If you spend very long online learning a little bit about Internet marketing you will hear the phrase, “Content is King.” This is Web marketers’ way of saying that what you put on your website determines whether you are successful or not. Traditionally it has meant the words that you use to sell your products and services. But does it really mean that?

There are different kinds of content. Which type of content is right for your website depends a great deal on your goals and the type of website you are building. For most websites, a mix of content is important. But what are the different types of content available?

Webmasters need to stop thinking about content as merely words on the page. Here is a list of content categories that you should consider when developing your website:

• Sales Content - You do want to close sales, don’t you? Well, you’ll need the content that does it. Words. Someone has to write it and the content writer needs to have an understanding of what motivates people to click and pull out their credit cards.
• Informational Content - More words. Unlike sales content, information doesn’t necessarily intend to get your reader to hit the “Buy Now” button. It does inform the reader and is useful in the sale process. But it’s more about pre-sales than actual sales.
• Graphics - Every website needs graphic enhancements. The graphics on a site are usually not the primary focus, but they are important content that serves to draw attention to the words you use to convey your information and close sales.
• Meta Content - Meta tags are still important. Maybe they’re not the most important thing on you website, but it’s still content that you need to give some thought to.
• Video Content - Video content can be useful and it’s fast becoming a type of content that almost anyone can benefit from. Videos make your website more interactive and interesting.
• Audio Content - Sometimes you just want people to listen. While not quite as active as video content, audio content can still be very powerful.
• Links - Yes, links are content too. How you link your web pages together, the anchor text you use, how you go about your link building campaigns, all of that is important and you should think hard about how you want your links to add up.
• Advertising Content - If you do any off-site advertising such pay per click or banner advertising on like sites then your ad content is very important.
• Other Content - Sometimes, digital information like e-books, .pdf files, RSS feeds, and other technologies can seem like unnecessary distractions, but they’re really not. It is important to think about how all of these content types can work together to make your internet marketing more effective. Even social networking content is a category you should consider when building your website. How will you use the networks, RSS feeds, etc. to drive traffic to your site. Leave no question unasked about content.

Caroline Melberg
Melberg Marketing
Blue Chip Marketing Tips
Small Business Mavericks

Tags: content, Internet marketing, website development

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 24th, 2008 at 8:53 am and is filed under Copywriting, Graphic Design, SEO for Small Business, Small Business Internet Marketing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.