CONTENT ON WEBSITES

Are Content-Rich websites better than websites with less content?

When the Internet first became popular for users like you and me, it was all about exchanging information — which meant text. This is why Google and other Search Engines still attach such importance to text and are "blind" to images.

Internet Users are used to searching online for information and expect much more than just one page with an address and phone number for a company.

Websites like Wikipedia frequently show up on top of result pages because they are extremely rich in content, and they are therefore filled with text for the Search Engines to read and filled with information for the visitors to find value in. A Content Rich website is defined as a site that contains large amounts of useful information.

There are some real advantages to having a content-rich website. Firstly, if your website is rich in content, you are able to become an opinion leader to your visitors. The more you talk about your specialty, the more people can learn about you and your product/service — People will also be more likely to revisit your website if they found something of value on your website during their first visit.

Secondly, the more familiar visitors are with your website, the deeper they will click through your pages, and this increases the chances of them contacting you with questions about your products or services. Their familiarity with your site will also allow them to feel comfortable enough with your business to visit your shop in the "real world" in order to buy from you.

And of course, as we mentioned earlier, Search Engines love content. Google or Yahoo! will be very happy to include your website in their database if you have a content-rich site. Plus, the more content you have, the more you can intersperse keywords in your text. And the more you repeat your keywords, the easier it is for the Search Engines to find them, thereby improving your chances of showing up on the first result pages of the Search Engines.

SO — When we talk about rich content — what exactly to we mean by "rich"? - 10 pages? 50 pages? ...Have a look at websites like Wikipedia or Ebay. They have hundreds and hundreds of pages which are linked back and forth and most of them even have blogs or a forum or chat-rooms on top of their original website... Archives on these websites are 50 pages alone…

How can a small business compete with that?

If you own a restaurant, for example, you simply cannot create a 150 page website ...and you don't have to.

Don't forget that websites should be attractive to your visitors, not just Search Engines, and there are many industries where vistors want to see pictures. A contractor, for example, would require a website with a lot of before and after images to impress prospects. A large text which explains how to install a kitchen cupboard would not do the trick.

There needs middle ground between being Search Engine friendly and Visitor-friendly.