Building a Content Rich Website

Creating Your Content

You know best - or should - what your audience wants. It then becomes an easy task to decide about which types of content will best serve their needs and how to go about finding or creating it. Here are some suggestions:

· Editorials
· Feature articles
· News clips or stories
· Art galleries
· Aggregating the best content
· Reviews
· Announcements
· Interviews
· Interactive features - polls, feedback, discussion groups, forums, chat

Editorials

Editorials are the opinion of a perceived 'expert' in the field-- (either you or a guest contributor). And they make good content, because they invite reader response, either endorsing or opposing the writer. This can make for lively debate. Give your readers an avenue to make their views known - by including a bulletin board or guest book on your site. People will return back to your site, at least to read other responses to their comments. And you can use this feedback from your audience by incorporating it into a follow up article in the future!

Full-length Feature Articles

A feature article is the most common - and one of the best - forms of content.

Depending on the nature of your site, the articles may be long or brief, formal or chatty, technical or entertaining.
Here are some tips:

· Articles shouldn't be too long. While there aren't any rules, it is perhaps safe to keep feature articles below 1200 words. If they are longer, convert them into multi-part features.

· Articles should be relevant to the topic of your Website.

· They should educate, entertain or inform. Try and limit the message of each piece to one or two new ideas.

· Don't simply rehash an article you've read elsewhere. By publishing something that hasn't been already featured elsewhere, you enhance the value and credibility of your site.

There are several ways to get original content.

- Write your own features. This assumes you write reasonably well. If you can't, or don't have the time or inclination then getting someone to write articles for you has benefits to both you and the author.

You could offer to:

a.) Pay guest authors for their work or

b.) Exchange articles with their Website in return. Your Website visitors benefit by providing them with another point of view. A fringe benefit is that you might hook some new regular visitors from your guest author's site!

c.) Exclusivity. If someone else writes for you, make sure the same article won't be submitted to dozens of other Websites and newsletters. Publishing exclusive content benefits includes syndication opportunities in other publications, online and off, and reader loyalty.