Creating your Content

Catching up, so far we have looked at deciding on a domain name and hosting. Chosen whether we are looking at a content site, blog site or e-store. Then finally what potential software we can use.

However none of this really will matter if we don’t have content for the site. Without content your site is pretty much dead before it starts out. While much of your content will depend upon what your site is about, and what type of site you are creating, there are some general things that i want to share which will hopefully help you a little.

A CONTENT SITE

There are a number of ways that you can generate or create software for use on a content site. Of course some are better then other but here are a few to get you started.

• Write it yourself – This may be pretty obvious but it is on of the easiest ways to get content for your site. It costs you nothing and you have complete control over what is on your site.
• PLR Articles – PLR stands for “Private Label Rights”, so these are articles that are written by other people who are giving you the right to put your name to them. Generally you will need to pay a fee to have access to these type of articles, and the biggest downfall is that often they are sold to a lot of people, so your content wont be unique. However you can still benefit, see below.
• Modified PLR Articles – You can still benefit from PLR articles and create something unique, by re-writing the articles. Even just changing around the order and changing a few words can make the article sound entirely different.
• Pay for Articles – This is really the most costly option usually, as to get good quality well researched articles takes time and as such does cost money. However if you do not want to do all the writing and want quality articles this is an option.

A BLOG SITE

For a blog site you can use many of the same techniques for writing as you can for a content site. In reality to some extent a blog site and a content site are the same. The biggest different though is the expectation between the sites. A blog site it may be expected that some posts will be short while some more detailed. Where as a content site the expectation is often going to be good quality detailed information.

• Quick Tips – One option with blogs you may want to consider is quick tips posts, these can fill the void between longer posts. You may post two or three quick tips a week to every one more detailed feature post.
• Feature Post – Doing a much more detailed feature post just once a week will give you a bit of a breather between posting something every day of the week, that requires a lot of research.
• Link Round-up – If you have been using the Internet for any length of time then there is a good chance that you have come up with a decent number of links, especially about a favourite hobby or maybe even the topic you have chosen for your site.  You can put this all together in a sort of on going feature, where you include some links each week.
• Guest Posts – One thing that you can use to your advantage is other bloggers wish to promote their own blog. Given that your blog is popular enough, other bloggers, may be willing to give you a post, under the expectation of the return link to their blog. This can be a benefit for both bloggers, as you get content for your blog, and the other blogger gets a good mention and link for your visitors to see.

AN E-STORE

Creating an e-store is a little different as the majority of your content will be the information about your products. This will often be displayed in two ways. The first as your actual products listed with a description. The second as extended information about your range, your products and potentially even general information about the similar topic to your products. The biggest question is often where to get the information.

• Supplier’s – Your suppliers should be your first source of information, especially for product information and descriptions. This should be something that you are easily able to access and will create the bulk of your content.
• The Manufacture – For extended information beyond the normal brief product description, the manufacture, can be a good source of additional information, things like product brochures, specifications and technical data.
• Your Knowledge – If you are operating a store online it can often be a good idea to include additional information that may not be directly relevant to a specific product. This can come from either of the above two sources, or even your own knowledge of the products and the industry you are working with.

Hopefully this has given you a little insight into some of the options and ways which you can create, or source content for your new venture. Having content is possibly one of the most important part’s of your new web based business. As the saying goes “Content is King”.