There is an endless list of ways for business owners to reach out to their potential customers online - only one of them trumps all.

Original Content

Creating original content is what makes the web go ’round. Millions of visitors search for information daily, and millions of web publishers create original content daily - this is why the web is considered a living, breathing entity that changes on a daily basis.

There are a ton of benefits to creating original content - one of which includes search engine optimization (SEO).

By posting content regularly, either in blog post form, traditional white paper, or article format, you’re content will be indexed by Google - the more content you ahve indexed with Google (the most popular search engine), the more likely you’ll see a boost in traffic to your site. The more traffic and the more you impress your customers, the more business you’ll receive.

Think of it like fishing - the more line and bait you have in the water, the better the chance you’ll catch something. Likewise, the more articles, posts, or white pages of content you have published and indexed with the search engines, the better the chance you’ll attract a potential customer.

Creating Content

When setting out to create content, think of what you’re potential customers might be searching for online.  For example, if you’re a dogwalker or pet sitter, you might consider writing about how much exercise certain pets need to remain healthy. If you’re a plumber, you might publish a tutorial or series about repairing leaks.

When you first start, simply write what you know and try to answer some questions you receive from potential customers.

Optimizing Content

When you’re ready to take your content to the next level, consider spending a small amount of time researching what people are searching for online, what people are publishing online, and more importantly what people aren’t publishing online. These three points will help you create content people find helpful, which will in turn lead to more traffic to your site.

Consider the following research tools:
Google Keyword Tool
SEOBook Keyword Tool
Google Trends Tool - See what phrases or words people search for

Promoting Your Content

Now comes the easy part - promote you content on the various social sites, including Twitter, Facebook, Myspace, LinkedIn, and smaller networks focued on your trade.

The idea here is to let people know that there’s a piece of valuable content at your site and hope that it compells them to share it - this is what social media is all about. if it’s truly compelling and useful, people will continue to share it.

Be careful when promoting your content - it’s often easy to slip into hyper-promotion and forget to create more content.

How Can Content Help Find Customers?

If you want to charge for every bit of service, assistance, or general help you provide, traditional advertising might be best for you.

Creating original content is a way to bypass the expensive cost of advertising, yet still attract customers and business. Here’s how it works:

Your potential customer searches the web for a basic words pertaining to your trade, their search engine presents the results, and they click one of the results that brings them to a website with the content.

By targeting what you think your potential customers will search for, you’ll be able to create content that will show up in the results, and hopefully compell them to click the link and visit your site. If all goes well at this point, they’ll see you’re a helpful source for information pertaining to their needs (in your field) and either keep you in mind for when they need you or contact you right there as a paying customer.

Again, consider your content the bait and line you put into the water when fishing. The more you provide for the fish, the more likely you’ll catch something.

Create content that compells your potential customers, position yourself as a helpful source of information, and start reeling in the customers. Remember, it’s not just about creating content, but rather it’s about helping and impressing your customers before they become your customers.

For more on this, check out How to Attract Consumers and Turn Them Into Paying Customers.

You might also like these posts:

• 4 Ways Beginners Can Reach Out to Customers
• 6 Better Blog Post Ideas for any Small Business
• 10 Ways to Beat the High Cost of Advertising
• How to impress the customer
• 4 Twitter status update styles that work