Next you need to determine what type of content you plan to include on your site to meet all the
needs that have been defined by the preceding questions. There are several different types of con-
tent, and each type has its own implications: Licensed Content:Licensed content is what you might buy from a content broker. For
example, if you’re looking for a quick way to populate your site with articles, you might
turn to a company like FreeSticky.comthat offers many different articles you can use.
The problem with this type of content is that it’s often repeated all over the Internet. You’re
not the only one who will need to populate your site, and others will likely use some of
the same services you do. Being used often doesn’t make the content less valuable, but it’s
not going to rank as well with search engines because of the duplication.
Original Content:There are several types of original content. There’s the content you
write and share with others for free. This is a good way to get links back to your site. You
can use the content for a limited amount of time exclusively on your own site and then
allow others to use it for nothing more than a link back to your site. This incoming link
adds credibility to your site.
Another type of original content is that which is distributed freely by visitors to your
site. This original content can take the form of comments on your site or forum message
boards. This type of original content is an excellent addition to your SEO efforts, because
it tends to be focused on a specific subject.Some original content is exclusive to your site. This is content that you create, and the
only place it appears is your web site. This is the most valuable type of content for your
site, and it’s the type search engine crawlers like the best. Think of it as giving the crawler
some variety in its diet. It gets tired of the same thing day in and day out, just like we do.
The more original and exclusive content you can provide for a crawler, the better you’ll
rank in search results. It also doesn’t hurt if that content has an appropriate number of
keywords in it. Dynamic Content:Dynamic content can be licensed or original. Blogs are the perfect
example of dynamic content.Once you have all these elements decided upon, you can begin to create your content. It sounds
easy enough, but there’s more to it than meets the eye. Not only does your copy need to be com-
pelling to people, but it also needs to be focused to help increase search engine rankings.Elements of Competitive Content
When you begin to create your web-site content, your audience is your customer or potential cus-
tomer. Every word written for your web site should be written for the customer. Consider what
type of information you have that would be of value to the customer, and those are the topics that
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