Good content on your website is at least as important as good design. Indeed, they both go hand-in-hand. Content is about getting your point across in an effective manner, keeping the reader’s interest and getting the reader into a position of taking the action you are looking for.

Getting your point across

Content can be highly subjective so unfortunately there is not a test for good content. However, there are a number of ways that you can keep the interest of readers:

• Make it visual. Most good websites have good visual images. This is a better form of communication than many words of text. Try to have something that has great visual impact and the reader will remember your site and be more inclined to stay for longer and come back.
• Make it useful. Is there some information that you can put on the website that makes the reader want to come back or check a fact?
• Make it entertaining. It’s not always easy to make a website humorous but it will be much more memorable.
• Thought of video? If you have a complex story to tell, a well produced video can often help make the point. You can tell the story, show an environment, show products being made/assembled etc
• Focus on what you do and what benefits you will deliver to your customer. Many website owners talk about themselves and we all like to do that, reinforcing our successes etc. Whilst this is very important, the first question that the website reader is asking is about the benefits. Best examples of benefits are tangible, including case studies where appropriate.
• Once the reader is sold on the benefits, then they are looking for reassurance on the quality of the company delivering but only as a secondary.
• If you want to give a lot of detail, think of having downloadable documents. These documents, typically in a pdf format will allow you put as much detail as you want to an interested reader, without clogging up the website for uninterested readers.
• Think of your competition and how your website compares to them. It is a reasonable assumption that your website reader will also look at your competitors’ websites. So, have a look at these and think of what makes you different – why should I buy from you rather than them. By reviewing your competitors’ websites, you can make the key differentiators clear.
• Make authoritative and dynamic. Blogging and relevant news articles are important to many good websites. They create a reason for the reader to come back to the website. However, by good blogging, it also gives you a position to make your point and give you an authoritative position. This can go down very well with readers and helps create you as an expert.
• Frequently Asked Questions. A good FAQ section in a website can help answer many questions in the right format. This can include customers with a query that, perhaps, has been asked by others in the past.

The role of content in search engine optimisation

And of course, content reflecting key words used for your search engine optimisation is essential. A skill of a web agency such as Crush will be to undertake keyword research and reflect this in your content to ensure that you have the best chance possible of your site being found.

Good content is a skill, is subjective but can be the difference between somebody reading your site and somebody turning away. Getting professional help with content (as well as website design) will often provide a very quick return on investment.

Crush can give you a well designed website with appropriate contents matching the objectives of your website. We also have innovative ways of helping you create and edit news for dynamic website content.