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A Smart Content Strategy Makes Your Site Easier to Find
by Hilary Marsh
August 2004
Your potential customers are out there, looking for you. They are ready to buy a particular product or service that you offer, read your information, or join your organization. But if your site is just a general description of who you are, those customers probably won't be able to find you online through a search engine.
Search engine optimization is more than just creating an endless set of keywords in your meta tags and hoping that search engines will rank your site high. It requires identifying what words people will use to look for your site and then using those words in your site's content, both on the homepage and beyond.
Your site needs to have a growing library of content focusing on the specific products, services or information that you want people to know about. According to Jonathan Ashton of SEOLogic, the single most important factor in making your site visible to search engines is to have individual pages containing specific content: in other words, a content strategy.
People visit general "brochureware" sites once to get an organization's phone numbers or directions, but they don't need to return. These sites are essentially Yellow Pages listings, with minimal business value.
Effective, search-engine-friendly websites illuminate an organization's thinking, its activities and, most important, the value that it offers to its customers. These sites regularly publish new pieces of information about the organization's offerings, giving visitors reason to return regularly. They are a critical piece of establishing and maintaining relationships with existing customer.
In addition, these websites make it easier for potential customers to find and do business with organizations. It takes an ongoing commitment to create this content, update your site regularly, and let customers know the new content is posted.
- What topics should your site cover?
- How do you create and manage relationships with existing customers, and how can those relationships be strengthened online?
- Why do potential customers seek you out, and why do they choose to become customers? How can that information be communicated online?
The answers to these questions will transform your site into an effective tool to attract new customers, through search engines and other channels, and invite existing customers into stronger relationships with your organization.
Content Company can help you plan or write the content, and plan or write the promotions for your site and its content.
Contact us today to get started!
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