Ask most business owners what kind of content they should be creating to drive website traffic, and you'll usually hear the same handful of responses. “SEO blogs.” “Instagram posts.” “Email newsletters.” They're not wrong—but that’s like saying you should eat “food” to get healthy. It’s true, but what kind of food? How much? How often?
This post is about getting specific. If you're going to invest time and energy into content (and you should, by the way), you deserve to create the kind that actually works. That means content specifically crafted to attract the right audiences, connect on a human level, and lay the foundation for real business growth.
I work with a range of businesses, from local fitness studios to B2B consultancies, and one thing is consistent: many are creating content that doesn’t move the needle. It might look good, it might even say the right things—but it's not part of a strategy to bring in attention, build trust, or lead users further down the funnel.
So this isn’t just about churning out blog posts for the sake of it. It’s about crafting the right kind of content: content that drives both traffic and, more importantly, engagement from the people who actually matter.
Before getting into the nitty-gritty of how to make great content, we have to realign expectations. Too often, businesses pour hours into writing blog posts only to be discouraged when they get 12 views and zero conversions. The problem? That content wasn’t built with a purpose, for a person.
Let me start with a story. A client of mine, a boutique real estate agency, came to me proudly showing off a blog post titled “Top 10 Most Expensive Properties in the World.” It had gone semi-viral and brought in thousands of views—but not a single contact form submission.
Why? Because people looking for billion-dollar homes aren't exactly her target market. Her ideal clients were families relocating from out-of-state and looking to buy homes in her local area, not luxury property browsers from other continents.
This is a classic example of traffic that pads your vanity metrics but does nothing for your goals. Good content marketing focuses not just on views, but on what kind of attention it brings—and what happens afterward.
Engagement is someone reading your blog instead of skimming. It’s them clicking to the next page, signing up for a newsletter, or hitting reply to your emails.
In data terms, that means:
If your traffic is growing but none of these indicators are, it’s a signal that your content isn’t resonating.
Different types of content serve different roles in a healthy marketing strategy. Rather than guessing, take an inventory of what your potential clients are asking, where they’re stuck, and what keeps them from converting.
I often use a simple model based on the marketing funnel:
Here’s how this looks in practice:
Many businesses get stuck pouring all their energy into the first type and neglect the others. If all your posts are TOFU content, you may get a lot of attention without much conversion. If they’re all BOFU, cold visitors may not even stick around.
In service businesses like mine, content that educates and builds trust is your best long-term asset. One of my clients, a Franklin-based therapist, saw huge improvement in qualified inquiries after we restructured her blog to focus on patient concerns rather than promoting her services.
Instead of saying “I offer trauma recovery,” we helped her publish resources like “What Does PTSD Actually Feel Like Day-To-Day?” and “When Should You Seek a Trauma Specialist—And When Should You Wait?”
This changed everything: people saw her as a guide, not a vendor. That distinction drives engagement.
There’s a place for both, but knowing how these two types function is key to long-term visibility and authority.
Evergreen content is built to last. These are the articles that detail industry concepts, answer repeated client questions, or explain your process in a timeless way.
Examples include:
Good evergreen pieces often become cornerstone content for SEO. My article “Webflow vs WordPress: Which Should You Pick?” continues to bring in consistent traffic month after month—all organic, no ad spend needed.
These are more responsive, in-the-moment posts. Think trend breakdowns, commentary on algorithm updates, or event-based write-ups. For example, I wrote a quick analysis on how Google’s 2024 Helpful Content update affected small business sites—it got shared across multiple Webflow communities on Reddit and LinkedIn.
While this content has a shorter shelf life, it's emotive and ripe for engagement. Timely content is how you insert yourself into existing conversations and build topical authority.
A healthy content calendar has both types: the evergreen stuff keeps your authority compounding, while the timely content keeps you current and discoverable.
SEO isn’t optional. But if SEO is the only lens you’re creating through, something feels off. People sense it. The writing gets robotic, the clean design gets cluttered with keyword stuffing, and all the authentic voice gets scrubbed out.
This is not new advice, but it's so often misapplied. Writing for people doesn't mean abandoning SEO—it just means you begin with empathy. Ask: What is this person going through? Where in their journey are they? Then: What questions are they typing into search?
Start with a core question or tension your audience feels. Use tools like AnswerThePublic to dig deeper into search behavior. But always filter the keyword research through lived understanding of your audience.
Strong content respects reader attention. Use:
I use this internal structure strategy with almost every client. Not only does it elevate UX, it helps Google understand your priority topics and architecture. Good for users, good for bots.
When I think about what content actually performs well for clients, a huge number of them are rooted in stories. Not hypothetical case studies, but real mess-meets-magic narratives.
People relate to imperfect stories. A client once asked me to write a case study about their new ecommerce launch. The initial brief had an all-up-and-to-the-right narrative. Instead, we wrote about the three months of stalled conversions, the panic, the pivot—and then the breakthrough.
People loved it. It felt human. The vulnerability created trust, and that trust led to leads.
If you're highlighting a client success story, focus on the transformation relevant to your actual leads—not on the parts that stroke your own ego.
For example, a 5x ROAS means more to a marketing team than to someone running a dentist office. But “went from 2 appointments/week to 10, and finally turned off Groupon ads” hits home.
I work with a lot of local businesses in Franklin and Nashville—many would rather hear stories about the pizza shop down the street than Fortune 500s in Forbes. Speak where your readers are.
A wall of text is... rarely the move. Luckily, we’re living in an era where almost any format can serve content goals, if done well.
This format is queen when it comes to SEO. A well-written, structured article that dives deep into one problem can rank well, attract backlinks, and keep people on-site for several minutes.
But length is not value. Fluff will bounce people fast. Longform works when it offers clarity, story, perspective, and actionable help.
Platforms like YouTube, TikTok (in some industries), and embedded guides on your site work incredibly well for gaining traffic and trust. If you’re a web designer, show parts of your process transparently. One of my most reshared videos was just a five-minute Loom walking through how I set up CMS collections for a podcast site.
Real, unscripted teaching tends to outperform polished “corporate” content ten to one. If you've ever talked with a potential client who said, “I saw your video on SEO audits and it finally made sense”—you know the power of this format.
Offer resources that solve micro-problems. One client’s site went from stale to buzzing after we added a simple quiz: “Find the Best Website Platform for Your Business.” Completion rate was 61%. It gave leads talking points and gave sales calls direction.
Think small wins: checklists, pricing calculators, visual before/afters, platform comparison worksheets. These turn passive readers into interacting visitors.
To go from reader to advocate, something bigger has to happen. Content must resonate with both intellect and identity.
The best shared articles often reflect something the reader feels but hasn’t articulated. When I wrote a newsletter titled “Marketing Isn't Broken—You're Just Tired,” I had people forwarding it. Why? Because it gave language to something they were feeling. When your ideas give people words or frameworks they can’t stop thinking about, they share naturally.
This is logistical, but often overlooked. Optimize your site and blog layout for mobile readability. Make highlight quotes stand out. Add visuals that speak to each section. Minimize friction and get out of the way.
The internet is overwhelmed with content. It’s never been easier to hit publish and never been harder to actually matter. What works today isn’t volume. It’s resonance.
Creating the kind of content that drives traffic and engagement means aligning what your audience needs emotionally and practically, and delivering it in accessible, story-rich, search-smart formats.
Think of your content not as output, but as a conversation. A handshake. An invitation to deeper trust. That’s what brings the traffic that sticks around—and the engagement that turns into real growth.
Copyright © Zach Sean Web Design
