Content: The Key to a Successful Website
Gain your visitor’s attention
Content is the key to gaining your web site visitor’s attention. You must grab your visitor’s attention within the first 10 seconds or they will probably click on to another web site. Have quickly visible textual web content that jumps out of the screen and captures them. Remember you are competing with thousands of web sites. Your site needs to have some unique feature that compels your visitor to remain at your site and hopefully purchase your product or service.
Large companies spend a great deal of money on slogans, catch-phrases and logos that capture the consumers’ attention. Work on a one-line slogan to summarize what you offer.
Tighten up your web pages so that this important material is visible on the screen when your site first opens. Text at the top of the page is most important.
Many web sites rely on graphic content. That, too, is important, but graphics take a while to load, especially on the dial-up connections most consumers use. It is of utmost importance to supply the visitor with something to read while the graphics load. Optimize the graphics so they take a minimum of load time.
Keep their attention
It is up to 25 percent more difficult to read on a computer screen than from print.
Documents should have short sentences, short line-lengths and paragraphs. Paragraphs should have bold-faced type headings. Documents themselves should be short because people like to scan read. Remember to check spelling and grammar.
Use standard web conventions such as conventional placing of navigation buttons and underlined hyperlinks using blue colored text. Black text on a white background is easiest to read. 10-point font is easier to read than 8-point font. Avoid fancy fonts. That's true whatever the subject of your site, whether you are writing about software or Quarter horses.
Motivate action
Include a call to action on the part of the visitor and a way to implement it. Invite the visitor to buy or to call you today about your product or services. Then have clear and concise contact and buy instructions on every page. Include a telephone number if possible because sometimes your visitors prefer direct personal contact.
Search engines use content, too.
Besides being important for your visitors, Content is what a number of search engines rely upon for site ranking. In an earlier article, we discussed the importance of good keywords and their use in metatags in the programming portion of the web site. We discussed effective keyword research. Research your industry, competitors and most requested search terms. Identify the keywords that are the most regularly used by your target audience. You should be using these terms in your title, description, and metatags, but their most important use is in the actual text you display on the pages. Include the exact phrases you are trying to target. Look for opportunities to make links out of search terms located within your page text. All this will help you to get a higher search engine ranking position.
A good web page should include at least 250 words of text. Within that text, aim to achieve between 5% - 15% frequency for the keywords you are trying to target. You can check the keyword density with free tools available on the Internet.
Add your targeted keywords to the ALT tags of images, especially those that link to another page within your website. Make sure the headings of each page contain the most relevant search terms for your content. The navigation menu can include relevant search terms. Also include them in the text you use in product descriptions. Make sure that the site is easy to navigate and that all of your keyword-rich text still makes sense to the average visitor.
Web sites are powerful marketing tools. Fill them with compelling and relevant text and graphics, so they will capture and hold your visitor’s interest and generate sales.
A version of this article by Lee Raine appeared in the March 2004 issue of Equestrian Retailer Magazine.
Content is the key to gaining your web site visitor’s attention. You must grab your visitor’s attention within the first 10 seconds or they will probably click on to another web site. Have quickly visible textual web content that jumps out of the screen and captures them. Remember you are competing with thousands of web sites. Your site needs to have some unique feature that compels your visitor to remain at your site and hopefully purchase your product or service.
Large companies spend a great deal of money on slogans, catch-phrases and logos that capture the consumers’ attention. Work on a one-line slogan to summarize what you offer.
Tighten up your web pages so that this important material is visible on the screen when your site first opens. Text at the top of the page is most important.
Many web sites rely on graphic content. That, too, is important, but graphics take a while to load, especially on the dial-up connections most consumers use. It is of utmost importance to supply the visitor with something to read while the graphics load. Optimize the graphics so they take a minimum of load time.
Keep their attention
It is up to 25 percent more difficult to read on a computer screen than from print.
Documents should have short sentences, short line-lengths and paragraphs. Paragraphs should have bold-faced type headings. Documents themselves should be short because people like to scan read. Remember to check spelling and grammar.
Use standard web conventions such as conventional placing of navigation buttons and underlined hyperlinks using blue colored text. Black text on a white background is easiest to read. 10-point font is easier to read than 8-point font. Avoid fancy fonts. That's true whatever the subject of your site, whether you are writing about software or Quarter horses.
Motivate action
Include a call to action on the part of the visitor and a way to implement it. Invite the visitor to buy or to call you today about your product or services. Then have clear and concise contact and buy instructions on every page. Include a telephone number if possible because sometimes your visitors prefer direct personal contact.
Search engines use content, too.
Besides being important for your visitors, Content is what a number of search engines rely upon for site ranking. In an earlier article, we discussed the importance of good keywords and their use in metatags in the programming portion of the web site. We discussed effective keyword research. Research your industry, competitors and most requested search terms. Identify the keywords that are the most regularly used by your target audience. You should be using these terms in your title, description, and metatags, but their most important use is in the actual text you display on the pages. Include the exact phrases you are trying to target. Look for opportunities to make links out of search terms located within your page text. All this will help you to get a higher search engine ranking position.
A good web page should include at least 250 words of text. Within that text, aim to achieve between 5% - 15% frequency for the keywords you are trying to target. You can check the keyword density with free tools available on the Internet.
Add your targeted keywords to the ALT tags of images, especially those that link to another page within your website. Make sure the headings of each page contain the most relevant search terms for your content. The navigation menu can include relevant search terms. Also include them in the text you use in product descriptions. Make sure that the site is easy to navigate and that all of your keyword-rich text still makes sense to the average visitor.
Web sites are powerful marketing tools. Fill them with compelling and relevant text and graphics, so they will capture and hold your visitor’s interest and generate sales.
A version of this article by Lee Raine appeared in the March 2004 issue of Equestrian Retailer Magazine.