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5 Tips for Writing Website Content - That Gets Results
By Brandon Cornett (c) 2008

I'm going to ask you to use your imagination for a moment.

Think of a topic that interests you. Maybe it's your favorite
sport or hobby, for example. Now imagine that you're searching
the Internet for information on that topic.

The first article you come across is related to the topic you're
researching, but it doesn't offer much in the way of value. It's
too general and full of pointless "fluff." It makes obvious
points that a third-grader could grasp. And it fails to offer
any related information or resources.

The second article you come across is much more in-depth. It
explains several aspects of your topic with refreshing insight.
It is helpful and useful, and it links out to many related
articles and resources on the subject.

If you could only bookmark one of these pages for future
reference, which one would it be? It would be the second page,
right?

You, like most people, would probably prefer the second page to
the first. It's an easy choice, and that's because the author of
the second article understood (and delivered) the most important
concept of website content development -- the value factor.

5 Benefits of High-Value Web Content

This kind of content has value for the reader, obviously. But it
also benefits the author / publisher. Here are the top five
benefits of creating high-value website content for your small
business website:

1. It keeps people on your website longer.

2. It makes people more inclined to trust you.

3. It encourages readers to recommend the site to others.

4. It encourages other webmasters to link to your content.

5. It helps you improve your search engine ranking and
   visibility.

All of this sounds great, you say. But how do I create that kind
of small business website content? Here are the top five
guidelines for creating high-value website content.

5 Steps to High-Value Web Content

1. Choose the right author.

2. Choose the right topic.

3. Address all sides of the topic.

4. Add supporting graphics, pictures, etc.

5. Link to related resources, both on your site and elsewhere.

Let's look at each of these steps in greater detail.

1. Choose the Right Author

I once worked for a company who let their web programmers write
the instructions for their online ordering process. Big mistake.
If their audience were programmers as well, this might be okay.
But most of their customers had limited technical skills. So
when these people encountered online instructions such as
"Validate parameters before advancing" ... the customers would
often become dead in the water.

This is a prime example of choosing the wrong author for web
writing. Sure, the programmers' input is important. After all,
they built the thing. But they should not be the voice of
customer guidance. A skilled web writer (someone with usability
experience) would have "translated" these instructions to say
something like "Please fill in all required information before
moving to the next screen."

Here's the key to this. The best author for your small business
website content is not always the person who knows the most
about the product or service from a technical standpoint. Often,
it's best to have an in-house writer who plays the go-between
role of "consumer advocate," getting the information from one
group and translating it for another group.

2. Choose the Right Topic

If your small business only offers one product or service, then
that will likely be the topic of your web content. In this case,
I would focus on choosing the right angle as well. Don't tell
people what you want them to know -- this is an outdated way of
thinking about public information, especially when it comes to
small business website content. Instead, find out what people
want to know about the types of products you offer, and use your
web content to address those questions or concerns.

If you are writing web content for a company that has many
products or services, you will have to spend more time choosing
topics first and choosing your angle second. In this case, it
becomes more about topic organization than anything. Large
websites with many topics are ideally suited for a category and
sub-category system: These are our products >> And this is
product 'A' >> And this is a web page that explains product 'A'
in detail.

3. Address All Sides of the Topic

Whether you're writing about one of your products, or you're
creating a tutorial of some kind, you need to cover all the
angles. There's nothing worse than website content that leaves
the job only half-done, telling you why a certain thing is
important but not pursuing that lead.

When you are close to a certain topic -- as is the case with
people who create a product or service -- it's easy to assume
everyone else understands it as well as you do. But the opposite
is usually true, so you need to explain all sides of a topic
when you write content for your small business website.

Want to keep your pages relatively short for easy reading? You
can do that while still offering complete information. That's
what hyperlinks are for!

4. Link to Related Resources

Here's the key to developing great content for your small
business website. Try to create authority documents that others
in your field would link to and recommend to others. One of the
key criteria for a resource document is that it links to plenty
of supporting information, both on the same website and
elsewhere on the web.

In addition to being good for your readers, this kind of useful
content will make other webmasters more inclined to link to your
website. This adds to your link "popularity" and can further
improve the search engine ranking of your small business website.

When writing a particular web page, try to think of it as "the
ultimate guide to [blank]." This is the first step to creating
the kind of authority documents that eventually dominate the
search engines and drive endless web traffic for the authors.
But it's rarely possible to create an "ultimate guide" to
anything in just one page, so be liberal about linking to other
sources on your own website and elsewhere (as long as they are
not direct competitors).

5. Add Supporting Graphics, Pictures, Etc.

Reading online can be hard on the eyeballs. You can make the
reader's job easier in two ways. First, you can format your
content appropriately for web reading (short paragraphs, narrow
text columns, lots of bullet points, headers, sub-headers,
etc.). Secondly, you can add supporting images and helpful
graphics.

Well-placed graphics can improve website content in a number of
ways. Images are more enticing than text upon first glance, so
they can help attract and retain readers. They also help you
clarify your message with visual reinforcement.

Conclusion

I have a motto I use regarding website content. "If it's not
worth putting online, don't put it online." This is my reminder
to myself that I need to use the techniques outlined above to
create superior website content. Because that's the kind of
content that leads to online success. Apply these lessons to
your small business website and watch your own success increase!
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Brandon Cornett operates a web marketing firm
(http://www.austinseoguy.com/internet-marketing.php) in Austin,
Texas and is a web writer at large for dozens of websites and
blogs. Learn more by visiting http://www.austinseoguy.com.
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