Good content may be categorized by multiple affirmative adjectives,
which could include – engaging, informative, entertaining, unique,
personal, amusing, educational, authoritative, persuasive and, above all
– original.
Don't cheat or steal… No copying, plagiarism, duplication, scraping or
other nefarious shortcuts! The moment you copy other people's efforts
you are (at best) immediately second best!
What is Web Content?
Well, it's not just what you "see" on any given page. The concept of
good content must extend to the entire website, all its descriptive
elements, and many of its functional aspects, including;
* Pages: headings, paragraphs, images, image alt text, anchor text &
hyperlink titles
* Posts, Categories & Tags: ditto
* Navigation: link text, hyperlink titles
* URLs: file names on all pages, posts, categories, tags and images
* Business Brand: be unequivocal about WHO you are
* Location: if you serve a specific locality, be explicit about WHERE
you are
* Spelling & Grammar: spell check and proofread
* Broken Links, 404 Errors:
* Call to Action: guide your visitors down the right path, don't make
them guess
* Credibility Factors: testimonials, business contact details, privacy
policy, terms
Basically, good content encompasses each and every area and element that
search engines uses to classify and categorize your website. There are
many content quality signals that search engines use, so the more ticks
you get in the credit column, the better off you are! Conversely, every
failure to fix an issue is a tick in the debit column!
Copywriting & Web Content
Web copywriters don't copy web content, and nor should you! Real
copywriters create pages populated with original and authoritative
material, personally written in their own style, specifically for the
purpose of the page. The web page copy is aimed at a predetermined
audience, written to inform, persuade and encourage the reader to take a
pre-determined action or path.
Check Your Copywriting Efforts
Whether you write your own web page content or not:
* DO use your spell checker on all new pages!
* Get someone else to proofread pages for both grammar and punctuation
errors!
"You never get a second chance to create a first impression!"
Understand Your Genre
Each genre presents challenges, some more so, than others. Try to
identify information voids, and fill them with useful content. There is
much online advice on the concept of presenting yourself as a helpful
expert in your field.
When it comes to preparing web page content, its also much easier to
present yourself as an expert if you provide professional services, or
if you are a tradesman etc. You can write insightful articles on your
profession, or helpful DIY tricks and tips.
For an e-commerce website, selling manufacturer's product lines, it's
much harder but certainly not impossible to create unique and original
content. Just bear in mind that most of your competition will use the
supplied product information verbatim! Therefore, simply by rewriting
the default Product Descriptions, you immediately distinguish yourself
as being out of the ordinary, different and worthy of reward.
For a bed and breakfast business competing on a local and regional
level, you can achieve prominence by providing pages filled with
interesting snippets of information on the local and regional sites of
interest, attractions and activities in your area. Write it in a
different manner and style to the currently dominant competing pages,
add interesting images and links for additional information.
Every step you take to rise above the pack will be rewarded, because
most website owners simply don't make the effort.
Brand Your Website
One positive and demonstrable impact of Google's efforts in 2012 is the
promotion of your original Brand over and above the other websites that
may list it in their content. A very good example is the Bed & Breakfast
genre, where the plethora of B&B Directories and Book sites previously
dominated top rankings for any relevant search.
Now, if you search for a specific business by its Brand Name, and the
site is properly branded, that business will show in first place in the
SERPs!
To achieve that, you must follow the Webmaster Guidelines on use of the
Title tag:
* maximum of 65 characters including spaces
* Accurate but brief outline of page content
* Brand / business name at the end
By way of example: Luxury Bed & Breakfast Accommodation – Wanaka NZ |
Maple Lodge
Were you to do a search for "Maple Lodge Wanaka" on Google.co.nz, you
would see that the Maple Lodge website does indeed appear in first
position. That's no accident – optimization of the website content,
correct brand application and attention to details in a recent website
redesign has helped.
Local is as Local Does
If you are a "local" business, you should ensure that your whereabouts
is clear and unequivocal across your website!
* Add your street address in the footer, Contact Us page and in your
Location Map page
* Take control of the Google Local Search listing for your business
Give Google the information it needs to associate your business with a
correct geographic placement, and you will benefit from that.
Local Search
By taking control of any existing Google Local Search listing for your
business, or adding a new one, you can add a great deal of additional
helpful descriptive information to that listing. This includes:
* Branding: business name
* Address: correct street address
* Photos: you can load multiple business-related images
* Description: brief outline of what you do, don't repeat name, brand,
or category
* Categories: list the appropriate categories of business activities
* Opening Hours:
* Website, Phone, Fax, Email
Every piece of information accumulates to paint a more detailed picture
of where you fit within the overall scheme of things.
The Credibility Factors
Domain Ownership: does the Domain Registrant name match the business
name? It should… Google is a Domain Registrar and has access to a lot of
background information about your website.
Business Address: provide a physical address if you have an office or
shop, otherwise at least provide a postal address. Not having one
precludes your site from inclusion in many web directories.
Business Contact Details: provide as many forms of contact as possible –
contact form, email address, phone, fax, mobile, Skype address etc.
Testimonials: where real clients have made genuine compliments about
your work, share those with potential clients with as much detail as you
can. Conversely, don't invent testimonials – fake ones have the stench
of insincerity about them!
Privacy Policy: not having one gives your site a black eye. It does not
need to be overly complex. The fact that it exists is sufficient because
it indicates you have an awareness of this important issue.
Information sharing is a real concern for many web visitors.
Terms & Conditions: prevent conflicts before they happen by explaining
how you deal with various issues; payments, refunds, delivery, returns,
warranties etc.
404 Error Handling: check for 404 page not found errors and eliminate
them via redirects to an alternative page / image. Make sure your site
displays a custom 404 error page containing at least a full menu and
preferably a site map so that you can keep the visitor on-site and help
them find what they were looking for.
Robots.txt: a crucial file that all search engines look for. Not having
a robots.txt file generates unnecessary 404 errors.
Sitemap: all search engines look for an XML-formatted sitemap, which
should contain a full list of your website's important content – pages,
posts etc. Visitors may also look for an HTML sitemap as a quick way to
see what information is available and how it is arranged. This default
Table of Contents becomes more important the larger the site grows.
--
my motto is "Keep it simple" and "don't leave anything for tomorrow that can be done today."
If you have any questions or comments please contact me.
Regards Gerald
Website: http://www.webcraft.ws
E-mail: gerald@webcraft.ws
Twitter: WebcraftGuru
Facebook: Webcraft Guru
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