Congratulations! You’ve started a business and created a website. You’ve invited all your friends to check out the company Facebook page; you even have T-shirts with the company logo. So, now what? Have you reached the pinnacle of the business owner’s mountain of success, or are you sitting behind your desk wondering, “What should I do now?”
The 2015 Now What? Conference set out to answer that very question. The two day conference was filled with workshops and lectures that told business managers to take a serious look at their website’s content. But, what exactly does that mean? What is web content and why should you care about making sure it looks good?
Web content is any textual, visual, or aural element that a website user comes across while on your site. The biggest issue becoming more important each day is how companies present their content. Companies are looking for ways to promote the friendliest user experience. The Now What? Conference educated business managers on the importance of producing and managing quality content for their websites.
How is this Helpful for You?
Let me be clear – there is a problem; a problem with content management. And the businesses that succeed in the market today are the ones who address and solve this problem. A common theme from each speaker was this – tools are available for companies to create quality content, yet many of these companies push the topic of web content aside because they either fail to recognize the need for quality content, or their company lacks the resources to research and develop usable content.
Speakers like Corey Vilhauer and Eileen Webb explained that content management can be created by any business with any budget. Google’s latest SEO changes sparked people’s attention to many specific issues in online marketing, but none as important as user-friendliness. If your business is struggling to gain the attention of your customers, improving your content could create a better connection to your audience.
Okay, well… How do I make my content better?
Asking a company to improve their content is a difficult task to accomplish that often leads to more questions than answers. So, here is a list of questions you may want to ask yourself while evaluating your site’s content.
- Who are the people that are going to visit my site?
- What will they be trying to accomplish when they get to my site?
- What is the function of the content?
- What makes you excited about your site?
- What is different about your site? What makes it special?
If you were stumped by any of these questions, you may want to re-think the purpose of the content on your website. All content must be relevant to the message you are trying to send your customers. Questions like these allow you to look at your company and find out what information is the most important. Managing your content requires constant attention. Just like your business, your site’s content must stay relevant to its audience.
Realizing your content needs work is an important first step in a growing business. Each day content management is becoming more vital to companies. Stay on the lookout for my future blogs where I will discuss helpful ways to develop and manage a powerful content strategy.