“Content is King”. “Content is more important than web design”. “Content is the soul of the website”. You’ll hear this and more whenever content is discussed. But, what exactly IS content? By definition, web content is literally the words and text on a web page. Who decides how good the content is? Your customers do… And, they’ll make that decision within 4 seconds. 4 seconds! That’s all the time you get before your prospective customer decides whether your site answers their questions, solves their problem, or provides the product or service they seek. That is why content is King and why we’re dedicating a series to how to develop and maintain your website content. 

Part One: Know Thy Customer

Your website is the greatest marketing tool you have. Let’s start with some things to keep in mind when writing pages for your site (and specifically your homepage—the most important one!) Before you begin writing content for your site, first determine who the site is for and how you want your site to perform. Who is your perfect customer? What are their needs/problems? How can you solve them better than your competitor? And, what action do you want them to take when they're on your site? Once you determine exactly who your perfect customer is, you're ready to begin developing your content.

Helpful Hint: Think about who is your favorite customer? What are they like and what are their needs? Sometimes businesses become too general in their customers. Narrow your target. It will become more attractive to your perfect customer (as you identify more to them), and you'll get to work with the customers you like the best! Win-win.

“It’s All About Me”--Avoid writing all about your company/business. Don't waste prime real estate talking about your business. It's natural to want to talk about your business. After all, it's what you do. But, your customer is interested in whether you can solve their problem.  Save the bios and introductions for the “About Us “ page. Use your homepage to identify your customers’ needs and convince them you can do it better than anyone.

Helpful Hint: Avoid using the word "we" within the content of your site. This will force you to write benefit centered content. How does your product/service benefit your customer?

“It’s All About Relevancy”—Make sure your content is crawl-worthy. Your customers aren’t the only ones who think content is king. Search engines crawl and seek content. It’s what they value more than anything else. Not just any content—relevant content.

What it means to search engines: Search engines are designed to provide users with the most relevant content based on their search. One of the ways they determine the relevancy of your website is by "crawling" the content of your website (among other things). If your content matches the search word or phrase your customer is searching for, your website will hopefully show up in your customers search results. 

What it means to your customers: Once a customer lands on your site, it's crucial for them to know your site provides them with relevant information. Use keywords within the copy of your site, especially in headings and subheads, as these areas get the most attention (since they are generally larger and/or bolded). This allows your customers to more speedily determine that your business fits their needs. (Let’s face it, if they don't recognize this right away, they're leaving—within 4 seconds, remember?) If a customer searches for a specific word or phrase on Google, goes to your site and finds that same word or phrase, they're immediately making the connection that you may provide them with what they need. This doesn't mean your entire website should be full of keywords. Do some research and determine your top keywords and use those throughout your site.

Helpful Hint: Write out a list of words and/or phrases you believe your perfect customer would use to find you through a search engine like Google. Think about the different product/services you provide and how they would describe or look them up. Then, use the Google Keyword Tool to see if your lists of words or phrases are what your customers are really using to find you. Sometimes you'd be surprised! So, it's always good to double check.

Coming Soon—Part 2: Attention Business Owners, Clean Up on Aisle Two!