What is the value of writing to a business?
Ann Handley argues that that the answer to this question ought to be a universal resounding “Yes”, but unfortunately many companies fail to see the value of investing in good content. The Acrolinx study backs up this unsettling claim with hard facts, explaining that just 31% of international brands earn even a passing grade for the quality of their website content.
To arrive at this data, the company scored more than 20 million sentences from upwards of 150,000 web pages. The study covered approximately 340 global brands – including Gucci, Exxon Mobil, and Harley-Davidson – with more than $250 Million in yearly revenue. Acrolinx judge content on the basis of grammar and usage, clarity, and style, giving each brand their own unique “impact” score. In addition to showing just how ineffective 69% of the chosen brands’ content was, the study also revealed brands from Germany and America to have the most effective content scores on average.
It’s no big secret that having great content on your website will not only make your brand more effective for your customers but will also allow it to show up higher in search rankings, making it easier to find for new customers.
Acrolinx also backs this up with the study, showing that brands with higher content impact scores had a 22% improvement in their Alexa rank, over the 9% decrease for those brands with considerably lower content impact ratings.
How much does your company value the content on your website? How would your company benefit from more effective content shared with your customers, users, and influencers?