The 10 "C's" Of Successful Websites - Content

Chris Jaeger
Sell More Weddings
(978) 283-8295

Author's Note: I've compiled a list of ten things I see common in websites that get great results. Hold up your website to these items and see where you stand.

Content (Is Still King)

The words a bride or groom read on your web pages are very, very important. On a scale of one to ten I'd rate them nine, with the content on your home page being the most important. It's most important because if you don't get their attention on your first page, trust me, they're not going to any of your other pages!

And if you're using an "Enter Here" page as the first page of your website we need to talk, and soon (http://www.sellmoreweddings.com/about.html).

Unfortunately, based on what I'm seeing at most of the sites I visit, some of you aren't paying enough attention to your content. If you're getting poor results, or you think you should be getting better results, there's a good chance your content needs some work.

For a bride or groom, the content you place on your pages delivers a powerful marketing message that either turns their visit into an inquiry or phone call - or sends them packing, looking for better content (at a different website). Content is certainly a "make it or break it" moment and it has to deliver a no-fluff, no-hype value / benefit message that clearly communicates the "what's in it for me" message.

Here are the questions you want to answer (first, and at a minimum):

• Why should a bride/groom choose your company?
• What have you done for others?
• What can they expect you'll do for them if the choose you?
• Why should a bride/groom believe you?

Answering these questions almost automatically puts good content on your page. And when you deliver great content a couple things happen. First, a bride or groom visiting your site will actually keep reading. With an easy to use navigation system, and a little coaxing, they'll probably even visit the other pages at your site! Secondly, your content can actually engage them and interest them enough to make an inquiry. Good content also has a strong "call to action".

How you present your content is also very important. People don't read online like they read newspapers or traditional print. Use less than ten to twelve word sentences, short paragraphs (like this newsletter), bullets, and plenty of "white space" (which helps keeps a site looking clean and uncluttered and improves comprehension and interest).

So if you're not getting the results you want, maybe you're getting solid traffic but it's not converting into inquiries, or maybe, you're not getting the results you once got, there's a good chance your content isn't doing the job it needs to.

Wait a minute, there's more.

Not only is your page content important for real people, but without the right content search engine spiders are unlikely to index or rank your site appropriately. Spiders are the automated programs Google, MSN, and Yahoo! use to scan the web 24 hours a day, 365 days a year - reviewing and analyzing websites. They typically read all of the words on a page and then try to figure out what your site is about. Spiders are trying to determine relevancy and content is what allows them to do that. So think of content as "spider food".

Are you a wedding consultant or wedding photographer? Are you in Boston or Atlanta? That sound ridiculously elementary, but I visit sites everyday and can't always figure that out from the front page! Why? Missing content.

So if you're a wedding consultant in Atlanta, Georgia you better have the page content that tells a search engine spider that's what your page is about. The phrase "garbage in, garbage out" comes to mind here and if you feed a search engine spider garbage expect your positioning and rank to be similarly "garbage".

Some of the keywords in the content for this example might be: Atlanta Georgia wedding consultant, wedding planners (yes, with an "s") in Atlanta, Georgia, Cobb County wedding planners, event planners in Atlanta, wedding planning assistance in Fulton County, DeKalb County, etc.

Why Fulton County? Because a bride just might be looking for a marriage license and search for "Fulton County" Courthouse. Wouldn't it be valuable to have your website show up in the results? This is the kind of thing search engine spiders are trying to figure out when they visit your site for indexing.

Bottom line: Your content needs to identically match the searches brides and grooms are using at the search engines or else you aren't even in the game.

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