Correction: Quality Content is KING!
When starting out on a new web adventure, the biggest issue most newbies will face is bringing the traffic after making a website. There are many tips and tricks to improve your search engine rankings and gain visitors, but one of the best way to ensure your website will be successful is to concentrate on writing awesome content. The more content you provide for your visitors, the more value they will see in your website (which turns a new visitor into a returning visitor. Each time they return to your website (or subscribe to your ), you have the opportunity to expose them to what you have to offer, whether it be a sales product, a newsletter subscription, or a service. Plus Google loves unique content.
A website, in all its glam, is not just about how alluring the images and web design is. It is also about the content and the information that is being presented. However, not all content is alike. Your visitors want quality content in line with the main purpose of your site and Google wants keywords, so you should work to include them both. When a visitor enters a keyword or phrase into a search engine, they are searching for something specific. You only have about 3 seconds to grab a readers attention, so if your website turns up as a result of that search, that topic is what the web surfer want’s to read about.
Search engines will also look favorably upon your website if you are constantly changing and adding to your webpages with great content. Believe it or not, search engines are just as devoted to keeping web surfers happy as you are. They want their searchers to find what they are looking for and if your website lives up to what it is supposed to do (provide information on a specific subject), the search engines will be happy with you and reward you with a better ranking. And with better rankings more visitors will be able to find your website.
Also take into consideration, that some viewers also have limited time in searching the internet, so it is important to have all necessary information to be introduced once they click on to your website. If your website has a bad content writing, it will not only affect the products or services that you are promoting, but it will also affect the general image of the website as well.
So lets create some content! Where should you begin?
10 Ways of Creating Content For Your Site
1. Your unique knowledge and personality
Everybody knows something others don’t. Use your own unique insight and knowledge to provide content. Think of what activities you’ve participated in the past. Think of what you’ve learned through past experiences.
2. Personal stories
Personal stories are the basis of some sites and blogs. Want to connect with your audience on a personal level and let them know more about you? Use personal stories.
3. How-to guides
People have problems and like to figure out how to solve them. Had some problem you struggled with for a while? Did you eventually solve it? The way you solved it could be written into a how-to guide.
4. Do research
Do some research on the web. Use search engines, search directories, and follow links to find relevant sites. Do some research at your local library. Grab some books about your site’s topic and start digging through them. Find local experts, teachers, and professors and ask them questions about your site’s topic. When you research, note down interesting ideas and you’ll undoubtedly learn more. You’ll have more unique knowledge that you can turn into content. You might even discover something earth-shattering!
5. Subscribe to newsletters
Good newsletters are a great way to keep informed about a particular topic. They can keep you informed of offers that you may be able to provide on your own site. As well, they can keep you on top of what’s happening in your area by providing time-sensitive content.
6. Provide news
News can keep you informed of what’s happening in your chosen area. Go to a news site and search for information about your site’s topic. If there’s a lot of news out there, weed out the duplicate stories. Think of your visitors and what would benefit them the most. Think of what they would want to read about. Provide your own comments on the news stories you feature.
7. Use RSS
Websites use RSS to easily share their content. With RSS you can receive headlines from news sites and other sites like blogs. If you have a news service or blog you really like, consider displaying its RSS feed. Some people use RSS aggregators to combine various RSS feeds.
8. Hire writers
Everything doesn’t have to done yourself, unless you really want. Go to a service like elance.com or rentacoder.com and have others write articles for you. The quality of the articles can vary a bit, so try to make sure you get a good writer. Hiring writers can save you time and cover areas in which you are lacking. I personally don’t recommend this option, simply because no one can express your opinion and unique knowledge better than you!
9. Rewrite content with your own spin
Take a piece of content from anywhere, like a book, a newspaper article, a magazine, or a website. Use it as a base article. Read it over, get ideas from it, and analyze it. Look at other sources of content. After you’ve digested everything, write content that combines what you’ve just learned. Add in your own spin and your own unique knowledge.
10. Article directories
Article directories are great since they’re free content. But they’re not absolutely free. You usually have to leave the resource box intact. It’s a win-win situation though. The article writer build up his or her reputation and gain inbound links. On the other side, you can gain content which gives a chance to get more search engine traffic.
However, some people worry about a duplicate content penalty. They worry that they’ll get a lower search engine ranking for using content that is available elsewhere. It’s utterly impossible for every good page to be unique. For example, if a news story breaks out, there are many sources that report it. But these sources may add their own slant to the story.
A Few Tips for Writing Killer Web Copy
Remember to talk about features rather than benefits. This allows your audience to relate more easily to whatever it is you’re selling. What’s the difference? Well a feature could be something like a 10x optical zoom, whereas a benefit might be something like “you can take pictures of wildlife while maintaining a safe distance”.
Less is more. Short sentences are easier to scan and process. One of the best copywriting rules, is when you feel that you need to write more to explain what you’ve just written – perhaps consider going back and rewriting the whole sentence.
Don’t misinterpret short copy as a sign of laziness. It’s far more difficult to write concisely and make a point than it is to use lots of words. It was Mark Twain who said “I didn’t have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead.” Writing is a craft and it takes skill and practice to master the art of brevity.
Check your spelling and grammar. Although some platforms such as blogs and social media have lead to new incarnations of the English language, it’s best to conform to standard English. This of course depends on the context and audience, but as a general rule of thumb, correct spelling and grammar does lend itself more to credibility.
Make it scan-able. These days, people are time starved and information hungry. Visitors assess a page in a matter of seconds to determine whether or not it’s what they’re looking for. This can be done with title tags, and using “bold” on important keywords, but don’t get to crazy with this.
Avoid metaphorical language; it tends not to translate well. It’s highly probable that non-first language English speakers will be accessing your content, whether in its original English or using translation software. Either way, metaphors can often be confusing and misinterpreted.
Similarly, it’s best to write in a first person perspective as much as possible. Simple and straightforward word order is most accessible.
Text and Images. Remember when you were younger and the pictures in a book interested you more then the actual writing itself? This is due to how society comprehends things through visual aides. When you’re writing an article on the Internet, more people will be attracted to your article then another on the same topic just by having an image attached.
Additional Reading Suggestions
Pillar Article – How to Write Blog Content by Yaro
