Content Creation - Three Questions You Need To
Answer Before You Start to Create Content
for Your Web Site.

Content creation is essential to the survival and growth of your online business. You know that or you wouldn't be here. But before you set out to create content for your web site, there are three questions you should answer. Your answers will help you make better choices about what content to include.

What Is Your Theme?

Theme-based content sites have a far greater chance of ranking high in the search engines than web sites that deal with multiple topics unless, of course, you have a large staff and unlimited budget. For example, if you go to Google and do a search for "russia visa", eight of the top ten web sites listed have either the word "russia" or "visa" or both in their domain name.

A general travel web site will have a harder time ranking in the top ten for "russia visa" even if one of the web pages on the site is dedicated to that topic. Your web site should have one major theme based on a narrowly-focused niche. Every web page you create should be directly related to that theme.

Let me state it very clearly...

     Pick one, and only one, theme for your web site.

     Make every topic on your site relate to that theme.

     If you want to focus on another topic, build another web site.

You'll find it is much easier to create content if you choose a theme that you enjoy or that you have experience in. Of course, personal enjoyment cannot be the sole criteria when you are building a web business. There are two other important considerations when choosing a theme.

One, it must be popular. In other words, are people searching for the subject? You can discover a niches popularity by examining the frequency at which people search for a particular keyword or keyword phrase related to the theme. If you want a good resource for learning how to build a large keyword list, pick up your free copy of Affiliate Masters Course.

Two, is it profitable. That is, can it generate an income. Not all themes have a high probability of profit. Some are too competitive. Others don't have enough demand. An easy way to find out if people are spending money on a product or service you want to offer is to check out hot selling items at Amazon, eBay or other online stores.

Who Is Your Target Audience?

The content you create must be appropriate for your target audience. Who is interested in your product or service? What is their age range? Are they male or female? What are their interests and hobbies? Why would they want what you have to offer? What is their level of education?

Different audiences demand different content and content presentation. The style of your writing, the vocabulary you use, the images you include will all be determined by the visitors you expect to see and read your content.

For example, how would you present content for a web site focused on teenagers? Knowing that they have short attention spans, you would want to write brief, concise sentences and paragraphs. You would probably use more slang than if your site were directed toward adults. You would definitely want to use a lot of images. Some of the content options at the top of your list might be music files and online games.

What Is Your Goal?

What do you want to accomplish with your content? Do you want to inform, educate, entertain, motivate? What action do you want your readers to take? Should they click a link, sign up for a newsletter, participate in a poll, purchase a product, contract a service?

This action step is often called your Most Wanted Response or MWR. To often, site owners put up a collage of banners and links hoping someone will come along and click something. Your content should not be seen as secondary to your advertisements. It is your content that should lead your readers to take the action you want them to.

Your web site content will be much more purpose-driven if you take the time to answer the three questions above. You will also find it far easier to decide what content to create once you have the answers.

For a more-detailed explanation of web site content and the who, what, when, where, why and how of creating it, visit Make Your Content PreSell.

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Three questions you must answer before you begin to create content for your web site.

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