Just about 15 years ago Bill Gates wrote the article Content is King where he predicted that large amounts of money would be made from content on the Internet. Nowadays, there is a general view that this money making potential is only starting to materialise

Search engines like Google have indeed made significant amounts of money through advertising revenues from searching for content. Content really seems to be the King on the web as the Internet is an information superhighway where people look for information. Generally, the most successful websites include useful, informative and well-written content. Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) practitioners at ICON also maintain that content is a great factor to obtain high-quality rankings on search engines. However what differentiates good from dire content?

Writing with a particular audience in mind and addressing your persona is imperative. Instead of focusing on yourself (constantly mentioning we, us, our), write in a more customer friendly language. Even though content is crucial for search engines, you should always write for the site visitor. Do not get obsessed with keyword density and page optimisation so much that you ignore the ultimate reader. As long as good content is contextually relevant, search engines will reward you with positive rankings.

Provide original content; text and images that are different and unique rather than a copy of other sites. Content should echo your own personality and distinguish you from others. Rather than trying to impress with technical jargon and complicated language, use common words which site visitors can relate to and understand.

Content on the web must be brief and concise, with plenty of white space, as lumps of text can be quite a turnoff. And remember to check your spelling and grammar before publishing your content online.

Good content drives the web and your site to top search engine result pages. People will be more likely to find you. However the key is on how to attract repeat visitors. People will not return unless there is something new to see or read. Thus good content must also be updated. How often have you came across a site with the latest news item dating back to months if not years before, or no new products to browse? No wonder why people lose interest returning to such sites.

Many companies do not have the necessary writing skills or time to update their sites, but this must not be a reason to keep the site stagnant thus reducing the return on investment which should materialise from websites. Such companies may outsource their content to text-writing providers who are willing to supply them with regular content, posting fresh information on their site, blogs and newsletters.

More than just the technical and design strategy, one must also consider developing a content strategy for a website. Significant planning on what you want written on your site, which tone shall be used, where it is going to be placed and who is going to write it are all key considerations that differentiate a successful website from another. Content strategy might be perceived as an extra task for a website owner; however there is help out there to make your site fly high on the web.

Daniela Grech is PR, Content and SEO specialist at leading web design and development company, ICON)

www.icon.com.mt