By: Tim Haas
Owner/Web Developer
Haas Consulting
Web Development Services

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Welcome to our new and current subscribers! This newsletter is published monthly by Haas Consulting. It is here to be a source of information for anyone who would like to learn about webpages and how they relate to a business or other organization. Please feel free to email us with topics you would like to learn more about. Enjoy!

A Call to Action

When asked what the three most important elements of good web design are, those who are in the know often respond, "Content, Content, Content!". At first glance this seems like a fairly specific answer, but consider the depth of good content. The content of a website really needs to accomplish three things. The content must capture the viewer's attention, create interest to drive the viewer deeper into the website by giving something of value to the them, then call them to action. To complicate things further; all the while your content is doing this it must provide key information for search engine robots; This is part of how they justify the importance of your content and make a case for good placement within their search engine.

Good content is a complicated issue within any marketing initiative. There are words and phrases that marketing research has identified as triggers; these are things that catch peoples attention and tend to make them want to do something crazy like buy your product or service. You can pretty much figure out what they are by examining just about any ad; BUY NOW!; FREE!; CLOSEOUT PRICES!, and LIMITED EDITION! are just a few that pop into my mind. There are thousands of them out there. When applying them to a website you need to beware of the danger of over use. Search engines will consider too many of these types of words and phrases to be spam. (For those of you unfamiliar with what spam is, it is the internet's version of  junk mail.) If a search engine labels your website as spam, it will most likely receive poor ranking and maybe even be banned from the search engine all together.

Your content needs to Catch the viewer's attention, Demonstrate to the viewer that your product or service will fill a need they have, and call them to action; BUY NOW!. The content on a website needs to be presented in an interesting way that is easy to read and understand. Huge blocks of text pretty much say the same thing to all viewers, "Don't read me! I am long, boring, and probably too complicated for you to understand." Presenting content in short bursts, using lists, bold fonts, and different colors for headings are effective tools to achieve positive results. Most people think of text as being the content of a webpage, but there is more. Sprinkle in a few well placed and relevant graphics. Give their eyes some candy, think about it, even novels have pictures scattered throughout the chapters.

The content must flat out tell the viewer what it is that your product or service will do for them. Don't fall into a common trap like thinking they already know what it is you have to offer. They don't. They know what they expect you to offer and perhaps what your competition has to offer, but not what you have to offer. They are viewing your website because they want to know what sets your product or service aside from all the others. This is your chance to tell them.

Now that you have captured their attention and convinced them they need what you have to offer them, give them a call to action! It is remarkable how difficult it can be for someone to close the sale. You must provide them with clear instructions on how to purchase your product or service. That is what the "Add to Cart" button is all about. If you are not selling your product or service online, give them a button that will submit a request for additional information. Collect their customer information (Name, Address, and Phone Number) and you have yourself a prospective client that wants you to contact them.

The importance of good content is undeniable. Good content doesn't happen by itself, or by accident you must plan your content, optimize it, and keep it current and fresh. As the internet grows, viewers for your website are becoming more and more sophisticated. You need to be prepared to deal with them. You need to catch their attention, give them something to keep their interest and motivate them to learn more; then give them a call to action and let them buy your product or service.