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Content is King

(c) Jennifer Ryan - Aug. 2004

Do a search (any search) on Google or Yahoo. Notice anything special about the sites listed up top? It's something so basic that it's easy to miss. The non-ad sites you see at the top of search engine results have this in common. Web Content.

Content is King

On the web, "Content is King." No matter if you're a local roofing company or a huge financial empire, words on the page is what brings home the bacon. There are a number of reasons for this phenomenon, here's just a few.

We are living in the Information Age. People have all the information in the world at the click of a mouse. If you don't give them the information they crave, your competitors will. 

Search engines can only read text. At it's core, web content is really just text, right? Search engines today are capable of reading only text. Pictures and animation are rendered useless to your site other than decoration. Your website will not show up in search results unless it contains the appropriate text and  keywords.

People use the web to find goods and services. Statistics show that people are going online to find what they want to buy. 80% of people do research online before they buy.

To rank highly on Google, content is a must. Google is the top search engine in the nation. If you want to rank on top of Googles search results, you must be listed on the DMOZ. The DMOZ is a human edited directory with strict content requirements and guidelines.

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Not Just Any Old Content

One of the main ways to get to the top of search engines and generate leads online is by creating a website with factual and informative web content. Just any content will not do. To really be successful with the search engines, consider the following:

Keyword Rich Text: Statistics show that 98% of people are finding their way around online by search. People find your website by typing queries into search engines. If your website does not contain the same keywords people are typing into the search engines, your website will never show up.

Web Content, Not Printed Content: Content that was created for the printed page is not suitable for the web. Web content is written in an entirely different format, partially because people read the web differently than they do print. If you want people to read the content you post online, you should write it in such a way that is digestible.

People scan the web, they don't read. That's why you should use lots of bullet points, bold headings and short choppy sentences. What's the use of putting a bunch of legal documentation on the web? Think about it. When's the last time you read every word of a long 50 page legal document on the web? You have? Sure, I've done it too...but it's rare. Even the Phd would prefer to scan the internet as opposed to reading it. The nature of the internet is quick and fast information resource.

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Good Web Content Should:

1.  Attracts search engine crawlers. Visitors use search engines to find what they want. So, it makes sense to be found by your customers. (Warm leads) Here's the rub. Search engines aren't human. Your website must be written in computer-speak to attract search engines.

2.  Entices visitors to buy or consider your products and services. What good is it to write in computer-speak if our websites are a deluge of confusion? If nobody stays on our sites, all our efforts are in vain. That's why it's important to write our website's content using solid web-marketing strategies and keeping things simple. 

3. Sell your products and services. In the beginning of the www, most companies were simply interested in getting on the web. Not yet able to grasp the revenue generating potential the internet, our websites served as a mere digital brochure. Not any more. Today your website can actually do your selling for you if you let it.

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