Nathan Yerian
If content is king, it becomes apparent that many web designers leave him dethroned after the web design process.
Too many web designers & web design companies get a client's website up and running and then walk away leaving the client no avenue, or plan to produce a return on their investment. This is not a recipe for an effective and fruitful website. After all, who wants to be eyeing a naked, flabby monarch?
In other words, blindly throwing content onto a website does not constitute an effective web marketing strategy.
Selecting an online marketing partner that can assist in properly planning website content, & developing ongoing value based content for your site is a component that should be looked at while interviewing web designers, and web design agencies.
Changing Room
Static web designs – “brochure sites” – don’t give people any reason to visit more than once. The key to effective content is updating it regularly with valuable, usable content: tips, industry information, & "how-to" blog posts, as well as a healthy dose of e-books, podcasts, and videos.
Every visit to your site must yield returns, and change is good. We’re used to minute-by-minute news cycles, and marketing content has to follow the same model to stay relevant. Regular updates keep your site fresh and interesting. The more you update, the more visitors you’ll have.
Suiting Up
What makes something entertaining? Surprise, humor, cliffhangers, stories. You didn’t think you were in the entertainment business, but you are. The more entertained people are, the more likely it is that they’ll stay around to see what else you have to offer.
Entertaining content does wonders for branding, since people will associate your brand with fun. And fun sells.
Throwing in information that actually helps people in their daily challenges can move you from product/service pusher to solution provider. Try and tell me that's not a valuable suit to be wearing.
Just Your Size
More content doesn’t necessarily mean better content. You’ve got to be smart, and scale your content to your audience. Save the long treatises for your more complete content pieces (white papers, e-books, etc.): keep your blog posts to a digestible length (300-500 words usually).
Also, break up that content into manageable segments. That means short sentences, and paragraphs with sub-headings so a reader can easily scan the material. Web readers have a short attention span, with lots of links and other content vying for their attention. Make your content brief in length yet valuable.
Fashion Victim
Beware, above all, of valuing flashy web design over real, usable content. The “wow” factor eventually fades, leaving a yearning for substance.
It’s here that your web designer should focus on effective usability strategies in both the structure and content of the website itself. Once you’ve enticed them with some appealing graphics or animation, make sure there is a plan to keep visitors engaged with good writing, & relevant content that is easily navigated.
The good news is, you probably have a pretty clear idea now of a few things to look for in a web designer, or web marketing partner. Just ask yourself: are they putting a system in place that includes future content development my visitors will want to read, hear, or watch?
Select your web marketing company and get to work on a new wardrobe for your website – one that’s fit for a king.
If you are looking for a full online strategy to implement with your online marketing partner, download our inbound marketing e-book:
