Content is King!

The one thing that controls the success or failure of a website above all else is content. Content is King. Your customers must have a reason to visit the first time, two weeks later, and six months later. They need a reason to recommend a friend to your site. The best reason is content.

You must offer value added content. Too many websites consist of "brochureware", an electronic version of their tri-fold sales brochure. BUY, buy, buy! Brochureware is fine for the first month or two, but you had best start adding some real customer oriented content soon after.

Value Added Content

The most succesful sites learn what their customers want and then give it to them!

What do customers want? Information!

You know something that your customers would find extremely valuable. Put it on your website. This could be tips and tricks for using a product, how to select a service, 5 ways to do something better - faster - easier!

Here are some ideas from successful sites:

• Whitepapers - Detailed technical information and suggestions on how to use a product. Here at the Arkansas SBDC, we offer over 300 small business fact sheets in our Business Information section.

• News - Not the newspaper news, but industry news related to your product or service. The kind they can't get anywhere else. Did you notice the eNews articles on the ASBDC homepage?

• Samples - Hold a monthly drawing for one or more free samples. This is a great way to build a database of sales leads! Never offer sample hard goods with out limiting the offer. Can you afford to mail a million plus samples?

Pretty Pictures

Your site needs to have a professional look. Hire someone to create your graphics. If you can't afford a professional, hire a college or high school student.

Another alternative is to select a pre-designed template from among the hundreds available online from artists around the world. Just Google "html templates".

Limit the number of pictures on your homepage. Your homepage needs to load quickly (7-10 seconds). Your customers want to be satisfied now. They are just one mouse click from leaving!

Use the same color scheme and navigational elements on each page. First, this gives you a "corporate image." Second, a common peeve among web surfers is poor navigation on most sites.

Help People Find Your Business

Too many people spend hundreds and even thousands of dollars on their websites, only to discover far too late that their web designer did nor optimize their expensive web site to be found by search engines. Now is the time to ensure that your site is search engine ready!

Research 2-3 word combinations related to your product or service. Several tools are available for discovering what people have searched for in the recent past. By making a list now, you can create content pages to target and attract qualified buyers to your site.

Tune each page for one of your researched 2-3 word combinations. Ensure your targeted search phrase is in the following locations:

• Title tag - Start your tile tag with the targeted search phrase followed by your company name.

• Description meta tag - Start your description meta tag with the search phrase followed by a short sentence that uses the targeted search phrase once.

• Keywords meta tag - Your keywords meta tag should consist only of the targeted search phrase. Do NOT list individual words.

• H1 heading tag - Ensure that your page uses an H1 heading and uses the H1 tag only once. Include your targeted search phrase in the H1 text.

• Page text - Ensure that your targeted search phrase is used several times within the page text. You should have no less that 200 words of page text on each page. Search engines do not read pictures, but only text

 

The Arkansas SBDC offers a free online search engine optimization tool that will scan your web page and compare it to a single search phrase. The tool checks each of the above areas plus several others and provides a short, but comprehensive report. Additionally, Arkansas SBDC business counselors are trained in search engine optimization and are available to provide no cost consultation to Arkansas businesses.

 

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