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As ‘Location, Location, Location’ is to the property market, so Content is to the Web. It
ranks as the three top priorities when building a successful website. Successful in a
stickier-than-a-honeypot, search-engine-winner, kind of way, we are talking about a site
having a reason, a purpose and, most of all, substance.
While the initial 'wow' factor of a sophisticated site may still grab a surfer’s attention in
order to keep it, a site's content is most definitely the key. Now more than ever, in such a
saturated and ever-expanding market, not only must content be king, it must be the
country and whole continent too.
This is certainly not a new concept. Since man first learned the need to communicate,
words have been used to record, to predict, to influence, to educate and to create. Words
have shaped society into what it is today, used as a powerful tool by the greatest political,
religious and human rights leaders in history.
When the Web was 'born', a mere 15 years ago, flashing logos, roll-over graphics and
animated icons were often enough to impress. But, with time, expectations have grown
and web surfers are now a much tougher audience to crack. They have been around the
‘cyber block’ and they know that even on the Internet, appearances can be deceptive and
that beauty really is only ‘screen deep’.
Of course good content includes not only the layout but the ease of navigation and the
quality of the images used. If professionally produced, a web site gives a great first
impression for any company; an impression that can last. The idea is not to pit design
against copy - both are crucial and must work together to make the site stand apart the
rest.
To achieve success on the Web the designer has to cater for two different kinds of
audiences.
The first is the surfer, the Web window shopper, and the potential customer. Gaining
customer loyalty goes along way in this game. It can take years to establish trust, but
only a minute to lose it.
Whether you are there to sell, to service or just to inform, you must not only meet the
visitor’s expectations, you must surpass them.
So if, for example, your site is there to sell the world's smallest, most advanced fishing
rod, make sure that you give the visitor all the information that they might require, clearly
and concisely, including pictures, if necessary.
This is neither the time nor the place for guessing games and complicated menus. A
site that is too hard to fathom or simply lacking in the expected content will quickly be left
with a click of the mouse and replaced with ten others all selling the world’s smallest,
most advanced fishing rod.
On the other hand good content can make a visitor leave a site feeling educated,
inspired and, best of all, impressed. He will be far more likely to return. It is a fickle world
and the expression “survival of the fittest” takes on a whole new meaning.
Your second audience would be the search engines which are crucial to a site’s
success, as they will give your site the ‘once over’ before it is ranked. They, in turn, will
direct traffic your way and are likely to be instrumental in supplying you with a large
percentage of your client base.
There was a time when web designers, tried to trick the search engines by overloading
the meta keyword list or by repeating keywords in the background colours. Needless to
say, these methods no longer work and such tricks should not be employed.
Search engines are now heavily influenced by the content of a site, with the quality and
relevance of subject matter, assuming far greater importance than that of copy ‘fodder’
and excessive linking.
So what makes content good? To appeal to visitors and search engines alike content
should be able to attract and sustain your attention. It should portray your product or
service with persuasive sincerity and position your company as the industry’s expert.
More than anything, it should have an emotional appeal that registers with the visitor and
motivates him to utilise your services and return again and again.
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