The websites ranked at the top of Google listings are the sites that Google deems most relevant and trustworthy for search enquiries.

If your website ranks below the first few results, visitors are unlikely to click through to your page – and if you’re not on the first page of results, you can pretty much guarantee that no-one will scroll far enough to find you.

So, you’re a building products manufacturer with a website that clearly displays all your construction products, but you’re just not getting specified by architects, and you’re wondering why.

Is it possible that you’re guilty of the four pet hates of architects?

It’s time to find out.

Recently, we to spoke a company that had tried content marketing and had given up after a couple of months.  They’d written a handful of blog posts, but once the blog posts were live, nothing happened.

They didn’t gain any leads and their traffic barely increased.  The company concluded that no-one was interested in reading their blog posts.

But questions exist around every topic.  Humans have an innate curiosity; they want to know why, and then, they want to know how.

If your blogging strategy isn’t consistent and optimised to answer your prospects’ questions, it might seem that no-one’s interested in reading your content.  But, if you blog for your construction market, there’s always ways to bring traffic to your building products website, attract leads and maximise sales.

Blogging, when done right, can work for everyone.  

Insynth explained to the company that a few unconnected blog posts aren’t enough.  To drive results, they need to treat construction blogging like growing an orchard.  Just as trees in an orchard need consistent nurturing to be healthy, blog content needs to be gradually built up to drive traffic.

Here’s how you can grow blogging as part of your construction content marketing strategy to reap the fruits of your labour.

Insynth are delighted to congratulate in-house Digital Content Marketer, Abby Buchan-Howard on graduating from the University of Wolverhampton with a first-class degree in Creative & Professional Writing and English.

As 3 of over 24,000 attendees from just one of 110 countries involved, Insynth travelled to the USA for the 2018 INBOUND conference: three days of keynote and breakout sessions, brimming with learning, inspiration and connection.

Hosted by HubSpot, the Inbound sessions covered everything from content tricks, to SEO techniques, to the neuroscience of engagement.

We're ready to offer the secrets uncovered at the conference for our clients. 

Below, you'll find links to our live-blogs of sessions that will help you to meet your marketing goals.

Each category of Inbound sessions brings a wealth of new, inspirational tips that are designed to help your building products company grow better.

With the rise of voice search and evolving Google algorithms, many are beginning to question whether keywords are still important in the modern world.

Since one piece of content can rank for a range of keywords, the focus is on quality, not quantity. The focus should no longer be on keywords, but on key topics.

Here's how you can keep your keyword research and SEO strategies alive in the context of modern search.

90% of customers say that video helps them make buying decision and 65% say that seeing video makes them more likely to buy.

Here's how you can make brand videos with next to no cost to increase your sales in under 20 minutes, maybe under 10, and just possibly, under 5.

Scott Harrison opened the final day of the 2018 Inbound conference with his inspirational story about changing his life to bring good to others.

Scott talks about how you can change your story to change your life - and the lives of others - and this applies to business too.

Through Scott's organisation, Charity: Water, millions of lives have been saved through the provision of safe drinking water. You can save lives too.

How do you create content that sticks in your audience's minds?

How do you leave your readers with questions?

How can you tell compelling stories?

These are the questions that Nadya Khoja answers in her 2018 Inbound Conference session. With her answers, you too can create viral content.

'The hard part isn't coming up with ideas. It's picking the best ones' - Brittany Berger

Quality isn't about the number of blog posts that you publish. It's about the number of qualified leads that you can generate from compelling content.

Here's how you can remix and re-purpose content strategically to generate leads without constantly running on the hamster wheel of content creation.

'Your actions are a huge part of your story' - Lisa Gerber

Humans are wired for stories. We don't remember statistics; we remember how we felt when he heard hard-hitting, emotional stories.

But telling stories takes work, thought and time if you want to connect with your audience.

Here are the powerful techniques that you need to implement for your stories to resonate with your readers and generate leads.

'Customers are people first and buyers second.' - Patrika Alis Cheston

No matter what your product is, you're marketing to customers. Even for 'boring' products, people care about their experience with your brand.

Focus on meeting the need instead of selling the product. 

