Small businesses are aiming to increase user engagement by 20% (20%) in 2019. Small businesses can increase user engagement by publishing and producing diverse content. Small businesses need to balance creative and functional content and provide useful material for customers and prospects.

Website design is only as good as the content. Websites that are built around effective, useful content create a better user experience (UX).

Small businesses might have limited resources and a small team to design their websites. To engage users on websites, they must invest in both functional and creative content.

To find out what content small businesses publish on their websites and how effective it is, we surveyed 529 of them in the U.S.

Small businesses need to create and publish content on their websites that is useful to their target audience. This report can be used by small businesses to help them create high-quality and useful content that increases engagement on their sites.

Our findings

• 20% of small businesses (25%) believe that improving website design should be their top priority in 2019. 19% also want to increase user engagement. High-quality content can help businesses increase engagement on their website.

• Small businesses publish content on their websites at least once a month (74%) but smaller businesses with more employees publish more often.

• 40% of small businesses publish more information than others. Experts recommend visuals and videos for increasing website traffic.

• 23 percent of small businesses believe visuals and company information are the most effective content types they created in 2018. Experts recommend that more visuals be used.

• 55 percent of small businesses plan to publish visuals on websites in 2019. However, small businesses can still benefit from investing in new forms of content like podcasts.

Change Website Design to Add Content

Publishing new and useful content can help small businesses achieve their design goals. According to Clutch research, nearly half of website visitors say they return to sites with useful content.

To improve the user interface (UX) of small business websites, website design must include content. In 2019, 20% of small businesses will prioritize improving web design services in Miami.

19% of small-business owners prioritize user engagement, while 17% are going to focus on e-commerce in 2019.

Small businesses can simultaneously achieve their top priorities – improving website design features can increase user engagement.

However, small businesses may not be clear on what constitutes a high-quality website design.

Fabrizio Collombi, director, of business development, at Miami’s digital marketing company Decographic, stated that “When I meet with… current clients and potential new clients, they understand that their website should look nice but don’t know what that means.”

Colombi says that a quality website does not always look the same as one that looks good.

Small business websites must be modern and responsive for both desktop and mobile to look current.

Colombi stated that many people who understand that their website needs to be refreshed are looking for websites that look modern, up-to-date, and responsive.

Although responsive websites may feature modern designs, small businesses can improve their web design by using responsive websites.

To maintain the best UX, small businesses must keep their websites current and designed with content in view.

Regularly publish new website content

Small businesses need to regularly update and publish content to keep users interested, but not at the cost of quality.       

Users will notice that small businesses care about their online presence if they see regularly updated content.

Nearly three-quarters of small businesses (74%) published content on their websites at least once a month in 2018.

Only 15% of small businesses publish their website content every quarter, while only 12% create new content as necessary.

Smaller businesses with larger staffs tend to post more content: 83% of companies with 50 or more employees publish content at least once a month, while only 17% publish quarterly.

Contrary, 29% of small businesses employing 50 or fewer people publish quarterly or less often.

Sam Lloyd, founder, and CEO of Klicker, Inc. a digital marketing company in Venice, Calif. He recommends small businesses publish new content to improve their SEO.       

Lloyd stated that “You can nail content in one sales swoop but ongoing content is good Google.”

Small businesses have the opportunity to rank for keywords and earn backlinks. This positively impacts SEO.

Smaller businesses may have difficulty publishing and creating new content. Only 35% say that they regularly publish new content in small businesses with 50 employees or less.

Earl White is the co-founder and president of House Heroes LLC. This Florida-based home-buying company is based in Florida. His 15-member team regularly publishes content.

White stated that he publishes topical content on his website every month. White stated that the strategy was to create high-quality content which ranks in organic search results. I also have a lot of product pages that I create on my website.

They create content about House Heroes LLC’s products and blog posts.

White and his team have to budget time for content production and compete with other real estate companies for attention.

