Types and Uses of Online Content

Web content comes in all shapes and sizes, and quality website content is the key driver to online marketing and website traffic success.

The typical website visitor reviews content from a variety of sources before making contact or buying. The reaction of your visitors to your online content will significantly influence their decision-making process and how they interact with your entire company in the foreseeable future.

The focus of this article is to provide recommendations and guidelines for the preparation of content used in a variety of online resources, with the goal of better driving website traffic, as well as online sales and conversions.

Content Types and Guidelines

Web content must follow specific guidelines, based on the user’s expectations, how the content is displayed and the overall approach. The following guidelines should be used by copywriters when preparing content for websites, email newsletters, social media and other online sources.

All website content should be brief, to the point and avoid brochure copy, marketing-speak or filler content that does not directly address a benefit to the user. Website visitors and surfers scan content and only read larger volumes of content when interest has peaked. Smart, well-thought out landing pages draw the visitor into more thorough content. Bullet points, captions on photos, paragraph headers, thumbnails and other scannable content works best on landing pages to peak interest.

Here are key content types that are most commonly used by website visitors, along with guidelines for placing content in each area.

General Company Information

This content is generally found in the “about us” section and gives visitors general information and background on the company, its mission, products and approach to services. Examples of contents to create include:

• About us
• Our business approach
• Our business process
• How we’re different
• Why choose us?
• Our history
• Team bios
• Testimonials and case studies
• Client lists
• Partners
• Other descriptive content about the company, as applicable

The content should include brief paragraphs with (generally) no more than six sentences and very descriptive paragraph headers so the content is scannable by the header. Photos and captions should be included where appropriate (particularly in the team bios). Website visitors like to see real people on the website and not stock photography.

Services and Product Content

This content is broken down by the various service and product offerings provided by the company. Services and products should be easy to understand and intuitive to the user or they will not buy or convert. Brief content paragraphs and headers should be used in the services and product descriptive areas in a thumbnail approach.

Each service and product area should have a landing page with more detail, along with photos, graphics, case histories and more extensive content on each service offering. Large blocks of text and wordy paragraphs turn off users and lead to higher bounce rates and lower interest levels. Your website should make it very easy for users to understand and review your services and products.

Contact Us Page

The “contact us” page is critical to conversions and should feature easy-to-find contact methods, including the following:

• Phone
• Email
• Inquiry submission form
• Office location and hours
• Map to office
• Fax number

The “contact us” page can easily be forgotten, but it’s nonetheless a very important page.

Articles, White Papers and eBooks

Articles should be approximately 600 to 800 words and use brief paragraphs with clear descriptive headers. Articles should be organized around key issues that help your visitors do their job better or improve the quality of their life. After the site reaches 40 to 50 articles, they should be organized by topic with the two most recent articles at the top of the page. Articles should be written monthly and can be used as email newsletters.

White papers are similar to articles, but are of unlimited length. White papers should include a downloadable PDF and can go very deep into a topic. White papers can be viewed after the user provides contact information as an optional conversion point.

Large white papers should be classified as eBooks if they reach 5,000 words or more. They should be in PDF format, along with an html version if possible.

Blog Posts

The company blog should be a running narrative around common business issues. Readers use blogs to stay updated on what’s new and relevant, and frequent blog posts are a good thing. Google also rewards websites that update content regularly. Avoid self-promotion, unless it has a connection to something that provides an insight for the blog reader.

Blogs have personalities, and this shouldn’t be limited to just one person on your team. The blog’s “voice” should match the voice of your company and brand.

Blog posts should be no more than 600 words and can be posted daily or weekly to the website. (The more often, the better.) Blogs can vary in length and include various media such as podcasts, audio clips, videos, links to content and more. Blog posts can be very short as long as they’re relevant and provide insightful information.

Users should be able to comment on blog posts and start a dialog. All posts should be filtered and approved. Spam prevention filters must be included on the blog. Keep in mind that controversy and fresh new ideas draw in blog readers, followers and comments.

Blog posts should have clear and catchy titles that include the author’s name. The blog should be organized around key sections, and users should be able to quickly scan blog posts by date and subject. All media included in the blog should have a caption. The blog should be incorporated under the main website URL to help usability, and for SEO purposes.

How to Determine What to Include in Your Blog

So, what kind of content should you be adding to your blog? Here are some good starting points:

• What’s happening in your company
• What’s happening in the marketplace
• A review of a product or service related to your industry
• Commentary on something new and changing
• An explanation of an industry concept or idea
• A list or step-by-step instructions relevant to your market and/or visitors
• Comparison and versus articles
• Problems and solutions related to your industry

Here’s a list of other areas that can create blog post ideas:

• Review relevant keyword segments (via the Google keyword tool)
• Write down what gets asked (by customers and employees alike) during the work day
• Write about any recent changes in pricing and costs

Remember, to get comments, it’s good to stir things up and create controversy — but, of course, not in such a way that damages your brand.  

Social Media Updates

Social media postings should be added only once or twice per week, and they should be very brief. A social media post should be less than 100 words, and many times less than 50 words. They should include a link to an article or blog post or other relevant information. The use of photos with captions and other media is recommended.

One post can be displayed simultaneously on all social media sites using a third-party software. Google+ and LinkedIn have a higher business-to-business frequency, and Facebook is heavier on consumers. Similar to a blog, social media postings also have a personality and should match the voice of the brand, the blog and other content on the website. Promotions, contests and special events can be included in blog postings.

Email Newsletters

Email newsletters can include blog postings and articles or links to white papers, eBooks and other types of media. All email newsletters should be archived on your website. The most important aspects of email newsletters are relevancy and interest to the target market, to keep unsubscribe rates low and click-through rates high.

Readers of email newsletters are not scanning a website and will either read the email, delete it or leave quickly. If they like what they read, they’ll click through and send on to others. Include links to website navigation in the email to provide options for the reader.

Summary

Website content is the oxygen that gives life to the Internet. It’s critical to meeting users’ needs and getting found in the search engines. Follow the above guidelines to make sure your Web marketing efforts are successful and drive online results for the company. Here are few final guidelines:

• Photos with captions are read by the majority of users.
• Brief and direct content gets read.
• Blocks of text are ignored and make a bad first impression.
• Easy-to-read and scannable websites have lower bounce rates and higher conversion rates.
• Website marketing teams must dedicate a writer to implement content strategies.
• Do more with less by cutting 50 percent of the words from your first draft.
• Google rewards websites with new and relevant content.

Thomas Young is the CEO of Intuitive Websites.

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