Location, Location, Location! Right! These are the three most important things to remember when opening a new business. Well, in the world of websites, it’s Content, Content, Content! Consumers want it and search engines want it, so why don’t business owners?

The most common request I get from business owners who want to start a website or redesign their existing website is to have a clean, simple, professional look with minimal content. The next request is that they want to be ranked #1 on Google and Yahoo for the traffic related to their business.

As with all things, there needs to be a balance between graphically pleasing and informational. The only way to provide information is to have content that backs up who you are and what advantages and conveniences you bear to your consumer. Content about your products and services that is comprehensive and plentiful will only help out a websites success.

Here’s a great example:
You make handmade all natural body care products. On your website you list your products and talk briefly about the ingredients. Mostly there are pretty pictures of your product and besides these details there might be some pricing information. As I click through the pages the only real content I can find is a paragraph about where the business is located, how it got started and how to contact the business to ask questions or purchase product.

However, if I go see the business owner at the retail location, and ask about the benefits of using handmade body care products, I get a complete dissertation on why I should use natural body care products, how they benefit my skin and health and an explanation of how these products differ from other brands I might see at my local grocer or pharmacist.

This is the exact content that should be communicated on the website. If I have to pick up the phone, maybe reach a person who can answer my call or leave a message and then wait for an answer to my question; then you have just lost me as a potential client. I am already searching for the information I seek somewhere else. I am looking for a website that will answer my questions NOW, not later.

So if you really want to be found on Google and Yahoo, have topic specific content on every page of your website that deserves the attention. Have a FAQ and About Us page; they are important aspects of a website from the consumer’s perspective.

From the mouth of Google, the #1 Truth:  “Focus on the user and all else will follow”

Related posts:

1. The Easy Way to Write Web Content
2. Natural SEO Requires Quality Content
3. Use Blogs for Your SEO Content Strategy
4. Use Internet Marketing to Drive Offline Sales
5. The Business Website: Design vs. Content