White stated that time is the biggest obstacle to managing and producing website content. Online content for real estate is also highly saturated. Only engaging content can reach the top of search engines. Although I have hired writers, they were not able to create content that could compete with major players such as Redfin and Zillow.

White hires freelance writers to help him find the time and energy required to manage his website’s content. However, White has had a lower engagement rate on his website by investing in writers.

Kristine Neil, the creative director and owner of Markon Brands is a Vancouver-based web design and digital marketing firm that assists small businesses with their websites. She advises small businesses to create web content in large batches.

Neil stated that “most businesses who are successful in content marketing don’t write 2-3 blog posts per week.” Business owners can plan ahead and not only take away the stress of having to come up with content for each day but it also allows them to be more strategic in their content.

Neil suggests small businesses create multiple pieces of content at once to allow them to plan for busy months ahead.

Small businesses can use a comprehensive digital strategy to plan how to regularly create and publish content on their website.

Balance Creative and Functional Website Content

Websites for small businesses need to present basic information about the company to visitors. However, creative content should be used in small businesses such as blogs, visuals, and videos.

Information about products, locations, and contact information can be found in functional content such as reviews and product descriptions.

Websites are more interesting and attractive when they contain creative content, such as videos and images.

40% of small businesses published information about themselves in the last year. This shows that small businesses value useful content.

Small businesses were also quite fond of creative content in 2018.

• 35 percent of visuals published – infographics, illustrations, photography.
• 25 percent of videos are published
• 18% (18%) of the investment was made in blog posts or articles

Businesses can communicate important information to a broad audience with creative content, such as videos and visuals.

Creative elements can be added to enhance the functionality of a business’s content. A small business could improve its functional information on its “About Us” page by adding a short video that introduces the brand, mission, and team.

Although creative content is time-consuming and labor-intensive, small businesses can reap the long-term benefits if they are looking to attract leads.

Colombi stated that when we discuss content pieces that are graphic, such as infographics or infographics, we explain that these are not assets but expenses. They are pieces that clients can use on their website and in their sales process.

Although investing in infographics and videos might seem daunting, Colombi says that they are investments that will benefit businesses’ long-term growth.

While small businesses should have a website that provides basic information and is functional, they should also include creative techniques such as videos to increase engagement.

You can publish images and videos, but don’t neglect long-form content

Websites that include visuals and videos can be an alternative to long-form written content. For the best return on investment, small businesses should have both visual and written content.

Long-form content allows users to dive deep into topics that interest them. Visual and video content allows businesses the ability to repurpose written content to create infographics, videos, or photos of employees for their “About Us” page.

23 percent of small businesses believe visuals and company information are the best forms of content that they published in 2018.

A majority (15%) of small businesses believe product descriptions are the most effective. Only 5% consider blog posts and articles to be effective.

According to research by the Nielsen Norman Group photos of people or products on websites draw users’ attention more than written content.

Matt Cannon, director of web services at Chicago’s internet marketing agency in phoenix Straight North, believes that blog posts and long-form content have a value that is dependent on the industry.

Cannon stated that people don’t visit websites to read blogs when they’re dealing with small B2B businesses. People spend time on the site to find out if your service is what they need and if you can assist them.

Small businesses should research their industry before investing in long-form content.

However, this doesn’t mean that small businesses shouldn’t consider long-form written content. Long-form content is an “evergreen” source that can be reused for infographics, videos, and other content assets.

Colombia believes that long-form content can be ineffective for small businesses if it is focused on SEO. However, a user-focused strategy for content marketing can increase the effectiveness of articles.

Colombi stated that “they’re more effective than people give credit for.” “If [the articles] had a content strategy to inform their customers, I believe [small businesses] could change that percentage.”

It is important to create long-form content that users can understand and not just search engines.

Videos and visuals can be used as a supplement to long-form written content. A small business could instead of writing a blog post that is 1,000 words long, create a video explaining the concept with a summary and/or transcription underneath.

