By Donald Nelson, owner of A1-Optimization, which provides search-engine optimisation and article-writing services.
If you want to achieve lasting success with your website then the best route to take is to build a content-rich site.
A site with varied and informative articles and plenty of information generally, will be big hit with users and search engines alike.
In case you have writer's block or are unsure how to create more content for your website, here are some tips to help you get moving.
1. When building content try to solve your viewers’ problems without making them buy something
Of course, you have set up your website to either make money or get something out of it, but it is not productive to build scores of pages with hard-sell messages.
People use the net to find solutions to their problems. Provide answers to these problems and you will win the respect and trust of your readers. This is known as ‘pre-selling’ and is just as important as selling itself.
So, before you start tapping on your keyboard, get your readers’ interests at the forefront of your mind.
2. Write about what you know; share your knowledge with the readers
If you’ve set up a website it means that you know something about your particular field or have some special interest in it.
Suppose you’re selling digital cameras. Why not write some articles reviewing the available cameras that are on the market? Or why not write an article explaining what people should look for when they buy a camera? A lot of people don’t have the foggiest idea about digital cameras and would surely be happy to get some unbiased information before buying something.
3. Do research and turn dull reports into interesting articles
You can build on what you know by doing a bit of research on the web.
Conduct a keyword search for ‘digital cameras’, or whatever your field is, and you’ll doubtless find web pages about the topic in hand. Often the information is just listed as a list of bullet points.
Blend this information with your own experience to create new articles.
You can quote or cite other articles that you find on the web (with hyperlinks) if they are particularly useful. In fact this is the original idea behind Google's system of PageRank: particularly good web pages earn links, or "votes", from other sites.
4. Let your readers help you create content
If you’re unsure as to what to write about then why not ask your web visitors to submit their questions? These questions will stimulate you to provide answers in the form of articles.
A good example of this approach is the site askdavetaylor.com. A technical "geek", Dave Taylor will answer any question about computers, software, HTML, Macs, Linux, Unix and related technical matters. You just have to log in and post a question.
Dave's answers together amount to thousands of pages of quality information. To be specific, he has 29,300 pages indexed in Google!
You don't have to write hundreds or thousands of pages, but if you follow Dave's example you can certainly build up your site and easily overcome your writer's block.
5. Reprint articles written by experts in your field
There is no sense in reinventing the wheel.
If someone has already written something good about your particular field you can republish it. You will have to provide a link back to the author, but if the article fits in with the theme of your site then it’s worth it.
You can find free reprinted articles at sites such as ezinearticles.com and goarticles.com.
6. Let your readers create content directly
Blogs with ‘comment’ sections are now one of the most popular ways of allowing web visitors to add their thoughts and ideas. You can also set up a bulletin board or forum using software called phpBB (which is pre-installed with many hosting plans).
With enough traffic and an audience passionately interested in the themes of your website, your own readers will create pages and pages of interesting content. You will of course have to moderate the forums or blogs, but the reward in terms of useful content will be worth it.
If your site is a bit thin on content, think about these six tips and take steps towards providing information that will make your site a place where people can find solutions to their problems or answers to their questions.
