What Is

What Is Website Content? Types and Best Practices

In digital marketing, content is king. That’s why businesses invest in website content, which is text, visual, or audio content created for the web.

Keep reading to learn more about web content, including website content’s definition, web content types, how to create good website content, and why it is important.

What is website content?

Website content, also known as web content, is text, visual, or audio content created for the Internet. Examples of web content include blog posts, YouTube videos, podcasts, and more. People use website content throughout the buying process to research topics, discover companies, and make purchases.

What is a website?

A website is essentially made up of two parts:

1. Website design

The first part is the web design which includes things like layout, fonts, colors, and stylistic embellishments.

2. Website content

The second piece of a website is the content or everything that goes on the shell of the site that the web design created, from your homepage to your blog.

To put it simply, website content is all the textual and rich media elements that make up a website. Content comes in many forms and will rarely look the same on any two websites. For instance, a florist’s web content will include information about flowers, prices, and services that are offered. Content should be unique and specific to the business or individual it is representing on the web.

Types of web content

You might have noticed when reading website content’s definition that there are several types of web content, including:

Text

The most common and most necessary form of web content is the textual elements of a site. The text on a site conveys a message to website visitors and tells them what the website is all about. Most websites will have various pages of text that serve different purposes. For example, the homepage will include broad business descriptions while service pages will describe each particular offering. Blogs are another form of textual web content that can help a website bring in more traffic. Other forms of textual website content could include reviews, comments, and product descriptions. 

Images

Content is not only the textual elements of a site. Images are also web content, and they can be incorporated into the site to help describe the business. For example, ecommerce websites will include lots of product pictures that visitors can browse through. These product pictures are an example of web content. Other images throughout the site such as blog images, homepage images, and any other graphics are examples of web content as well. 

Video

In addition to images, videos also fall under the web content umbrella. Videos can be used to help visitors visualize a process or see how a product works. Incorporating videos throughout the site can also increase user engagement. Videos are a highly engaging form of website content that can keep your site interesting to new and returning visitors. Blogs offer a great place to incorporate video web content, though the homepage and other service pages could feature video content as well. 

Audio

Similarly, any audio that is integrated into the website becomes part of the website content. Audio files and recordings can be found on many pages of a site and can help users engage with the content. For instance, churches may put audio recordings of sermons on their website for users to listen to online. 

How to make good website content?

Not all web content is created equal. While all websites have some type of content (like a homepage), it doesn’t always improve the site or engage users. Search engines also put a lot of weight on website content when deciding how to rank pages in the search results page. For that reason, it’s important to manage your content lifecycle and quality. Keep in mind these elements of good web content to keep both website visitors and search engines happy:

1. Make your web content relevant

Website content should be specific to the website it is part of. Similarly, when a user searches for a keyword, your website content needs to be relevant to that search term in order to rank well in the search results page. To stay relevant, content should revolve around your core business services and products and related topics in the industry. For example, a florist’s website could include content about which flowers go best with certain wedding themes, but shouldn’t have content about the best stocks to invest in. Website content should align with the purpose and goals of the site.

2. Optimize your website content’s length

Good web content should be built out and give enough information about the given topic. Google also considers word count when ranking pages. For textual content, pages should generally have at least 500 words worth of content in order for Google to rank it highly. Website visitors also will be more engaged with your site when you provide ample information for them to digest.

3. Make your web content original

It is incredibly important to create an original piece of content. Plagiarism is frowned upon and can get your website penalized by Google. In fact, even small pieces of duplicate content can hurt the overall performance of your site. You should not have any duplicate content with other sites on the web or other pages on your own site. Instead, all content should be 100% original and unique.

4. Keep your website content fresh

A good website will always have fresh, or updated content. Websites that have had the same content on them for months or years become boring to website visitors and don’t rank well in the search results. Instead, content should be updated monthly at the least. Blogs are a great way to keep content fresh because you can always post a blog on a new topic.

Why is website content important?

Look back at website content’s meaning — people use web content throughout the buying process, from research to purchase. Without website content — and good content — your business will fail to generate leads and close sales. That’s why it’s important to invest the time to create high-quality content relevant to your audience.

When considering the types of web content to use on your site, always keep in mind the end user and the search engine. Good content will increase user engagement and sell your product or service. Your content can provide important information about your business and answer any questions a website visitor may need to be answered before converting into a customer. Good content will facilitate sales and keep people coming back to your site. 

Similarly, website content is important to SEO. To rank highly for a given search term, your content should be relevant, original, and be around 500 words or more. While these factors will increase your chances of ranking highly, they don’t guarantee it since there are lots of other factors involved. However, optimizing your content for search engines (and working to continually improve your SEO content) will give your pages a better shot at landing a first-page position in the search results. 

So, not only can web content facilitate sales and bring more traffic to your site, but it can earn favor with the search engines as well. Good content should be optimized for website visitors and search engines to have the biggest impact. 

Got web content? Get yours scored now

Already got web content on your site? Learn how well your website content will perform in the SERPs with our free and fast website grader tool.

Check out our other relevant articles:

• How to Improve Your SEO Content
• Benefits of Content Marketing
• How to Do a Content Analysis in 5 Steps
• Content Management Workflow 101
• Your Guide on How to Measure Content Engagement

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