Content: Is It Killing Your Website?

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There are many factors that go into a successful website, from usability to SEO, and much more. But people often overlook the importance of quality content. If the content on your website has spelling and grammar errors, isn’t factual, or is just plain boring, you are going to lose potential customers and discourage them from coming back.

Keep your intended audience interested in what you have to say or sell by following the tips below:

Don’t duplicate. Why would anyone spend time browsing through all the pages on your website if the content is the same throughout? If you don’t like to write, hire a professional writer and let them craft unique and persuasive content for each page of your website. Not only will this make your products and services stand out, it will help your site to rank better on the search engines.

Stop spamming. There’s nothing wrong with having ads on your website or blog – hey, we all have to earn a living – but going overboard can leave your prospective customers with a bad impression of your company. If your site or blog is so full of ads that it detracts from the content, you’ve got a problem. Reduce the number of ads you have on your site or blog and see if it helps boost your conversion rate.

Step up the quality. Think of the reasons why you would spend your valuable time reading someone’s blog or the content on their website. Most likely you would read something that was informative, factual, interesting, and engaging. If your web content is full of spelling errors or useless information, your reader won’t return. Quality content is necessary to sell your products or services and it helps establish your credibility as a company.

Don’t overdo SEO. Too much of a good thing will kill your conversion rates. But finding the right balance will help it. Keep this in mind when incorporating SEO into your web content. Always ask yourself if you’d read the SEO article, blog, or website content you just created and actually find it interesting and/or informative. If you wouldn’t read it, don’t expect your target audience to either.

Check out these links for more information about how you can create great web content:

7 Best Practices for Improving Your Website’s Usability

Seven Tips to Make Your Website Sing

And if you're interested in increasing your visibility amongst the major search engines like Bing, Google, and Yahoo, Voice of North America can help. Voice of North America lets you post blogs about any topic you want, getting you quality link backs from relevant content.

6 Steps to Effective Web Content

Is your web content so boring it even makes kittens fall asleep?

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Writing for your website is different than writing a press release, blog, or email newsletter. If you want your content to draw people in and keep them interested, it has to include a few key ingredients. Persuasive, interesting, and well-written web content can help convert web traffic into paying customers and ensure that your company comes across as both professional and credible.

1. Your first step is to do a little research on your target audience. If you know who you’re writing for, you can tailor your content to match. Depending on what you discover in your research, you may learn that your audience is driven by emotion and creative content that moves them to contact you will be your best bet. If they’re a technical audience, statistics, graphs, and figures might be more appropriate.


2. Search engine optimization is going to be an essential ingredient to the success of your website and business as a whole. You can use Google’s keyword tool – AdWords to conduct research on which keywords and/or phrases are searched the most. Using broad keywords won’t be as effective as specific keywords, so keep that in mind.


3. Writing catchy SEO titles for each page will help catch your target audience’s attention. Remember that infusing your site, content, and titles with SEO keywords is a wise business decision, but if you go overboard, it’s going to have the opposite effect on your visitors. Make sure your titles and content read as such; if they come across as just a way for you to have SEO throughout your site, no one’s going to read your content or learn about your products and services anyway.


4. Keep your content concise. Write small paragraphs that contain information relevant to each page. Make sure each page of content on your website is unique as well. Search engines like Google, Bing, and Yahoo will see your website as redundant if you have the same copy on each page and it can affect your rankings.


5. Add bullet points or numbered list where you can. This will allow your visitors to skim your content for the information they’re looking for. Make sure you have a link to your contact form on every single page so they can easily reach you by email or phone.


6. Don’t forget about call to action. Your content needs to be persuasive—but not overly so. If your content is too sales-y, you may lose visitors. But if it’s filled with informative, engaging, and persuasive content that leads them to an action, then you’ve done it right.

See: Call to Action: Why Your Marketing Content Needs It

Once your content is up and running, you might also want to think about blogging about your products and services to help increase your visibility amongst search engines. Voice of North America lets you post blogs about any topic you want in a 50 domain network, getting you quality linkbacks from relevant content.

A Little Grammar Lesson Never Hurt Nobody (Ironic?)

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No matter if you’re writing professional web content or a Facebook status update to your friends, knowing the grammar basics is essential. Since I love learning about grammar (nerd alert), I ‘follow’ quite a few editors, proofreaders, style guides, and grammar experts on Twitter. This is a great way to learn everything from basic grammar tips to more complex grammar issues on an ongoing basis. But if you’re ready for a quick review of the most common grammar errors right now, check out my tips below!

You’re/Your

You’re is the contraction of ‘you are.' For example, “Shannon, you’re the best blogger in the world” and “Hey, Shannon, you’re doing an amazing job on that witty and highly informative blog – keep up the good work!”

Your is the possessive form of you. For example, “Is that your dog that just crapped on my lawn again?” and “You better start cleaning up after your dog or I will be forced to rub your face in his poo.”

If you’re still unsure whether you need to use you’re or your, a good way to test it is to insert 'you are' (you're) into the sentence.

