#WOCinTech Chat
The internet has been around for almost 26 years now, but it feels like it has been part of our lives for a much longer period of time. We’re so reliant on the internet now that everyone from international corporations to celebrities and even regular people use it to promote their services, connect with other people and look for entertainment. However, one of the most interesting things about the internet is how we look for new websites.
Search engines are sophisticated, complicated and wonderful creations that scour the world wide web for websites. They categorize the websites, sorting them by rankings which allow the end user to easily find the best of the best in a world of billions of web pages. As a result, it makes sense to optimize our website to be discovered by search engines. In the past, this could be abused by overloading your website with links and keywords, but major search engines such as Google and Bing have improved their ranking algorithms over the past decade and they are now much smarter.
Sophisticated search engines use a number of factors to control their rankings. How exactly it works is hidden to protect their secrets and prevent abuse, but in general, the more informative and user-friendly your website is the higher your rank. This is why creating original content is one of the most important aspects of any website, and it’s most likely what your own website is missing.
If you speak to search engine optimization specialists such as SEOClerks, they’ll all tell you the same thing; original content is the key to driving user interaction, user retention and showing search engines that you mean business. Far too many websites nowadays copy or outright steal content from other websites, and this is typically seen as an act that could get your website blacklisted and it will never appear in search results.
The key to creating great content is to make it personalized. For instance, if you’re a reseller or a retailer that sells products online, you want to make your own customized product descriptions instead of using ones that are from the manufacturer. By including your own thoughts and personality into something, even if it’s the description of a product or a small review for something you sell, it makes your content easier to read, it will appear in search engines, and it’s more fun for your customer to read. Of course, you’ll still need to include things such as specifications and technical details, but it adds value to your website.
Another great way to add original content is to start a business blog. Business blogs are fantastic for showing your customers what is going on in your business. For instance, you could update them about your newest products, you could tease an upcoming item you plan to sell, or you can discuss the inner-workings of your business and how it’s being run. There’s a lot of opportunity for original content, and it’s arguably one of the most important aspects of any business website that will help it grow.
Photo Credit: WOCinTech