What Is The Most Important Part of Every Website?
The first lesson that I was taught about online marketing was simple. The mantra, “content is king” was drilled in to my head over and over again. When I forgot it, I lost money. When I remembered it, I made more money than I expected. A few years ago, making money online was this simple.
Today, online marketing is significantly more complicated, not to mention competitive. In order to effectively market online, one needs to understand a considerable amount of technology, how to build relationships online, how to direct public communication, how to reach groups of people using the correct method, etc. The “etc” at the end of that short list is huge. An instruction manual describing how to market online would need to be as unique as the products that are being marketed. It’s not easy.
If a comprehensive online marketing manual could be created, there would be one common message iterated over-and-over. This message would revolve around the importance of content.
To explain what I mean, look at this “Home and Garden” article that was created by the New York Times:
Sure, it’s a boring couch. But it’s also a high value, high markup item that exists in an extremely competitive vertical.
The article above is an attractively designed, interesting source of information. It features expensive professional photography, 3D rendered illustrations, and poignant descriptions. Something like this isn’t easy to create.
The New York Times has justified a $10,000 difference between two products that, short of a couple of throw pillows, look identical online. Clearly, I know that The New York Times does not sell couches, but part of me wants to buy a couch from them. At the very least, this information and the way it is presented makes me think that The New York Times knows a thing or two about couches and that I should trust their advice.
If we ignore design, layout and photography, we’re left with 3 things: First and foremost, each core competency (the things that fuel purchase decisions) is broken down into easily digestible chunks. Next, features are highlighted alongside those core competencies to clearly illustrate why one couch is better than the other. My point however isn’t about comparison shopping, it’s about content. To illustrate that, look at the way that The Times has included facts and numbers as measurements and weights that if placed on an commerce site that sold couches would say, “our couch is the best”.
The best. That’s what content needs to be. It doesn’t matter if you’re selling cars or trying to promote your band. If you look carefully at your competition and do whatever it takes to create content that is clearly better than everything else out there, you will earn more money or spread your message further. Content is an investment. Like any other investment, you must be able to accurately measure how effective it is and continually evaluate the return on that investment.
A summary of the points that I have tried to convey:
1) The quality of your content will determine your success marketing online.
2) Online marketing is tough. There isn’t a one size fits all solution to any marketing problem.
3) Design, Layout and Photography are very important. When you add these three things together, they equal the importance of the numbers and words that are used.
4) Never forget who your target customer is. Cater to what they’re looking for with clear, digestible chunks of information.
5) Content is an investment. Before you make this investment ensure that you have a clear, accurate way to measure the return on that investment.
Bonus tip:
The best content online solves problems that people have.