For example, would 'you are' work in this sentence? “Is that you are dog that just crapped on my lawn again?” Since it clearly doesn’t make any sense, you know you need to go with 'your.' You can use this trick anytime you are unsure which you need to use.

They’re/Their/ There

They might sound the same, but these three words all have very different meanings.

They’re is the contraction of ‘they are.’ For example, “I’m only going to their wedding if they’re having an open bar” and “Don’t worry, cheapskate, they’re having an open bar with lots of vodka – your favorite.”

Their is used to describe belonging. For example, “Their wedding was a smashing good time. No, really, I got super smashed” and “I’m glad you had fun, but you probably shouldn’t have helped yourself to some of their wedding gifts.”

There is used to a refer to a place, whether physical or abstract, but it can also be used to introduce a sentence. For example, “There is nothing wrong with a little bump and grind” and “Look at that couple bumping and grinding over there.”

It’s/Its

It’s is the contraction of ‘it is’ and ‘it has.’ For example, “It’s going to kill me if there are no hot guys at the bar tonight” and “I can't believe it's taking this long for all the cute guys to show up."

Its is a pronoun that shows possession. For example “This glass isn’t going to refill itself on its own” and “This blog will never lose its appeal.”

Remember the trick from above… insert 'it is' (it's) in the sentence if you're unsure which to use.

For example, “This glass isn’t going to refill itself on it is own.” Immediately you can tell that the correct choice to go with is ‘its.’

I hope this helped! Another great source for easy-to-remember grammar tips is Grammar Girl’s website. Check it out and see what you think!

And if you're interested in increasing your visibility amongst search engines, Voice of North America can help. Voice of North America lets you post blogs about any topic you want, getting you quality link backs from relevant content.

Websites Need Love Too

Every time you ignore your website, a puppy cries 

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Did you know that updating your web content regularly can help improve your rankings in search engines like Google, Bing, and Yahoo? Plus, having fresh content on your website gives your web visitors a reason to come back, improving your rankings further. Don't ignore your website any longer - it needs love and care to help your company grow, gain exposure, and become profitable.

Here’s how you do it: 

• Invest in a content management system (CMS). If you don’t already have one, a CMS will enable you to make regular updates to the content on your website. You’ll also be able to add pages, add/update keywords, add/delete images, tag images, and much more. This allows you to make regular changes to your site without having to pay a costly webmaster to do it for you.

• Conduct your own website review. Go through each of the pages on your site and determine which ones need updating or new images. Pay special attention to outdated content, including old contact info, products you no longer sell, outdated prices, and specials you’re no longer running. Make a list of the most pressing changes that need to be made to ensure you get to those first.

• Add new content on a regular basis. After you’ve made the initial revisions, it’s important you continue to do this on an ongoing basis. Add new pages, including a company blog where you can talk about new products, exciting news, or simply discuss industry news and happenings. Try to make updates at least once a month, but if you can find the time to do it more often than that, even weekly, the search engines will look upon that favorably.

• Don’t forget to link. When you add new pages, put a link on the homepage to each one. Don’t forget to also include links to your Facebook and Twitter pages on your home page as well as your blog if you have one.

• Get outside help if needed. If you need help getting high quality linkbacks to your website, utilizing Voice of North America’s services is a great idea. Voice of North America lets you blog about your products or services in all 50 states, helping you reach local customers as well as drive relevant traffic to your website. 

• Keep learning. The best way to continually improve your rankings in the search engines and continue to reach your target audience is to stay on top of advancements in SEO, SEM, marketing, and web development. The more you know, the more your company will benefit. 

Here’s a few great places for you to get started: 

SEO MOZ 

Search Engine Watch 

Top Rank Online Marketing Blog

Grammar Matters

This couple is devastated by a typo they just found on your website.

After reading an article titled Nobody Cares about Spelling and Grammar Anymore by Tim Berry,  it got me thinking about whether or not that’s true.

I have to admit that I care … a lot, actually! If I find a grammatical error in anything I’ve written, whether it’s a personal email or published web content, I feel more than a little sick to my stomach. I guess I’m kind of a grammar nerd, but even with a keen interest in the subject, I know I’m still far from using perfect grammar. However, I do my best to make sure everything I write is spelled correctly and free from grammatical errors.

Do I suggest you do the same? Well, if you’re a blogger or a writer of web content, it’s important that you not only proofread your work, but know the grammar basics. I’m not saying you have to geek out on grammar, but it wouldn’t take long to do some light reading on the subject. Doing this will make sure your reader isn’t turned off by typos and it will make you a better writer in the long run.

I think everyone can benefit from brushing up on grammar basics, so check out the links below before you write your next blog and see if they help!

10 Words You Need to Stop Misspelling
Your Versus You’re
Apostrophes

If you’ve been looking for a way to get more traffic to your blog or website, visit Voice of North America. Voice of North America will help you get found on the search engines and increase traffic to your website.