Moz’s popular “Whiteboard Friday” video series offers both supplementary video content and long-form written content.

Each post includes a video embedded on the webpage. This embeds the video along with screenshots and a transcription.

Moz can see both SEO and engagement benefits by combining video, long-form, and visual content. This includes increased engagement from the video as well as SEO value from its transcript, which contains keywords and H2 that Google will index. Whiteboard Friday, however, is an important resource for Moz users.

Small businesses don’t have to limit themselves to visual or long-form content. Both user and SEO benefits can be achieved by combining both.

Engage with new content formats

Small businesses should still prioritize functional website content in 2019, but they can make a difference by investing in new forms of content like podcasts or video series.

57 percent of small businesses plan to publish information about themselves, while 48% intend to publish product descriptions. These are examples of functional content.

Visuals are still the most used form of creative content. More than half (55%) of small businesses plan to post visuals on their sites.

Other types of content that small businesses are looking to invest in include:

• Videos (42%)
• Articles and blog posts (33%).
• Downloadable content (22%).
• Podcasts (17%)

Smaller businesses with larger teams can experiment with different types of content more easily than smaller ones. Podcasts, for instance, can take more time to create and require special equipment.

Renata Castro is the founder of the full-service immigration law firm Castro Legal Group. She says that experimenting with new forms of content has benefited her entire Miami digital marketing strategy.

Castro stated that social media is used to create informative videos on YouTube as well as interactive videos via Facebook and Instagram Live. “Because I received such positive feedback from guests on podcasts of other people, I’m working on several podcasts aimed at different audiences.”

Before investing in new content on their websites, small businesses should first test the effectiveness of podcasts and videos.

Podcasts and videos can help small business branding efforts

You can incorporate emerging content into your small business’s overall brand strategy.

Ashley Graham is the CEO & Creative Director at Brandesso. This agency specializes in brand communication and marketing in San Diego.

Graham stated that a new video series, Coffee Babble, was launched recently. It promotes the brand of our company and also highlights other important brands in the industry. “In this series, we highlight local entrepreneurs and brands that have a special message and talk enthusiastically about them.”

Below is Coffee Babble, a 2-minute video featuring Brandesso branding and catchy music to grab the audience’s attention.

These videos can be found on YouTube. They complement Brandesso’s long-form blog “Coffee Break,” which Graham uses to promote the video series.

Graham uses videos to give her clients more content and visibility.

Graham stated that the show has been expanded to six episodes and turned into a paid content package, which allows brands to receive the broadcasting aspect and public relations aspects of the piece as well as lifestyle photos or b-roll clips for use in their social media and marketing strategies.

However, small businesses may want to consider outside video production resources to produce high-quality content.

“We partnered with a local photographer/videographer company to be the facilitators of the filming and editing process, as well as assist with some of the branding aspects of the videos,” Graham said.

Graham hired outside help to create a video series that was successful and increased client engagement.

Podcasts and video series are two new content formats small businesses can use to boost website engagement and improve branding.

Small Business Websites Need Content Management

In 2019, 20% of small businesses will prioritize improving website engagement. Website content can help them reach that goal.

Small businesses need to design websites that include content. A well-designed website can offer a better user experience for potential and current customers.

Small businesses that want to increase website engagement must regularly publish new content. Small businesses that have limited budgets can manage their web content by creating content in small batches or hiring external writers.

Small businesses require functional website content to give users essential information about their business. However, creative content such as blog posts, visuals, and videos keeps users interested.

Images and videos offer opportunities to repurpose long-form content. This is a benefit for small business SEO.

To increase brand engagement, small businesses should also invest in new forms of content like podcasts, webinars, or video blogs.

Content is essential for small business websites to retain and attract customers. Small businesses can achieve their goal of increasing website engagement by investing in diverse content and working with top web designers to integrate this content into a site.