Inbound marketing is a good strategy that yields results over a period of time. Content plays a central role in your inbound marketing efforts. It is good quality content that brings people to your website and helps you generate leads. Content quality is critical and it is here that people new to this style of marketing make mistakes. Here are some common pitfalls that you must watch out for.

1. Creating general content:

There is no scarcity of general information on the web and another website with similar information is not going to be very useful. With inbound marketing, you are trying to bring people to your website because you have information that will help them solve their problems or add value in some way. Every page of content that you add to your website should be a step in that direction and add value to your target market. This type of content will attract the right traffic.

If you have worked out the profile of potential customers (buyer persona), it will not be difficult to find out what they are looking for. Your potential customers may include people with many buyer personas. If that is the case, you must create content that appeals to each one of them.

2. Using language that is hard to understand:

When people read web pages, they prefer text that is easy to read and understand. It is best to stick to simple sentences that will easily send your message across. Minimize the use of technical jargon that your target market may have trouble understanding. For example, if you are expecting mostly doctors to visit your site, medical jargon is fine when it is required. When your target market consists of ordinary people, jargon can make things difficult for them. If you must use technical terms, try to include explanations on the page itself.

3. Being unrealistic:

Stock photos of objects and vector graphics are great for illustrations and infographics, but when you use stock photos of people to represent your organization, it becomes obvious to visitors. You must have seen those pictures of smiling models wearing perfect formal dresses in work situations on a number of business websites. They fool no one. If you want visitors to see the work environment of your company, use pictures of people who are really working for you. Inbound marketing is most successful when your visitors trust you. Unrealistic photographs can dilute that trust.

It is nice to have good reviews and testimonials on a website, but unrealistic reviews will do more harm than good. The reality is that people who are happy with a product or service seldom leave a descriptive and flattering review unless you reward them in some way. When you cook up or buy descriptive and flattering testimonials, it becomes obvious to your visitors. Getting real reviews from customers is the best option. There is no harm in asking existing customers to post reviews of your product or service if they are happy with you.

4. A poorly designed ‘About’ page:

Just showcasing the qualifications and experience of your top management does not make a good “About Us” page. Instead, post information about your company’s mission, business philosophy and how you are different from your competitors. Besides text, you can add pictures and short videos about your company and its way of doing business. The ideal “About” page should link to a number of subpages. Each subpage can provide more information about a particular aspect of the company, including some information about the top management.

Good quality content is central to inbound marketing. Without quality content, your success at inbound marketing is likely to be limited. Review the existing content on your website to see if it passes the test of quality and usefulness. Ensuring good quality content will help you attract more visitors, encourage repeat visits and generate more leads.