It’s time to pick up a theme from a few weeks back, when we first discussed the question of what matters more to your website (and business).  For those who may have missed the first installment of “Image vs. Content,” you may want to take a moment to review what we’ve already discussed (though we’ll summarize below).

The main point of the previous post dealt with controlling your marketing message.  Meaning, your marketing message needs to be clearly articulated to your potential customer/client.  And though a picture can “paint a thousand words,” that doesn’t mean the RIGHT words will necessarily come to mind.

Hence, a huge marketing problem that will affect your website conversion (what do your visitors “DO” when they come to your site)?

It’s About Traffic

In this article we’re looking at the issue from the side of traffic.  For starters, content is index-able.  The search engines “like” content.  They can “see” it.

And unique content is THE number one way to stand out online.  To be unique.  To differentiate yourself online.

Think of it this way.  Why do people go online?  Why do sites like match.com and webmd.com get so much traffic and are hugely “popular” online?  If you think about it for a minute it will come to you.  And it’s really simple…

People go online to find answers to their problems.  Period.  The “content” for match.com is a potential date, or mate.  Beyond the photo, folks look at the profile.  That’s the “content.”  For webmd.com, it’s about finding medical info from the convenience of your own home.

So, creating unique and informative content puts you in the position of the expert.  As the one who may have the solution to someone’s problem.  And that’s important.

This info can get picked up by the search engines.  And quite simply, the more content you “own” the bigger share of the internet you’ll command.  Think of this as “staking your claim” to virtual real estate.

But there’s more to it than that…

The Power of Contextual Linking

A contextual link (and there’s one in this article) is when a block of text describes a link that someone might follow.  Simply put, the text that is highlighted and underlined as the link IS, according to the search engines, what the target site is about.

Let me give you an example.  Let’s say I want to “point to” a site about Jamaican food listing recipes, etc.  Now, I could have a graphic button doing this.  Or I could write a blurb and say “for more info, click HERE” with the “HERE” as the link.

But this does nothing for the site being referenced, because the graphic button will not get picked up, and the “HERE” text does not describe the site at all.

However, describing the site as “awesome Jamaican recipes” and using that block of text for the link to the site describes the site.  And that’s the point.  Meaning, if enough links are pointing to this fictitious site ALL use the SAME block of text, anyone typing in “awesome Jamaican recipes” will most likely see the referenced site in the #1 spot on Google (or another search engine).

Are you beginning to see how powerful this is?  Can you imagine the possibilities for your business?

I hope so.

The bottom line is this.  It’s not that images aren’t important.  But in our opinion, they are way overvalued onilne.  Most sites seem to focus solely on logo, color, graphics, flash, and images, and ignore sound and solid fundamentals.

Your site will ultimately be judged…

1. by your visitors on the content they find there.  And for your sake, it better be unique.  They’ll rip you if they find you’ve simply swiped some junk from someplace else.
2. by the search engines because that’s basically what they “see.”  The example of contextual links highlights this point exactly.

Alright, I hope I’ve hammered the point home.

Next Steps…

Any questions?  Comments?  Did we hit a nerve?

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