Fresh content
The age old question keeps
coming up, how do you retain website visitors, how do
you make visitors return to your website? The answer
should come as no surprise, fresh content. Content is
truly king, the fresher the content the better the site.
What many webmasters fail to realize is that there is an
endless supply of content on the web that is freely
available to webmasters.
Not only can public domain material be
freely used and syndicated on websites, but a number of
content publishers provide content in exchange for a
link back to their websites. A variety of contents
related to the website theme that is integrated into the
website will attract the interest of both search engines
and web surfers. The key to taking advantage of free
content is integrating or including content that is
directly related to the theme of the website.
1. Articles
Article repositories exist that categorizes content
articles. Searching the repositories using keywords that
are related to a websites theme will result in a wide
variety of articles available for publication that are
related to the site's existing web content. Articles in
the repositories are available for syndication, which
means webmasters can freely include the articles on
their websites as long as they include the author
resource box with valid links.
2. RSS Feeds
The contents of many RSS feeds can be syndicated.
The added benefit of syndicating feeds is that they are
frequently updated which will result in a steady stream
of fresh changing content. In order to reap the benefits
of syndicating RSS feeds, webmasters should use either
an ASP script or PHP script to display the feeds
contents as HTML
3. Shareware Listings
Consider populating a website or section of a
website with related niche software applications. Many
software companies offer applications as free downloads.
The downloads allow potential customers the opportunity
to try an application prior to making a purchase
decision. Categorizing and displaying software that
relates to a website theme can generate a lot of
interest. Most developers provide product descriptions
and information in a PAD file which is simply XML.
Developers can locate PAD files using the ASP site and
the PAD kit can be used to display the contents of the
PAD file.
4. Creative Commons
A Creative Commons license allows creators to place
conditions on their copyrights. Many artists allow other
publishers to use their creative and artwork,
occasionally there are conditions that credit must be
given, while others are available freely. Web publishers
can find a lot of unique content, images and creative
using the new Yahoo Creative Commons Search.
The Yahoo! Creative Commons Search service finds content
across the Web that has a Creative Commons license
5. Forums
Consider creating a community forum where
like-minded individuals or at the very least individuals
with a common interest can discuss problems, concerns,
related products or ideas. The forum posts will generate
a fresh stream of new and self perpetuating website
content.
6. White Papers
Provide white papers, customer profiles or
endorsements that detail how applications can be used in
a specific industry. Creating a white paper section that
explains how a specific product or service is used in a
specific industry to solve a problem or increase
productivity gives potential customers insight into how
a specific service, product or technology will help in
the course of a day.
7. Directories
Creating a directory of related sites while time
consuming can result in significant traffic. Directories
typically are well respected resources and rank well in
search engines.
8. Newsletter Archive
If done properly online marketers see an almost
instantaneous sales or traffic increases when they send
newsletters but many do not benefit long term from the
newsletter. Consider creating a newsletter archive, the
content is already built, why not benefit from the
potential traffic and unique phrases used, to attract
new or potential customers?
9. Blog.
Ride the technological wave. A daily journal with
information related to product or service launches,
specials, technical tips, new product announcements
