Every time I begin a new project with a client, there’s a moment—usually early in the conversation—where things shift. It's after the "we need a new website" statement but before we've nailed down what that actually means. That’s when I ask a deceptively simple question: “What kind of content is going to matter most to your audience?”
This question opens doors. It forces us to pause, step back, and think not just in terms of aesthetics or platform, but purpose. Invariably, this leads us to a much deeper discussion about what kinds of content actually drive interest, build trust, and generate real measurable traffic and engagement over time. That's what we're getting into here: how to create content that doesn’t just fill your website, but fuels your growth.
Before diving into strategies, it's important to clarify what we’re actually aiming for. “Traffic” is often used as a vague goalpost, but without context, it doesn’t mean much. I’ve worked with clients who tripled their web traffic in six months—only to find out those visitors weren’t converting, calling, or even reading past the first paragraph.
Traffic without action is noise. Engagement without intention is vanity. So, when I talk about content that drives traffic and engagement, I mean ongoing content efforts that lead the right people to your site and hold their attention long enough to start a relationship.
Everything else you’ll read from here is aimed at fueling these two metrics.
Before you type your first sentence, your content needs a clear, strategic "why." Too often, people chase trends or keywords without connecting back to their actual customer’s needs. A hair salon creating blog posts about “top digital marketing trends”? Probably not the best use of energy.
Great content starts with empathy. You have to understand what your audience is Googling at 11 p.m. while they’re frustrated and looking for solutions. Your goal is to show up right there.
One client of mine—an independent gym in Nashville—saw a massive bump in traffic after we published a single article titled “Why Lifting Weights Won’t Make Women Bulky.” It addressed a common concern in their consultations, and the article now ranks above national brands. Purpose drove the piece, not trends.
There’s a temptation to blog just to blog. I see tons of business owners churning out how-to articles without considering whether their audience even wants DIY help. The real power comes from matching the right type of content to the right moment in the buyer journey.
For instance, one of my clients—a local landscaping company—created a resource called “The Complete Guide to Sod Installation in Tennessee (Cost, Timeline, Results).” We structured it with clear headers, images, FAQs, and embedded before/after galleries. It didn’t just rank in Google—it got shared on local mom groups and Facebook community boards. The content met people at exactly the point of decision.
Once you know the type of content you’re creating, think about the best home for it.
Don’t be afraid to repurpose across mediums—but always tailor the delivery.
If there’s one area I find myself challenging clients on constantly, it's this: Your audience is not made of robots. Corporate-sounding jargon, overuse of buzzwords, and writing like an academic paper is a fast way to lose people. What works isn’t “professional” sounding language. It’s clarity, authority, and relatability.
I like to think of websites the way some people think of homes. Using a WordPress template is kind of like buying a house with the drywall up but nothing painted yet. Webflow, on the other hand, gives you the blueprints, materials, and tools to build whatever house you want—down to the millimeter. These kinds of analogies work because they create shared understanding. I’m not just throwing platform features at someone—I’m building a bridge from their world to mine.
One dental client of mine had an FAQ section titled “What is endodontic therapy?” Predictably, no one read it. We changed it to say “Do I really need a root canal?” and opened with a paragraph explaining the experience in plain terms. Engagement jumped. Newsletter signups followed. All because we prioritized talkability over technicality.
This is true whether you’re writing about SEO for a manufacturing firm or layout design for e-commerce. Relatability outperforms verbosity every time.
I’ve had this conversation dozens of times: a client reads about “SEO best practices” and starts keyword stuffing their blog posts with clunky terms like “best Nashville dentist 2025.” That’s not strategy, it’s sabotage.
Search engines today want the same thing actual humans want: useful, authoritative, contextually relevant content. So instead of chasing an algorithm, build for experience—and optimize with intention.
One of my larger clients in real estate saw a 300% increase in organic traffic over a year by implementing nothing more than structured schema, smart internal links, and optimized content formatting based on search intent.
Even in technical industries, storytelling wins. Think about it: you remember the last good podcast or TikTok not because it was informative, but because it emotionally landed.
I try to bake a real, human story into nearly every piece of content I help create. A transformation. A lesson. A moment things went wrong, and how someone fixed it.
A client of mine who ran a boutique bike rental shop initially just wanted a “clean, minimalist site.” It looked fine, but no one was clicking “book.” We rewrote their homepage around one summer story of a tourist who stumbled on the shop and ended up biking along 30 miles of scenic hills with her dad. The story, paired with embedded customer quotes and high-contrast CTAs, increased conversions by 42% in three weeks.
Humans remember people, not platforms. Use that.
You can do all of the above and still lose your visibility if you treat content like a one-and-done deal. One of the easiest SEO wins I’ve helped clients get is simply updating old content with new examples, statistics, images, and more relevant internal links.
Every quarter, pull a report from Google Search Console and see which pages have declining click-throughs, rankings, or impressions. Set a 90-day calendar to update 3-5 of these pieces thoughtfully. I like to call it pruning and fertilizing your garden: you’re strengthening what’s already been planted.
And yes, blog consistently—but quality always trumps frequency. I’d rather see one well-structured post per month than four throwaway posts a week.
Traffic upticks feel good. But unless you're connecting content metrics to real business outcomes, you're just spinning wheels. This is especially key if you’re working with other vendors or marketing teams. You need visibility into how your content contributes across departments: sales, support, reputation, recruiting, visibility.
In one case, a local Franklin-based accounting firm was convinced their blog wasn’t doing much. After we set up lead source tracking and some basic conversion goals, they realized that two of their top three lead-generating pages were articles published nine months earlier. Content is compound interest. Give it time and track backward from impact.
When you're intentional with your content—from ideation to format to storytelling to optimization—you shift from web filler to business asset. But it starts, always, with empathy. That's the throughline I’ve found working with businesses big and small: if you actually care enough to understand your customer’s frustrations, goals, and language, your content will land.
Whether you're a Webflow power user building complex interactions or a small business updating a Wix site, the principles don’t change. Speak clearly. Provide value. Tell stories. Stay consistent. And never hit publish without knowing why.
This kind of content doesn’t just rank—it resonates. And in an attention economy, that’s everything.
Copyright © Zach Sean Web Design
