How to Develop Professional Content for a New Website

Quality content can add value for the visitors you wish to keep and set a professional tone for your new website. If your content is accurate, current and well written it can drive traffic or keep new website visitors coming back.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Tap Your Existing Resources

1. Start by gathering all the information you and your staff have written that might be appropriate content for your website.
2. Make your site the best destination for information on your products or services, above and beyond the transactions you hope to attract. Customers will be more likely to buy from you if they also come to you for product support documentation, articles, patches and drivers, fixes and FAQs.
3. Set up an interactive link on every content page to give customers a chance to tell you if the page is helpful or not.
4. Build customer loyalty and extend your brand by telling your business story or your personal history on your website. Some customers won't be interested but those who are will build identification with your business and your site.
5. Introduce your staff with names, pictures, job titles, a brief bio of each and any contact information that is appropriate to provide on the website.
6. Create a blog that combines information, specials on new products and professional answers to customer mailbag questions.

Draw Ideas and Content

7. Let your customers help you develop content in the form of reviews of your products, success stories, discussion boards, service testimonials and a Q&A format with a new question every few days.
8. Study the content on your competitors' sites and on star content laden e-commerce. Consider what is likely to appeal to your prospective customers and what you wish to avoid.
9. Check out consultants and companies like InfoSearchMedia.com that develop professional website content (see Resources below). Whether you hire them or not, use your interactions with them and their marketing material to help you brainstorm new and better content ideas for your website.

Tips & Warnings

• Even if you begin with content for a new website that sells products, you may also want to develop a professional content driven sister site with a business model built around traffic, web advertising revenue and free premium information resources.
• There is a fine line between professional website content and shilling for your products. Sometimes it is just a matter of keeping marketing content and informational content separate. Be careful not to cross the line or you may lose customers even if they are otherwise disposed to like your products.