Good Afternoon to you on this delightfully chilly day! Waking up with a temperature just scraping the surface of zero degrees, it's definitely a good day to stay inside by a heater with a cup of coffee (which to no surprise is what I'm doing now).
Today I'd like to go over a few reasons why it is a great idea to have interactive content on your website. Interactive content can be described as content on your website that viewers can not only read, but can also add their own input to. Your audience may read a news article that you wrote on your website; in turn, they can reply to the article publicly, giving their opinion on the matter.
A great scenario to look at is found on http://www.wctrib.com/. Viewers of this website are able to make comments on the latest news stories in the area, sometimes creating great discussions on the matter. This is a great strategy as it can usually ensure the viewer's return and it generates a whole new aspect of content for viewers to read that would not be available otherwise. West Central Tribune also has a great deal of user-submitted Classified Ads and other user interaction.
The bottom line is, who doesn't like to participate? Many popular websites right now are built exclusively off user-submitted content, meaning 99% of their content is made from their users. One of these sites would be Flickr.com. Flickr is a photo sharing community, has an impressive user-base and is known for user-submitted photography. Other user-content driven websites you might be aware of are Facebook and MySpace. These are social networks who's function is to connect people. You may also be familiar with sites similar to Ebay or Craigslist.
Before I get down this road too far, I want to say that it is not the purpose for every website to be 100% user-submitted content, but I do think we can learn from the big guys and integrate a few of their ideas. Some nice examples of interactive content on a small to mid-sized website would be a client submitting pictures of their newly landscaped yard along with a testimonial on the landscaping service's website for others to read. A business could hand out brochures with a link to their online contest to generate interest in their work. A Tour Coordinator could have discussion boards on each of their tours. With a little imagination, their is an unlimited amount of ideas for interactive content.
What will all this newly acquired, interactive content get you? Returning website viewers, of course, but it will also get your business higher on popular search engines such as Yahoo, Google and Live. How does this magic happen? Well, it's a combination few different things. First, it lets the Search Engine know you aren't missing in action. By sporting content on your website that changes frequently, Search Engines will remember to check your site more often, which will give you priority over a less updated website. Secondly, it will potentially increase your web site's demand for keywords pertaining to you.
So there you have it! This is but a few ways a business can optimise their website with interactive content. Now please excuse me while I search for a blanket and wish for weather that is at least above twenty degrees.
posted at 11/27/2007 0 Comments