Web content: Just make it good

My twitter feed has been going berserk this month with links, info and opinions about the quality of web content.

Why? Because it’s reckoning time. The internet isn’t a little kid anymore—it’s a recent college grad waking up and smelling the coffee. Online sales, ROI, content management, quality web content and keywords that convert are what matter. And what does that spell? It spells quality content. You need it to survive in today’s internet marketing world.

Kevin Cesarz’s recent post highlights one of the most annoying and ineffective types of online content: banter content. You might be excited that you have a new website, but no one else is. The only place to mention this is in a blog post or press release—not in the main content of your site.

What does this mean?

It means that users want a functional site that is easy to navigate and is full of useful information. You know it’s good when no one notices the effort you put into it. At best you can hope for someone to be on your website for 3 minutes—and that’s if you have an engaging website. Understanding this is understanding internet marketing. So, what can you do to make the best use of that time?

Provide your users with easy access to your information and services/products. A good website takes advantage of simplicity of design and delivery. Have clear, concise writing that is organized in easily digestible formats, such as bullet points, calls to action, short paragraphs and clickable content.

Keep it simple and give your users what they want.