Why Your Content Needs to Live in a Place Where You OWN It
Last week, Instagram experienced one of the spookiest platform glitches of all time that left thousands of people with suspended accounts and massive follower loss with no explanation.
This unwelcomed Hallowen scare sent people into an absolute panic when they thought they were never going to be able to access their content or their followers again and they were going to have to start over from scratch.
As a content writer for business owners, my beliefs about social media were very clearly confirmed and that is the fact that you do not own your content or followers on social media.
So basically, if Instagram (or any other social media platform) out there decides to suspend or delete your account or, even worse, decides to become nonexistent altogether, there’s absolutely nothing you can do about it - you have no control. 😳
And as a business owner or someone building a brand, having no control is probably one of your worst nightmares. It’s for that reason that creating your content in a place where you OWN it first is so vital!
Sometimes this concept is hard for people to grasp because they think, “well I created the content so of course I own it!” And I really do wish it were that simple.
The reality is that your social media platforms are rented space. It’s like your first college dorm - you RENTED the space to house yourself and your belongings for a season before you moved on.
Then later, once you graduated college or got married, you BOUGHT your first house - this is like your website.
You own the keys to your website, which means you get to decide what happens to it. You’re in control of the updates, the look and feel of the home page, what tabs are at the top, what content people see, ALL of it!
Knowing this, you might be wondering why more people don’t take advantage of this or place a whole lot of emphasis on their website and the content that goes into it.
Because after all, the majority of things you see being shared on the Internet these days are “how to grow your TikTok following” or “how to beat the Instagram algorithm.”
My take on that? It’s not an easy button 🚨
I’ll admit that creating a website and maintaining consistent blog content does take more time than filming a quick TikTok video or writing an Instagram post. And as a business owner or someone building a brand on social media, you probably have a lot going on.
So, you need easy and you need quick - I get it!
The problem with not taking the extra time to set up your website and create a consistent blog content plan is that you’re ignoring the long game of your business or brand.
Will that social media post provide instant gratification with likes, comments and maybe a few new followers? Sure! And I love that for you.
But what about 3-5 years from now? Or heck, what about 3-6 months from now? Will anyone see that trendy Reel again? Will they remember the message you recorded for Instagram stories that expired within 24 hours?
The answer is probably not.
And I’m not saying all of this to scare you or for you to question everything you’ve ever done in your business or brand up to this point. I’m simply here to provide you with a mindset shift and challenge you to take action on the thing that many people overlook.
When you prioritize your website and the content that goes into it, you are setting your business or brand up for the long haul and allowing yourself to work smarter, not harder - and that’s what I’m all about over here 💃🏼
Why Owning Your Content Is So Important
Beyond the simple fact that owning your content allows you to be in control forevermore, there’s 3 more reasons why owning your content is so important:
You Can Populate Higher in Google Searches
Search engine optimization (SEO) isn’t something you hear me talk about very often because when it comes to blogs in your business, I hold a different philosophy that I believe is far greater than creating content for the sake of populating higher in a Google search.
Even though I do believe that blogs in your business benefit you far beyond SEO, it’s still something to recognize and consider. The fact of the matter is, when you create high quality content for your website on a consistent basis, your site WILL populate higher in a Google search, especially when the content is created to be *actually* helpful to your audience.
In fact, Google’s helpful content update that went into effect in September 2022 says that sites who create useful content that is clearly optimized for people, not search engines will be rewarded. 🏆
So, when you create content for your website through blog posts with the intention of providing true value for your audience on a deep level, you’re setting your business up for the long haul by increasing the chance of your content being found by people who don’t even know you yet, while also allowing your current audience to refer to your content at any given time.
You Actively Build YOUR Brand, Not Someone Else’s
When you use Instagram, TikTok or any other social media platform to primarily build your brand or grow your business, you’re actually building that platform's brand instead.
By delivering all of your best content on your social media accounts, you’re giving people more of a reason to stay on these apps and take the action that the apps have been designed for them to take rather than guide someone to your website where they can receive ultimate value and take further action WITH YOU!
In fact, when you do this you are actually training people to ignore your website and the more that you reinforce this, the harder it will be to break or change the behavior in the future.
It’s sort of like when you have a new puppy and you’re training them on the right and wrong things they can do. If you don’t want them to sleep in the bed with you, but you allow it every now and then, the harder it will be to break that habit further down the road.
Your website is ultimately the ONLY place that you can be in full control of how someone interacts with your content and what action they take after consuming the content, so if you want to actively build your brand instead of someone else’s it may be time to re-think your social strategy and consider implementing consistent blog content so that the two can coexist in an effective way.
You Aren’t Handcuffed to Algorithms
Lastly, when you create content in a place where you own it, you are no longer handcuffed to algorithms, meaning you don’t have to post and pray that someone will see the content that you worked so hard to create.
The fact of the matter is that your blog content has a much longer shelf life than that of your Instagram or TikTok posts, so you can rest easy knowing that even if someone doesn’t see your blog content immediately, it can live on for years to come in Google searches (when written in a way that truly benefits people) and you can refer to it over and over and over again via email or other modes of repurposing.
Overall, housing your content in a place where you OWN it, like blogs on your website, can set your business or brand up for long game wins that can provide a much greater ROI (in terms of your time and even your money) than likes, comments or shares on social media.
How To Start A Blog For Your Business
If you’re ready to embrace blogs in your business, but have no clue how to get started, The Beginner’s Guide to Blogging For Your Business was designed with you in mind.
In the FREE comprehensive workbook, you’ll learn how to start your business blog from scratch so you can:
build a content bank that can be referred to for years to come
have an organized and searchable home base for ALL of your content in a place that you OWN
be seen as an expert in your industry and a go-to source in your community
Download the complimentary guide and if you need more hands on support, I’m your girl 🤝
Click here to connect for all done-for-you writing services, blog strategy sessions and other services.