The content on your website is invaluable, as it is the main source of information about your business that is conveyed to your existing and potential clients. High quality content is essentially what sets your business website apart from the rest of the competition and delivers accurate and effective messages and information to your clients. If you actually think about the endless content you have come across before this blog, you may be able to weigh up the real importance of the content on your chances of actually purchasing the product or service, or the rate of engagement.

Consider coming across a website that has minimal, bland and irrelevant content to what the actual business does. How credible does this make the business look? Did you just think “not very credible at all”? You are definitely not alone on that one. The content, which is also part of the layout of the website is essentially the factor that enables the customers to reach for their cash or credit cards and purchase what you have on offer. This is why content should never be overlooked, and should be continually refined and adjusted in order to meet and exceed the demands and desires of your target audience. Much like times where there are secondary materials that are designed to support the main source of information such as textbooks and readings about a certain educational topic, the presence of pictures, interesting videos and website design all can be classified as runner ups.

This means that the main star and attraction of your website should always be the written content, which should always be written in a logical and meaningful manner in order to seamlessly provide information that is accurate and effective in increasing website traffic and driving sales and profits. When it comes to the subject of valuing content on a website and its importance to your business, it is purely a matter of brains over beauty; informative and intelligent content or striking and beautiful designs and layouts?

Well, to be the full package you actually need both. However, most businesses these days seem to be getting too caught up with the aesthetics of their website and the way in which it is designed. It is important to remember that design alone will not deliver the sales and profits that you are aiming for. However, that does not mean not to spend time designing an appealing website or to not care about the way your website looks as website design and layout can also improve Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) and the branding of your business. Read more about SEO and branding on the MLK Marketing official blog page.

So, now that we have established how important content is for your website and business, how do we make sure that the content is favoured by our best friend Google and, more importantly, existing and potential customers. The first step of creation is always research. You simply cannot deliver meaningful and informative content that will be popular amongst your target audience without actually finding out what it is that your clients really want to see. To do this, consider the demographics of your target audience, their backgrounds and interests and other types of indicators that will take you one step closer to creating and delivering relevant content on your website. Now, it is also critical to satisfy the indexing guidelines of Google whilst in the process of writing content, as the more favourable your content is, the better your website will rank in the search engine.

This is something that all content creators should be aiming for, as it is one of the ultimate raters of how successful your website is and how relevant the keywords are to your business each time they are searched for in a search engine. Therefore, in order for the information on your website to be deemed as relevant, the content should be keyword rich and has a clear and concise direction when it comes to relaying information about your business to your existing and potential clients. But the tricky part about content creation is finding the perfect balance between the delivery of information, satisfying the requirements of google, engaging the target audience and persuading the client to take action. Whew! Seems like a lot to consider and something that is daunting like trying not to drop all the balls in the middle of a juggling act. Writing high quality content for your website can, at first, seem like a highly challenging task, especially based on your previous experience and style of writing but can quickly become something that is enjoyable and fulfilling as a business owner.

As mentioned before, the written content is the main star when it comes to the information conveyed to your customers, however like every star out there, support is usually needed. The support in this instance is the addition of videos and other visual content such as high definition pictures. As many humans are highly visually oriented, videos and pictures are a great way to solidify and reiterate what you have in written content as a visual medium. This can be a great way to ensure that all the pieces of information that you want to highlight about the available products and services are clearly understood in a visually appealing manner that also works to enhance your website. It is important, however, to make sure that the videos and pictures that you use for the purposes of using on your website for information relaying is original and custom.

That is, avoid using videos that do not belong to you, and take original pictures that enable your product or service to be accurately displayed on your website as opposed to a picture of something similar to what you are selling. This can result in misleading information and unhappy customers, which is something that should be avoided at all costs at all times. The great thing about visual content is that it takes much less effort for the audience to actually understand what your business has on offer, meaning higher levels of engagement and a solid support to the written content without risking the customer to walk away. This can greatly enhance the customer experience and satisfaction, as the process of attracting customers all the way to closing a sale is all one big process, meaning that each step along the way plays a major part and determinant of whether that customer is likely to repeatedly buy your products or use your services.

Short, concise and simple videos are a great place to start, as the attention span and the time the customer actually has in time poor environments are critical factors when it comes to selecting the types and length of your content. Clean infographics that are easy to follow and read can also be a great addition to your website as well as appealing illustrations and diagrams to ensure you seal the deal with as many customers as possible.

Website design and content are complementary factors to one another, and ultimately compliment your business and branding. The way in which your content is displayed on your business website is a critical component in order to build the trust and confidence in your customers for an increase in sales. For example, a website that has great content that is written and visually supported has so far followed the basic rules of content creation, however the content is not presented properly and does not do the information any justice. The writing is far too small and cramped, the colour and font does not look professional and the videos and pictures are buried all the way down on the bottom of the page. Will this be a great website that customers will flock to? No. Not at all.

Purely having great content is not enough, it needs to be set out and displayed in an effective way that will maximise its actual purpose of it being there and make the customer feel as though they are making the right decision with this purchase. There are countless competitors no matter which industry you are in, your content on your website will be one of the reasons why a customer will choose to shop from you and not your neighbour. It is crucial to capture the attention of your clients with your website, which is primarily made up of interesting content that is well thought out and well laid out. The design and content on your website must work in harmony with one another in order to enhance the shopping experience and enhance your brand to make your business stand out in the spotlight. Many business owners must keep in mind that their customers are actual humans, and not numbers which means that emphasising the importance of making your website user friendly and easy to follow to connect with their clients and create lasting relationships. Ensure your business is home to creative content that is highly engaging, informative and logical to maximise sales and profits without losing to competitors.