Website Content
How Important is Website Content?
One of the most common misunderstandings with websites is that once you build the site, you automatically have an on-line presence. It is of utmost important to understand that just having a website, does not establish an on-line presence for your business.
A true on-line presence is having your business represented on hundreds of sites accross the internet. Interaction with social media sites and having a place for your clients to interact with your business is a website absolute must with today's style of pull marketing.
If a business owner does not constantly update their website content, then what is the compelling reason for a vistor to return to the site? If the information remains static or only changes periodically, once a user has read through the information provided on the site, for what reason would the user have to return.
The key is to understand how and why people use the internet. One reason to use the internet is to gather information. The second most important reason is to interact with other on-line users.
Website content is the most important aspect of your online presence. It is the beacon of light to call out for new visitors as well as to welcome back previous visitors. It is the virtual soapbox for the business to be able to come to the microphone as often as they like and speak about their expertise in their business.
Many business owners struggle with what type of content to use on their website. Many industries have access to several sources of information, such as publications, or technical/insider information that can be very easily converted into great content for their website.
Identifying content is as easy as categorizing subjects of the business, and the information resources they have on those subjects. The next step is to convert those resources into valuable content and present the information in a manner to teach and inform visitors. Everything comes down to a system!
There are two very important goals in posting content. The first goal of content is to keep visitors engaged and returning. The type of content we described above creates attraction to a real specific target market — visitors who are interested in the continued information being provided.
Additionally, the site design should provide for consumer interaction, meaning they can make comments on your content, thereby creating an online community directly through your website! People can exchange comments and questions and also learn from each other. Basically the site content provides the forum.
The second goal of content is to influence the visitor to engage and opt-in to your list. The 'list' is the single most important reason for having a website. If you do not have a secure system to collect visitors information, the website then is not functioning to serve the business. The content should help attract the target market, influence them to join the list, and thereby provide the website owner the opportunity then to offer their services back to the contacts in that list.
If done effective, it is conceivable to grow a list of 10,000 names in the course of a year. Imagine having a list of 10,000 prospects every month who you have already created a great relationship through the power of your sites content.! Content is the key to a site!
Writing Reader Friendly Content
Writing content for the internet is a totally different animal than just about any other form or writing you may have done in the past.
This is true of both writing a post for your own site, or writing articles to publish for directories. In both cases you want your total length to be somewhere between 250 and 500 words.
Seem kind of short to you?!
Well remember, when you are dealing with online articles and posts, you generally only have between 30 seconds and a minute to get your readers attention, and then if you want them to stick around you'd better make your point(s) quick!
To accomplish this your content needs to be inviting and not formatted so that it discourages the casual reader. How do you go about that?!
- Short paragraphs of 1 or 2 sentences
- Lots of white space
- Key points and common questions in bold type
- Overall short length (Max read time of 3-4 mins)
These simple points will make your readers feel comfortable and encourage them to stay on your site and look around. Readers will read 3 or 4 posts taking 8 minutes, but quickly leave a page that would require 5 minutes of reading.
These tactics are what separate successful posts and articles from dead content doing you or your readers any good at all.
QR Codes – Cutting Edge Advertising Technology
You've seen them in store windows, on restaurant tables and a growing number of businesses are posting them all over their merchandise.
And you will see a growing number of people with Smart Phones taking pictures of QR Codes every day.
So what the heck are these QR Codes, and why do they look like a cross between a barcode and a maze to run a mouse through?!
Watch this and learn:
Here are just a few QR Code ideas you could use…
* Put them on your business cards. It's an excellent conversation starter! Most will say they never heard of it, and ask you for details. Once they see the power of QR Codes they'll be asking YOU how to get started!
* Give away or sell song downloads for your band! Single songs, or entire CDs!
* Give away or sell your apps – example: iphone apps- user scans code and is taken toiTunes to purchase!
* Print QR Codes on fliers or other material for your business or your offline clients. You're the EXPERT in their eyes – because you know something they don't – you know about QR Codes!
* Coupons are an excellent way to offer both offline and online rewards and discounts. Make QR Codes with exclusive coupons or discounts!
* Make a QR Code to an online map to your business and customers will find you with ease. You can easily do this with Google maps!
We like keeping our readers and customers up to date with the latest and greatest tools and cutting edge technology so:
You can get this technology in the form of a WordPress Plugin here: WP QR Codes
Or if your site isn't WordPress based (it should be) then use our page here: Online QR Code Creator
Try out all 6 QR Code options!
Website Creation With WordPress – Not Just For Blogging
For anything but the simplest webpage creation, the easiest most flexible and versatile tool available is WordPress hands down. And I could actually use it for the simple webpage projects too, but usually I pass those on to others.
Most people first come across WordPress as a blogging platform and that it is, but also so much more. The primary website for the Ford Motor Company was built on the WordPress platform, and if that doesn't tell you how versatile WP is I don't know what will.
With WordPress you can automate so much of your wsite promotion and SEO activities that it's like having a webmaster on your payroll. There are many excellent sets of video tutorials available giving you the basics of website creation using WP so I won't go into that here. Suffice it to say that you can easily have your first website live in a couple of hours once you know the basics.
WordPress Themes will determine the look and basic layout of your site. There are literally thousands of free themes that can be used quickly and easily to create beautiful websites and blogs. You can even take a free theme and customize it to the point that nobody but you will know what the original looked like. It is sometimes worth it though to pay for a premium theme to get just the right look, or in some cases extra functionality.
In most cases additional functionality comes from using WordPress Plugins. These are plentiful and most are completely free to use on your site.They can fill a wide variety of needs and it is simplicity itself to search for the ones you need. We will be posting a list of plugins we use on each and every site we set up soon, so watch for it here.
The default settings WordPress comes with will even do most of our onsite SEO for you. The rest is easily accomplished by even rank beginners. Your WordPress Admin area makes maintaining your website or blog as easy as it can be made. Give it a shot and you will find that WordPress has the lr.
Creating Unique Website Content
Creating unique content for your website should come pretty naturally. Most of us are passionate enough about our businesses that it's hard to shut us up. So why shouldn't it be just that easy to write a short 300 word blog post on a relevant topic? And that's really the secret to it. Your posts should be organized, but write conversationally and your posts will read easily and that is vital.
On the rare occasions when I just can't come up with an idea to write about, I will go and look at a competitors site. Don't steal their content or even their ideas, but look for something they have written that you disagree with. Now go back and write about the way that you know it to be from your experience in the industry.
Remember though that your content is not just limited to posts. You can publish videos of your own, or from other sources as well. If you post somebody else's video be sure to write some commentary so that you are still building your own status as an authority in your field. A guest post by a recognized authority in your field is also frequently a good idea, so long as they aren't your competition.
I've even done interviews that I've used in several different formats. I recorded the interview and then used it in text, as an audio and with a few images made a video as well. Get the most from any outside material you create.
Unique Content is really not the problem that first time website owners and bloggers think it will be.
A few more ideas:
- Resource Lists
- Challenge Lists (with solutions)
- Relevant News Items (watch Google Trends)
- Relevant TV Appearances
- Relevant Book Reviews
- Promotion Announcements (this shouldn't make up the bulk of your content)
- Current Community Events (community being defined by the audience your prospect base is drawn from)
This list is not exhaustive but will get you more than started.
Creating unique content will be an ongoing task, but not a business owner's toughest task by a long shot.
