You are Nothing without High-Quality Content
High Quality Content
Posted by Adam Hayes
Your webpages need high-quality content.
Remember the dread of writing that 20 page research paper in high school? Although you don't need 20 single spaced, typed pages to get a good grade (or ranking) on the web, you do need two things:
- High-quality Content
- An Understanding of How People Read on the Web
I love what Rachel McAlpine said in "Web Word Wizardry".
Let's get this straight. Without high-quality content on your website you have nothing to market. Nothing.
Your potential customers cannot see or touch what you're selling. Sure, you can provide photos and samples, but you'll need other methods to convince people. Words, for example. Bundle up plenty of high-quality, original material and put it on your website. Know your stuff-either be an expert or hire one.
Remember that the words must connect with the customer. You are not looking for you; they are looking for you. You must put yourself in their shoes and think of the words they would use to look for your product. If you can't put yourself in their shoes, take some time to watch (but not interfere) others who are looking for products you sell. You'll be amazed.
Secondly, you must remember to place the correct keywords and trigger words on your page in a prominent position that will get your new customer saying "this is the site I've been searching for." Jeffrey and Bryan Eisenberg describe trigger words like this in Call to Action:
The ones that reinforce connection and confidence. The ones that are the backbone of your copy's ability to motivate the next click. So they need to be there, not just somewhere on the website as words the search engine spiders see, but as the words your visitors couldn't possibly miss.
We've already discussed how people don't read word by word on the web. They scan. However, by using bolding, headers, and lists you can still present information on the web that is easy to read which means more conversions and higher profits in the long run. Face it, words sell.
Try this on your newest page of your website. Write 300-400 words (again this isn't your 20 page research paper) about your topic for the page. No more, no less. You'll be amazed at how quickly you cover the topic and wish you had more room to type. However, if you keep it to under 400 words, you will dramatically increase the chances of the information being read instead of skipped over.
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