The age old question keeps
coming up, how do you retain website visitors, how do
you make visitors return to your website? The answer
should come as no surprise, fresh content. Content is
truly king, the fresher the content the better the site.
What many webmasters fail to realize is that there is
an endless supply of content on the web that is freely
available to webmasters.
Not only can public domain material be freely used and syndicated on
websites, but a number of content publishers provide content
in exchange for a link back to their websites. A variety
of contents related to the website theme that is integrated
into the website will attract the interest of both search
engines and web surfers. The key to taking advantage of
free content is integrating or including content that
is directly related to the theme of the website.
1. Articles
Article repositories exist that categorizes content
articles. Searching the repositories using keywords that
are related to a websites theme will result in a wide
variety of articles available for publication that are
related to the site's existing web content. Articles in
the repositories are available for syndication, which
means webmasters can freely include the articles on their
websites as long as they include the author resource box
with valid links.
Use the following to locate topic specific articles:
Free Website Content - http://www.small-business-software.net/free-website-content.htm
GoArticles - http://www.goarticles.com/
2. RSS Feeds
The contents of many RSS feeds can be syndicated.
The added benefit of syndicating feeds is that they are
frequently updated which will result in a steady stream
of fresh changing content. In order to reap the benefits
of syndicating RSS feeds, webmasters should use either
an ASP script or PHP script to display the feeds contents
as HTML.
Webmasters can navigate categories of RSS feed directories
to locate related topic feeds or search for feeds using
keywords.
Search the following directories to locate related RSS
feeds:
RSS Network - http://www.rss-network.com/
RSS Locator - http://www.rss-locator.com/
Free script for displaying RSS feeds as HTML:
rss2html.php - http://www.feedforall.com/free-php-script.htm
3. Shareware Listings
Consider populating a website or section of a website
with related niche software applications. Many software
companies offer applications as free downloads. The downloads
allow potential customers the opportunity to try an application
prior to making a purchase decision. Categorizing and
displaying software that relates to a website theme can
generate a lot of interest. Most developers provide product
descriptions and information in a PAD file which is simply
XML. Developers can locate PAD files using the ASP site
and the PAD kit can be used to display the contents of
the PAD file.
PAD Kit - http://www.asp-shareware.org/
4. Creative Commons
A Creative Commons license allows creators to place
conditions on their copyrights. Many artists allow other
publishers to use their creative and artwork, occasionally
there are conditions that credit must be given, while
others are available freely. Web publishers can find a
lot of unique content, images and creative using the new
Yahoo Creative Commons Search.
The Yahoo! Creative Commons Search service finds content
across the Web that has a Creative Commons license.
Yahoo Creative Commons Search - http://search.yahoo.com/cc
More on Creative Commons - http://www.creativecommons.com/
5. Forums
Consider creating a community forum where like-minded
individuals or at the very least individuals with a common
interest can discuss problems, concerns, related products
or ideas. The forum posts will generate a fresh stream
of new and self perpetuating website content.
Free Forum *note be sure to stay current on updates
PHPbb - http://www.phpbb.com/
6. White Papers
Provide white papers, customer profiles or endorsements
that detail how applications can be used in a specific
industry. Creating a white paper section that explains
how a specific product or service is used in a specific
industry to solve a problem or increase productivity gives
potential customers insight into how a specific service,
product or technology will help in the course of a day.
Sample White Papers - http://www.notepage.net/whitepapers.htm
7. Directories
Creating a directory of related sites while time consuming
can result in significant traffic. Directories typically
are well respected resources and rank well in search engines.
Sample Niche Directories :
Podcasting Tools - http://www.podcasting-tools.com/
Finance Investing Feed Directory - http://www.finance-investing.com/
8. Newsletter Archive
If done properly online marketers see an almost instantaneous
sales or traffic increases when they send newsletters
but many do not benefit long term from the newsletter.
Consider creating a newsletter archive, the content is
already built, why not benefit from the potential traffic
and unique phrases used, to attract new or potential customers?
Sample Archive
Corporate Newsletters - http://www.feedforall.com/newsletter.htm
Software Marketing Newsletters - http://www.softwaremarketingresource.com/articledirectory.html
9. Blog.
Ride the technological wave. A daily journal with
information related to product or service launches, specials,
technical tips, new product announcements
Sample Blog Archive
RSS Blog - http://www.rss-specifications.htm/blog.htm
As search engines combat the problems with artificially
generated a non-sensical web content , webmasters must
integrate quality, themed content that is going to legitimately
interest prospective customers.
About
the Author:
Sharon Housley manages marketing for FeedForAll
http://www.feedforall.com/ software for creating, editing,
publishing RSS feeds and podcasts. In addition Sharon
manages marketing for FeedForDev http://www.feedfordev.com/ an RSS component for developers. |
