Web Site Design Tips: Content

Content is the Most Important Aspect of Your Site

• Gone in 15 seconds. That's how long you have to get your visitor's interest peaked enough to stay at your site. So, don't mince words. Make your point and make it fast, but strong.
• Brevity is the soul of wit...and the key to capturing someone's interest online! Don't ramble on aimlessly. Use one-line, bullet points where possible. Again, length is okay for informative passages and articles - if a visitor has gotten that far, they want the information.
• Update, update, update. Would you go to the mall, or open a catalog if you knew the merchandise was always going to be the same? Do you find yourself buying the same book over and over again? Then why do you think people will keep coming back to your site to see/read the same information?
• Make yourself available! There is nothing more frustrating then having to hunt around a web site for contact information. I suggest a phone number and/or email address on every page.

At a lost for content? Here are some ideas:

• Affiliate Programs - Again, make sure they are quality programs and sites.
• Art
• Art Made From Your Products/Products (I know of someone who makes great lamps out of John Deere farm machinery parts)
• Book Excerpts
• Bulletin Board
• Calendars - Relevant events and happenings. Personalized calendars.
• Cartoons/Comic Strips
• Catalog - put your whole catalog online, or have a place where people can request one.
• Chat Rooms
• Classified Ads
• Clubs/Memberships - Don't forget to make it worthwhile!
• Contests/Sweepstakes
• Coupons / Gift Certificates
• Course / Course Work (MIT recently decided to put most of its course work on its web site - for free! All in the name of sharing knowledge)
• Dailies - quotes, jokes, trivia, anecdotes, tips...
• Demos
• Design a Product - Start with a basic model and let people "add-on" their own features.
• Electronic Greeting Cards / Postcards
• Employee of the Month
• Employment Opportunities
• eZines
• Financial Data - Make sure you aren't breaking any laws!
• Forums / Lists
• Free Email
• Freebies / Free Samples
• Games / Puzzles
• Gift Ideas/Suggestions
• Gift Shops / Merchandise Displays - This needn't be a full blown shopping cart deal.
• History - This could be company/organization history, product history, holiday history, "this day in history", historic anecdotes regarding your organization or product
• Information Request Form
• Jokes
• Kids Stuff - Games, recipes, activities, coloring, crafts, and stories geared for children.
• Legal Information
• Links - Make sure they're good and relevant to your cause/audience.
• New Stuff - Keep people informed of products/organization/site updates.
• News - Keep it fresh!
• Newsletters
• Nostalgia - People love to "remember when".
• Opinion Polls - Don't forget to publish the results -- realtime if you can!
• Photo Gallery
• Poetry
• Political / Lobby Information - This isn't for everyone. If your group/site isn't political in nature, you may run the risk of offending potential clients.
• Product Fact Sheets - What's in it? What's it for? Where does it come from?
• Products/Product Information - Even if you don't sell it online, you can still tell people about it and how to get it.
• Questions and Answers / Frequently Asked Questions
• Recipes
• Seminars
• Shopping Cart / Store
• Statistics - Relevant to your organization, product, service, audience.
• Stories/Anecdotes - People LOVE to be entertained!
• Surveys
• Trivia
• Tours - Campus, factory, location, etc.
• Video / Audio - Use this one with caution! Slow-load time, poor quality, poor or out-dated content, and usage difficulty can really turn people off to your site.
• White Papers

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