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Articles
Adding Quality
Content to Your Web
Site
When
setting
up a new
web site
nowadays,
the most
important
factor
to keep
in mind
is the
content.
Yes,
keywords
are
still
important,
but the
days
when a
web page
could be
judged
solely
on the
keyword
content
are long
gone.
Why is
this so?
Two
reasons.
Firstly,
in order
to sell
you need
not only
to
attract
visitors
to your
web
site,
but also
when
they do
arrive
you need
to keep
them
there.
Secondly,
the way
that web
sites
are
ranked
nowadays
relies
much
more on
the
content
of the
site,
and on
the
relevance
of that
content
to the
main
subject
of the
web
site.
So, how
do you
do this?
It’s
really
not that
hard.
Luckily,
the type
of
content
that
will
attract
visitors,
and help
keep
them
there,
is very
similar
to the
type of
content
that
will
impress
the bots
that the
major
search
engines
use when
indexing
web
sites.
The key
here is
that the
content
needs to
be
relevant;
otherwise
it won’t
be of
any use.
What
sort of
content
should
you be
using?
Let’s
look at
an
example,
to give
you some
ideas.
Let’s
say that
you are
starting
a web
site for
a
company
that
will be
selling
wine.
You will
of
course
have web
pages
that
detail
the
various
wines
you will
be
offering
for sale
to
customers.
This may
be
enough
for some
people –
after
all many
consider
themselves
to be
experts
on wine,
and know
what
types of
wine
they
prefer.
There
are many
more,
however,
that
will be
looking
not just
to
purchase
wine but
also get
some
recommendations
on what
sort of
wine to
buy. For
visitors
like
this,
you
could
add
articles
detailing
the
different
types of
wines
that you
sell,
and give
suggestions
of which
wines go
best
with
different
foods.
Other
articles
on the
site
could
talk
about
the
major
wine-producing
regions
of the
world,
and why
each
region
produces
particular
types of
wine. Or
you
could
have
articles
on how
wine is
made.
When
writing
articles
for the
web site
there
are
several
guidelines
that you
should
try to
follow.
Firstly,
the
article
has to
be
well-written.
A
poorly-written
article
that is
full of
spelling
mistakes
will not
endear
you to
prospective
customers
–
instead
they
will see
it as a
possible
reflection
of your
level of
service.
Don’t
just
rely on
a
spell-checker
to catch
all
mistakes
– it
won’t.
Instead
find
someone
who can
proofread
it, not
only for
spelling
mistakes
but also
to
ensure
that it
is
readable.
Use
keywords,
by all
means,
but
don’t
try to
force
them
into the
text
willy-nilly
– use
them as
part of
the
natural
flow of
the
article.
Resist
the
temptation
to use
the same
article
over and
over
again,
with
only
minor
changes.
The
human
visitor
may not
notice,
but the
search
engine
bot
certainly
will,
and you
may find
the site
devalued
as a
result,
as this
is
considered
to be
content-spamming.
Don’t
think
you can
write
articles?
Well,
first of
all
remember
that we
are not
talking
“War and
Peace”
here –
an
average
article
should
be
around
400 –
600
words.
If you
are
intent
on
starting
a web
site on
any
subject
then you
should
have
some
knowledge
of that
subject.
Try it –
you may
be
surprised
at what
you can
accomplish.
Or
alternatively
there
are
articles
on
almost
every
subject
under
the sun
that are
freely
available
on the
Internet.
Typically
all that
the
author
requires
for the
use of
such
articles
is a
link
back to
his own
web
site. A
word of
warning
here –
do check
that web
site –
it would
be more
than a
little
embarrassing
to find
that you
had
inadvertently
linked
straight
to a
competitors
web
site. If
all else
fails
then
there
are
plenty
of
writers
that
will
produce
the sort
of
articles
you
require,
for
reasonable
fees.
Take a
long
look at
your web
site,
trying
to see
it as a
visitor
rather
than as
a
designer.
Is it
the sort
of site
that
would
attract
you and
keep
you, or
is it a
site
designed
solely
for the
hard-sell?
Adding
relevant
content
will not
only
help you
gain
customers,
but will
also
help
with
search
engine
rankings. |
