Money for nothin and clicks for free: Why content is so important on your website

January 2009
The old days of traditional marketing will never be the same in this digital age. Most consumers find businesses themselves, instead of the other way around, and are constantly finding new ways to tune out unwanted advertising messages (via Tivo, spam filters, Do Not Call registries). More and more are turning to the internet to find what they really want through forums, blogs and searches. That's why your website must be at the top of your marketing efforts, so that it'll appear within Google's "Golden Triangle."

The area on the search results list that attracts the most clicks is known as the "Golden Triangle." Statistics show that searchers click in the "Golden Traingle," or organic search results, 85% more often than the Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Sponsored Links. This is because most educated Google users understand that Sponsored Links are geared toward shoppers; regular links are geared toward people who are trying to find information. That means a #1 ranking in the organic search results will bring you more targeted traffic than paying for PPC ads. Visitors that find you through organic search results are totally free, so there's a very high ROI. That also means it's more important than ever to maintain and update your content often, which is what Google looks for. You may not see immediate results, but by investing time and money each month, you can gradually build your site up to attract lots of traffic.

In the print advertising world, designers love white space. It removes clutter and allows the eye to focus on what's really important. In their eyes, less is more. But when it comes to the web, the more copy text on your website, the better. And not just any text -- it must be relevant to your business and, more importantly, your customer. Text written with your customer in mind will help your website position itself better within the search engine results. In layman's terms: text on print -- bad; text on web -- good. A lesson in good copywriting can help, too.

Some things to remember...

• Ranking Takes Time: You may not start seeing noticeable traffic increases for a few weeks to a few months. It all depends on the competitiveness of your industry.
• Useful Content Takes Time: You'll need to commit more of your time to get good organic rankings, building a site full of good content that is useful to your visitors and portrays your company as the authority on the topic.

Source: Advertising Age: Search Marketing Fact Pack 2007(PDF)