Content strategy: what your website needs — and why being found is not enough

Filling a website with content is easy. Creating the right content is harder. Harder still is making sure people notice it, understand it and act on it .

Content is a means to an end

Every piece of content should serve a purpose, such as:

• Increasing visibility
• Building trust
• Supporting conversions
• Encouraging people to share it

Most websites never realise that potential. They publish product copy and the occasional article, then wait for Google to deliver an audience. A deliberate content strategy has to do much more.

The following overview explains the main content types and why success depends not only on what you publish, but also how and where.

1. Product and service content

What is it?
The commercial foundation: clear information about products, features, pricing and benefits.

What is its purpose?
It informs and persuades prospective customers, helping them make a decision. Because these visitors are often close to buying or booking, well-designed commercial pages can rank for high-intent searches and contribute directly to revenue.

Where does it belong?
Dedicated product pages, comparison pages and feature overviews.

Tip:
Support the copy with screenshots, concise videos, interactive explanations and FAQs. For a product that needs explanation, a short demonstration can remove uncertainty and reduce abandonment.

2. Informational content: an intelligent entry point

Informational content is far more than an SEO-focused guide. It includes anything that educates, engages or supports people — sometimes before they even see themselves as potential customers. This means it can reach people earlier than any other content type in — or even before — the conventional Customer Journey .

• Someone searching for ‘What is a conversion rate?’ probably does not have a particular tool in mind.
• Nor does someone who encounters a provocative opinion about tracking on LinkedIn.
• A person browsing the help centre, by contrast, is already using the product.

Informational content is therefore not a single format, but an umbrella for five distinct content typeswith different roles at different stages:

2.1 Search-led content for an existing audience need

What it is:
Content built around questions your audience genuinely searches for, such as ‘What is a conversion rate?’ or ‘Google Ads for beginners’.

Purpose:
Visibility, trust and relevant organic traffic

Distribution:
Search-optimised articles supported by social distribution through teasers or short videos on LinkedIn, YouTube Shorts or Instagram.

Tip:
Do not rely on Google alone. Search-led content can also work on social platforms when the angle is practical, timely or emotionally engaging.

2.2 Content with no search volume but strong click appeal

What is it?
Opinionated, provocative or personal material designed to earn attention and discussion on LinkedIn and similar platforms.

Purpose:
Attention, discussion and brand positioning

Examples:

• "Why your SEO success is useless if nobody wants your product"
• "Tracking is dead - and that's a good thing"
• Data you do not need makes your analysis worse, not better
  

Distribution:
Pair the article with a strong LinkedIn post or carousel. A short video or audio clip can give the central idea greater impact.

Tip:
This kind of content rarely generates much search traffic, but it can build reach and trust — often the more valuable outcome.

2.3 Help-centre content for support and onboarding

What is it?
Guides, explanations and support pages that help customers get started or solve problems after purchase.

Purpose:
Customer success, fewer support requests and greater satisfaction

Formats:
Text, screenshots, GIFs, short how-to videosand step-by-step visuals

Tip:
Especially in the help centre video can gain prominent search visibility and may be easier to follow than a text-only article. Even simple screen recordings can justify a useful YouTube or Vimeo library.

2.4 Community content: use cases and customer stories

What is it?
Let customers explain in their own words how they use the product.

Purpose:
Trust, inspiration and social proof

Formats:
Interviews, concise video testimonials, use-case slides and Q&A posts

Distribution:
Website, LinkedIn and, where relevant, email

Tip:
Show real people. Authenticity often outperforms polished production; a short remote interview can be more credible than a conventional advert.

2.5 News content: updates and behind-the-scenes insight

What is it?
Information about new features, product development, the team and events

Purpose:
Transparency, community engagement and employer branding

Distribution:
News posts, changelog-style updates, LinkedIn posts and story snippets

Tip:
Short formats such as behind-the-scenes videos and quick updates can work particularly well for existing customers and investors.

Good content costs money. Bad content costs more.

Even with careful planning, not every piece will succeed. 

Some content underperforms despite a sound idea, strong execution and careful research. That is frustrating, but entirely normal.

What matters is that you recognise it.

Every article, video and tutorial consumes time, budget and attention. Content that nobody reads, watches or shares — or that fails to achieve its intended purpose — quietly wastes those resources.

Every content strategy should therefore ask: Did this content achieve its objective?

How analytics makes content performance measurable

Analytics tools such as Google Analytics, Matomo, Plausible and Trackboxx provide the evidence needed to assess each content type against its intended purpose:

• Product and conversion content: Did it contribute to conversions ? Did users even reach it during the journey?
• Search-led content: Does it rank for the intended queries, and does it attract relevant organic traffic?
• Social-first content: Did it generate reach, shares, discussion or leads?
• Help and onboarding content: Do customers use it, and does it reduce avoidable support work?
• Customer stories and community content: Does it hold attention and encourage a relevant next step, such as a demo?

These signals help you distinguish useful assets from costly clutter and invest systematically in the content that works.

Event-based tracking — such as scroll depth, video plays and form starts — helps show whether people genuinely engage with the content even when it does not produce an immediate conversion.

Conclusion: modern content is connected, not linear

Planning content solely by page category — blog, product page, about page — is no longer enough. The priority is to build strategically and think across channels:

• An article should also provide useful material for social posts.
• A help-centre guide may rank in search, while a video version may be easier to discover and follow.
• Search-led content should not be conceived as text alone, but also adapted into carousel, slide or video formats where appropriate.

The core idea is only the starting point. Context, format and distribution determine whether it succeeds. Analytics should then test that success continuously against the objective you set at the start.