Content is Key To Online Sueccess

Content is Key to Online Success - By Rob Bloom

Think of a question. Any one you like.

Now type that question into Google and the chances are you'll find the answer before having to move your cursor to the scroll bar. That's because for the vast majority of the world's 1.4 billion Internet users, the web is a valuable information resource.

When producing content for your website, informing the reader about your products and services should therefore be of utmost importance. Choosing language that merely promotes a hard sell, a narrative of your organisation, or worse still, a conglomerate of mind tangling keywords, won't stand you in good stead to maintaining a page-view for longer than the average three seconds that you have to capture your audience. Yet, by the sheer complexity of website copy, the aforementioned are still features of language-use that can't be discarded if you're after optimum website success.

Creating such all-encompassing content for this unique medium requires a specialist approach - it's an art in its own right. Especially important when you consider that 70% of web browsers view the content before the design.

When product brochures offer detail, sales letters push the hard sell, and business cards introduce your contact details, your website must act for all three. When your Home page doubles up as your Head Office, your Home page content is the welcoming receptionist, plus tea lady, product brochure to sit down with and forthcoming sales meeting, all in one. It must serve to fulfil the entire advertising and sales process. Oh, and for the Home page, in no more than around 150 words too!

Copy must be informative and engaging; spelling, punctuation and grammar must be precise; the tone must reflect the brand image of your organisation and there must be a call to action. And at times, it must even serve to close the sale. That's before we address the issue of keyword inclusion to optimise your search engine rankings.