SEO-Focused Web Content Writers
Posts tagged content
Keep it Fresh!
Aug 23rd
There are a number of important reasons why you should be keeping the content on your website fresh. The most simple, and critical, reason is to keep your current and future visitors engaged and interested in what you have to say. Stale content, such as promoting a sale or talking about an event that took place 6 months ago, has the potential to really “turn off” visitors to your website.
Another important reason for updated content that I reference a lot with clients is the SEO value that it can provide. Simply put, search engines really like to “see” fresh, new content (text, graphics, charts, video, downloads, etc.) on a website.
They figure that if someone is taking the time to continually add new stuff to the website, some of it is probably fairly relevant information or data, and probably deserves to be ranked higher than a site which is rarely or never updated.
Providing updated content can also support good customer service within your organization, be necessary for regulatory or legal reasons, or help you maintain company/brand reputation, among others. Bottom line, you need to keep your website fresh! And if you don’t have the time, energy or skill to maintain a More >
Don't Be Scrooge With Outbound Links on Your Website
May 5th
So, you’ve worked hard to get visitors to your web site. I know. (I’ve worked rather hard to get YOU to read THIS.)
And now you’re asking if you should provide outbound links. Well, should you?
What if visitors leave via those links, and then never come back? It’s a concern that many business owners and newer website administrators or writers have.
But let me tell you a secret: Visitors leave when they’ve seen enough. Period.
When they have read (or glanced at) your article or articles; whether they have read an interesting tid bit or have read every last word, they leave. Nothing you can do will stop this. Trying to box them into your site won’t stop them from leaving.
Besides, the truth is that many visitors aren’t even relevant to your objectives - as some of you reading this are undoubtedly to mine - so you might as well provide them with helpful directions or a pathway to a more appropriate web site. Who knows, maybe they WILL be quite relevant to your business later on, and will remember your usefulness?
Does this mean you link to direct competitors, or have outbound links all over the page? Certainly not. But spreading a little love More >
Content Is King - Part II
Apr 12th
When talking about content, the first premise to consider is that for most companies, competing online via “new technology” has become more and more difficult. The truth is, regardless of company size, there can only be a select few winners in the contest to be the best “technology-driven” business online.
True, the technological lead sometimes changes hands, like it did away from AOL and MySpace to the current leaders in their respective fields. But those occurrences are becoming rare. Companies such as Google have gained so much mass, brand equity and momentum that it may be years before they are supplanted in any meaningful way. They won’t be handing off their lead in many categories anytime soon.
No, the way to compete today is by becoming a purveyor of content. Drive traffic to your website, platform or service by creating and sharing valuable information to your target audiences. Fill a niche market. Find a group or segment with unmet needs, and fulfill them.
And this is exactly what AOL and MySpace have done. AOL bought the blog network Weblogs, home to many popular blogs, such as Engadget and Joystiq; and they now employ over 3,000 freelance writers and more than 150 full-time journalists. More >
