A resource center is something that many of my colleagues have, and like to have, as part of their brand. It's also an idea that we've warmed up to and are working on perfecting as part of our brand. We think that a resource center is a great way to generate leads and to create visibility for your brand.
If you don't know, a resource center is a page or section of your website where your provide free resources to web visitors. These resources can include white papers, case studies, your company blog, some of your best blog posts, articles, templates etc. anything and everything that a prospect could download or read/watch that would have valuable information for them. We'll talk about how to use these resources to generate leads in a later post. For now, we're going to talk about how to put this together.
If You Already Have Resources
If you already have some of these things on hand, then getting the resource center started is easy. Just create a new page on your website, and then have each resource available. You have a link to each resource, in which each resource would have its own page with a more detailed description, or you could have a short description with each resource and an accompanying link to download it. Kuno Creative does a good job of the latter, while HubSpot does an excellent job of the former. Both companies have a lot of resources to offer, which is why they have categories for their resources. If don't have nearly enough for categories, then don't worry! Start with what you have, and create additional resources to fill in the missing gaps once your resource center is fully functional.
If You Don't Have Resources
Then, you need to start with creating those resources. Without resources to offer, you don't have much of a resource center. However, don't forget to include things like your company blog and your contact page as part of your resource center! Not only do they count, but including them in your resource center is a great way to get subscribers or to position yourself as knowledgeable enough to have resources worth sharing.
If you don't even have any of those things, then it's best to start with the corporate blog. It's the easiest resource to put together, and it's one that will create more resources for you down the line. For example, if you end up having 20 blog post about a specific topic, you can turn those blog posts into an ebook about that topic, and then include the ebook in your resource center. No one has to know it all came from the blog! Besides, no one wants to scroll through your entire blog looking for those posts. Make it easy by organizing what you have to offer in a way that helps your prospects!
Once You Have Resources...
Once you have a few resources (five is a good place to start), then you can create the research center and promote it. Make sure the resource center URL is search-engine friendly. Our resource center URL is "content marketing resources," so have yours match the kind of resources you are providing, whether they are accounting resources, recruitment resources, or business building resources.
It would also be helpful to include pictures of your resources alongside the description and the link. This can be a picture of your blog, or of the cover page to the white paper, or an icon or stock photo that represents the topic of the resource. Giving the prospect a picture of what they would be getting may incite them to download the resource.
Don't forget to promote the resource center and its resources once you are finished, or have something functional and worth sharing! The only way folks will utilize these resources is if they know about them and know what kind of value they have. Share them all on social media, add a link to your email signature, include links to the most popular in the next email newsletter. Do what it takes to create the resource center, and then to get the word out about it.