Creating Perfect Content
publication date: Aug 7, 2006
A membership website is only as good as the premium content. Profitability comes from renewals and members only renew if they love the content.So what makes great content?
Here is a checklist that should help you to think through the style, tone and voice of your content, as well as the substance.
And don't forget that on the internet, content is not just about the written word. Think about audio, video and images, but keep the style consistent across all mediums.
Here we go.....
- Highly relevant to the audience, in both content and the tone in which it is presented.
- Exclusive and unique – Try to ensure that your audience cannot get the information you provide anywhere else.
- Frequently updated - Ideally, a site should be updated everyday. Of course, this will depend on the nature of the content, but you must ensure your members have a reason to keep coming back to the site.
- Current - Make sure your content is right up to date. If you give people yesterday's news, they will seek current news elsewhere.
- Punchy – People read 40% slower on the web so get straight to the point. Keep it easy to read.
- Factual and accurate – Free information on the web is infamously inaccurate. Members pay to get factually correct data
- Easy to read – Use simple words, short sentences, short paragraphs, sub-headers and lots of white space.
- Make it personal – Write in your personal style and tone. Members are buying into you and your expertise. You are the site's brand.
- Variety is the spice of life! – Keep the content fresh, dynamic and exciting. Try new ideas and watch the web stats to see what members like.
- Use images – A page that is a pleasure to look at is more likely to be a pleasure to read.
- Involve your members – Give your members a chance to interact with you. Allow them to rate an article or leave their comments. You get feedback, they feel involved.
- Make it easy to print – Many people still like to print articles to read, so make printing easy (and don’t cut the edges off printed pages, it drives people mad!).
Developing your own ‘voice’ is great fun and satisfying, and will ultimately determine your success.
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