We have heard it time and time again, “Content is King.” Still, people ignore this common sense truth in search engine optimization. People use the web to find information. It’s the content they want and that’s why they are there.
The content of a page is the primary thing that a search engine will look at when considering your site. Many search engines don’t even consider meta tags any more. Hidden text, once a main SEO technique,
is not only skipped over by most search engines but can get your site banned by them today. The king of search engines, Google, will remove sites from its index if they utilize hidden text.
Content keeps people at your site. When people click on your site they either find something of interest
and stay or they’ll leave. This decision is made within seconds. You either have things that people want to read or not.
Your index or home page becomes very important for visitors. It’s content is critical to be of high
quality. If you can’t come up with something to put on the front page of your site, hire a writer. Writers are there to create reasons for people to stay. They get paid for a reason, they are worth while.
Visitors on the web can never have too much information. Information is what the web is about. Search engines are there to help people uncover it. Information, content that is, tailored to your website’s theme, attracts visitors. Presented in bits and pieces that are easy to read and useful to your visitors, your content will make or break your site. The more interested in your website a visitor is, the
more likely that they’ll stay a while, or more importantly, come back some another time.
“Borrowing” or “scraping” content word-for-word from other sites is not only unethical, it’s illegal because of copyright laws. Creating your own fresh, unique content is the best way to attract visitors and search engines. Remember that the most valuable
web content is unique information that no-one can find elsewhere.
Another great method for delivering content is to provide RSS feeds from other sites straight onto your
site. Many sites not only allow you but enourage you to put their RSS feeds onto your site. An RSS feed is basically an online news bulletin. If you use Yahoo, MSN, FireFox or Opera for your web browser, you probably already know how great RSS can be for personal use. Imagine having all of that content available on your web site without having to pay a writer!
When selling products and services, make sure that you have enough information about your product’s
features. Include everything anyone could ever want to know about your product. If you are running an
affiliate site, buy a few of the products that you are selling and use them on a regular basis. This
will give you the opportunity to find out what their major selling points are and allow you to make
them into featured products and provide high quality reviews.
Finally, arrange your content in a logical, easy to find manner for your visitors. A website that is easy to get around helps your visitors stay longer. Your content becomes not only unique but fun to experience. Make it easy for the reader to enjoy what you have created.
Joyce Jackson is a webmaster and consults on search engine optimization. For more information see Net Home Profits.