Writing original content can prove harder than it may appear, because not every one of us is a Joseph Conrad.
There are, however, a couple of guidelines which make putting together worthwhile online information a little easier.
The first thing worth remembering when trying to write great content is to ensure it holds specific appeal for your targeted visitors. For instance, if your website sells bowling balls, an article about polishing them for maximum traction is sure to be of interest to your visitors.
The next step when writing original content is focusing on ‘Original’.
Whatever you happen to be writing about, keep it unique.
This is usually classified as content not found on any other web site. If all you’re doing is copying Buffa-Bowl Bill’s seminal piece about ball-polishing perfection, and re-publishing it on your own website, you might as well forget the whole thing straight away, because Google is getting pretty good at figuring out who originally wrote what, and who’s copied it.
But it doesn’t end there; good content has to be interesting, and authoritative. While being informative, it has to convey the personality of the author, entertain the reader and hold their attention to the end.
If your content doesn't fulfill these requirements, there is no point in publishing it online in the first place, since it will do little to keep visitors coming back.
For the novice, one of the easiest ways of creating fresh content is merely to write news or informative articles about their particular industry. Also remember that when writing original content for the web, it’s usually best to use ‘regular English’ whenever possible. If you are writing about a more specific subject and have to employ the use of Jargonese terms, be sure to explain them for less knowledgeable readers.
Bear in mind that news and articles are designed to be an indirect aid to effective web promotion and your online marketing campaign. This approach will attract readers with a specific interest in your industry or market sector, and if you can keep them coming back, you’re promoting long-term visitor relations and trust. And once they’ve known you for a while, they’re more likely to buy something from you.
The other thing to remember when writing original content and publishing it on the Internet, is to check its spelling and grammar. Don't rely on the spell checkers in web design programs, because they are just that, spell checkers. Since these tools are not normally able to tell you if you’ve accidentally used ‘there’ instead of ‘their’, it pays to write your content with a proper word processing package such as Microsoft Word™, OpenOffice Writer, or Corel WordPerfect™, and to have it proofread by others once you’re done.
From a visitor/customer point of view, any errors within the text you publish will make you and your company appear in a rather poor, unprofessional light. And the simple fact is that most potential customers do not normally buy from companies they consider to be unprofessional.
And finally, don't just leave your content alone after writing it.
Most industries or service sectors will change and evolve with time; so if you don’t update your articles or news items you will eventually turn from an authority on your subject into someone who’s somewhat behind the times.
Keeping your visitors informed through regularly writing original content about changes, or news within your industry, will turn them into repeat prospects, and into paying customers in the long term. Ultimately this equals higher sales and greater profits for you and your company, which is the aim of the game as far as commerce on the Web is concerned.
