Importance of content

The Importance of Content

News Article Written By: iQuantum

Many people are primarily concerned with the design of their website, often to the neglect of the importance of content. Too often website content is ill-conceived and hastily added at the last minute.

"Website content" refers to text, images (including flash animations) and increasingly, video. Initially, website marketing strategies were directed towards ranking sites on the first page of results in a Google search for relevant keywords. As these techniques became more sophisticated, experts began to target specific terms in niche markets that would attract searchers who were ready to buy.

Unfortunately, optimizing websites for these terms involved adjusting the keyword density: adding phrases in the right amounts to ensure the search engines ranked a site for the right keywords. Ignoring the importance of content by taking this strategy too far results in garbled and uninteresting text that is only comprehensible to a computer.

What is the point in ranking for a great term, attracting lots of prospective customers and then willfully neglecting the importance of content? Uninteresting, or in extreme cases unreadable content will only turn potential and current customers off.

The content on your website should engage people through insightful and relevant information that makes them interested in what you do.

So what will engage your audience?

Website do's and don'ts

Don't

Talk about yourself too much. Ever been at a dinner party where someone goes on and on about themselves and how great they are? After a while you switch off and stop paying attention. It's the same with businesses. People don't care about your awards or who you know. They want to know that your products and services are reliable and offer value. They want to know what's in it for them. This is where the importance of content that clearly and succinctly explains your position really comes to the fore.

Skimp on the details. What's the point of including a page on your site if it only contains one sentence? Try to keep your pages around 400 words, and don't be shy about text-heavy content. People are looking for information, and if they're interested they'll read everything they can get their hands on. But, again we stress the importance of content that is relevant.

Don't use too much Flash. Animated images and icons can make your site more interesting visually, but creating your whole site in Flash is a no-no. All text should be in HTML so that it is readable by search engine spiders (otherwise search engines will not know what your site is about). Remember, people are after information and they don't like to wait around for a site to load.

Show people that you are passionate about what you do and an expert in your field by providing them with lots of helpful information. If you tell someone you're the best, they may not believe you. If you show them your expertise, they will be convinced. Here's yet another example of the importance of content.

Break up your pages with thumbnail images and dot points.

Do make your site simple and user friendly. The navigation should be logical and straightforward, allowing people to find exactly what they want quickly and easily.