Before you can start
deciding what content the site is going to contain you need to
determine who your target audience is. What age group are your
users? What is there skill level with the
Internet?
Next you need to determine the purpose of
your site. If your site has no purpose then people will find
no purpose to stay look around your site or come back again.
You need to ask yourself, what is the site for?
- Promote your ideas, hobbies, or beliefs
- To Advertise your company or product
- Make loads of money really fast
- Provide customer services and support
- To keep your customer base informed
- Give or Sell Information
- Create an 'Extended Business Card' for your company
- Provide internal information and services for your
company
An important question to ask yourself when deciding on
content is: -
Why would anybody want to visit my site?
A second important question to keep in mind is: -
Why would anyone re-visit my site?
Keeping the content on your site updated frequently is
equally important, as no one wants to keep reading the same
stuff over and over again.
Adding dynamic content to
your site like a discussion forum or chat rooms can help build
an online community around your web site. But, remember, these
things need to be monitored which in turn takes
time.
Once you have determined these factors you can
next start to plan the content your site will have. Remember
who your target will be when deciding on content: -
- Frequently updated information
- Product and Company articles
- Question and answers
- Online purchasing of products
- Guest book that your guests to your site can sign and
add their own comments
- Web site forum or chat room to generate conversation
between your web site users
- Web site search, very useful for larger sites
- Weekly poll, to poll your visitors on a particular
question
- Quizzes and sweep stakes, with prizes to promote your
products
- Free offers
- News
- Unique information
- Location maps
- Contact and Booking forms
