So you’re ready to get online, revamp your website or enter into social media.  Where to start and how do you convince people to check out your business website?

3 things to keep in mind when creating website content

1. Content is king – make sure you’re entire website is not in flash and that you have relevant information you’re existing and potential clients could be searching for
2. Storytelling is important – Share stories that show how your products or services make people’s lives easier.  Seth Godin advises folks to focus on the customers needs, not the fact that you created it.
3. Give a compelling reason – Be interesting!  Take a step on the wild side and really reach out with a unique message.  “You should do this because I say so” sucks.  Instead, make it personal, funny and whimsical.

4 reasons people go to a website on the interent

1. They are researching a product or service in general
2. They are looking at providers of a product or service, comparing, learning, pricing
3. They are researching you or your company
4. They want to be entertained

Examples of content for any business

Carpet store – health related information to carpets, colors, textures, care

Warehouse equipment – OSHA worker safety, increased productivity, Kaizen

Business association – member to member discounts, community events, access to special funding

Non Profit – blog about the families and kids, create baseball cards like Ronald McDonald House of Minneapolis did to bring awareness to their cause

Day care center - create content about new moms, kids and nutrition, have a 1pm “webcam wave” where all the kids say hi to their parents through the webcam before nap time

Items from the Lifestream

Don’t use BlackHat SEO tactics to drive traffic to your website.  Google will drop you like a bad habit

Don’t abuse Twitter with a bunch of spammy links.  Focus on sharing good things and Karma will return the favor

Shout out to Dave Hall for his help and feedback on my website last year!

Shout out to Tony Mommsen for all his help in helping me find my place in website development

Resources

To capture your creative ideas, record yourself at your computer with Audacity or pick up a portable digital voice recorder for $30 at Amazon RCA RP5120 256MB USB 104 Hour Recording Digital Voice Recorder