographics are organized into neatly labelled sections.
It makes it easy for readers to scan and find exactly what they need.
Photo by Engin Akyurt on Pexels.
When Do You Need to Refresh the eLearning Content?
There is no one answer to that question. If possible, refresh eLearning content every three years or sooner. Do it especially if the organization undergoes significant changes.
If you are a large company with thousands of employees and have only just started an eLearning program, you may wait longer before refreshing it.
If your eLearning program is small, then it may be best to refresh all at once. However, for larger programs, I recommend refreshing one course at a time.
That way, you can focus on training needs and priorities for each course.
Also, running hundreds of courses through a QA process at once is going to take more time and effort than doing so course by course.
So if your eLearning program has hundreds or thousands of courses, breaking up the process makes sense.
Always Notice These Common Warning Signs
Staying on top of your algorithm updates may seem like a daunting task to take on, particularly if you have a large program with lots of courses.
The good news is that you probably know when it is time to refresh your content.
If you recognize one or more of these warning signs in your organization, it may be time to give your website an upgrade.
Our Cudy eLearning platform is the perfect solution for your eLearning needs and content strategy. Try it free today!