Here's how you can make sure you're always talking your customers' language.

Are you regularly blogging? Updating your social media accounts? Emailing your leads?

And are you often featured in newspapers, magazines and other media outlets?

No? There are so many uncovered methods of getting press coverage for your company. And it's all about getting credibility to gain authority in the marketplace.

But remember, 'you can't be vanilla if you want to engage with the press' - Janet Murray.

'Create content that deserves to rank' - Adam Piotrowski.

When people search online, they're looking for quick answers. 

They don't want to scroll for information.

When there isn't a featured snippet, searchers may look at the first few results. But featured snippets take up the same room as around 3 search results, so viewers are unlikely to scroll any further when one appears at the top of their page.

Featured snippets currently only appear in around 12.2% of search results, and when there is a featured snippet, only 19.6% of people will click on results beneath the snippet.

This means that there's plenty of room to win featured snippets, and when you do your website traffic will soar.

'Create journeys fuelled by an undercurrent of emotional value.'

In Karin Krisher's storytelling session at the Inbound 2018 Conference, Karin discussed the secrets of framing your company stories with emotional context.

Emotion needs to be integrated into the six main narrative elements: plot, character, theme, conflict and setting.

Here's why.

'What is the relationship between a great story and change?' - The question that Bridgit-Antoinette Evans opened her session at the 2018 Inbound conference with.

To answer this, you'll need your imagination.

Bridgit focuses on brand-building and compelling stories that resonate. She discusses how to change customer perception and create positive impact through media and communications.

53% of B2B buyers said they would prefer to gather information online and not have to talk to sales (Forrester Research, Inc). The unpleasant truth is, most people don't want to talk to you.

Gaetano DiNardi's session at the Inbound 2018 conference teaches important lessons in leveraging technology to build a modern sales process to maximise results.

Here's what you can apply from Gaetano's lead generation tips and tricks.

Think about what boredom means to you. Is it guilt about wasting time? Loss of incentive or purpose? Lack of concentration?

Neuro-scientifically speaking, some people are biologically more prone to becoming bored than others. Those who are less likely to become bored tend to have a clear purpose, mature interpersonal relationships and autonomy. But what if you're lacking these things?

Here are our key takeaways from Carmen Simon's session on The Neuroscience of Engagement at the 2018 Inbound conference.

Having a blog or news page on your website is core to your content marketing for building products strategy.

Blogging allows you to keep your clients and prospects up to date with your construction news, building product updates and current market insights.  By providing them with educational content that builds authority, you’ll encourage them to engage with you instead of your competitors. 

Your blog helps you to build rapport with your prospects.  When you regularly update it, you’ll constantly be fresh in the minds of your readers, and they’ll be more likely to convert into leads.

In fact, B2B companies that blog generate 67% more leads than companies who don’t (HubSpot). 

Read on to find out how you can generate more leads by getting the most out of your construction blog or news page.

One of the core principles of construction inbound marketing is aligning your marketing and sales teams so that you can provide holistic services that close leads and delight your clients. 

When your sales and marketing teams are aligned, your brand message will be amplified and your services will be more consistent, helpful and customer-centric. 

This is why marketeers in smaller building product companies wear many hats when driving growth for their clients.  One of these hats is the sales services hat.

But you don't have to be a sales guru to provide value to your prospects...

How many people confess that they’ve questioned whether content marketing really works?

Maybe you’ve read countless construction blogs before sitting down to write your own and are wondering whether it’s worth the effort.

It’s important to remember that while it’s easy to write, it’s not easy to write well.  Your content needs to support and impact the overall success of your business.  It needs to stand out from competition .  You don’t want to be shouting along with the rest of the chorus at the back of the stage.

So, is it worth it ?

Charlotte McCormac brings a passion for writing and a first-class degree in English to the role.

Shropshire based construction marketing specialist, Insynth, is delighted to announce the appointment of Charlotte McCormac as their new digital content marketer. Charlotte is responsible for creating exciting content for clients, as well as search engine optimisation and implementing inbound marketing strategies. Charlotte will be producing blogs, eBooks and whitepapers, as well as managing social media channels.