Just What is Content?

Copyright © 2006 Mark Nenadic

What is content? Web development involves two major components: mechanics and content. The mechanics should be seamless and transparent. The end user should never be aware of the mechanics, only dazzled by the effects or pleased by the simplicity of the page. A professional web design company will provide professional quality web development.

If the mechanics of a web development are seamless and transparent, what does that make the content? The content is what gets the visitors involved in the website. The content is what brings them back, again and again. The content is a place where the visitor feels a measure of control, relief and ultimately, customer satisfaction.

What comprises the content that a web development specialist will look for? The key component to understanding what makes good content begins by understanding what the website is about. If the site is about selecting a good web designer, then the content should reflect information on web design, samples and package offers. If the site is about entertainment, the content will reflect up to date entertainment articles, perhaps a gossip column, and a message board where users can exchange information, opinions and viewpoints.

Content is fluid. Content is measurable against the intent and desire of the web development team to elicit a response from their visitors. Imagine walking into a bookstore. The customer who walks in the front door has a very good idea of what to expect from a bookstore. They know it will have books. When they visit an online bookstore, again, they expect it to feature books.

The content of an online bookstore has to go a step further, however. It must feature reviews, synopsis and suggested reading lists. If an online bookstore features only titles and prices, the average reader will skip past the site because they cannot find the content they need in order to determine whether or not they want to purchase the book.

Content for a site that hosts service providers may provide news, information and suggestions for negotiating contracts, business sales and copyright information. The audience for this type of site, however, would be divided. Portioned appropriately between both the businesses looking for service providers and the service providers looking for business opportunities. The web development that would be involved on the content appropriate to the dual audience would require a great deal of thinking ahead in terms of what the audiences require currently versus what they will eventually require.

This is where web development of content is crucial. The search engine function that will locate the book is a mechanic. But the presence of a search engine that can search based on title; author or ISBN number is also a content feature. Web surfers more than any other class of clientele want direct access and ease of accessibility. They want the option to delve deeply or just grab the item they already know they want.

Understanding the content development equation is in equal parts an understanding of marketing and customer service. These two areas are separate, because marketing is what brings a customer to the door. Customer service is what invites them to return again and again. A site that is unique, functional and filled with satisfying content will bring a customer back whether they found what they were initially looking for or not.

Choosing the right content for a website or web development is simple if the developer understands the intent of the site as well as the audience for the site. Catering to the audience means anticipating not only questions, but also the desire of the audience. The definitions that define the customer are constantly evolving and thus content should constantly evolve. From the type of customer to the customers changing desires, these are issues that will generate the questions that web developments content choices will answer.

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Mark Nenadic Mark is the director and face behind FifteenDegrees-North http://www.15dn.com , where you will find articles and resources to help with SEO, marketing and Web design.

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Ronald
http://www.affiliateutopia.com/

Penetrate or Expand - Which Customer Targeting Strategy Is For You

Copyright © 2006 Marketing Comet

Just about every business would just love to have more customers. Just how you go about getting them is the million dollar problem. Here's some insight into the two basic ways to build up your customer base.

Expansion: An expansion strategy seeks to add new markets to a product, service, or company. This could be geographic or demographically based.

When a company decides to launch it's products into a new country - that's an expansion strategy. If you have been selling locally and all of a sudden put your products on the Internet for a global audience, that's also expansion.

Penetration: Penetration focuses on gaining more share of an already served market. It may involve getting customers to switch from competitors to your product. It may also involve getting non-customers in your target market to become customers.

If you ran a grocery store, getting more people in your town to shop there would require a penetration strategy. If you wanted to sap customers away from a competitor - that would also require a penetration strategy.

Which one is right for you? Both types of strategies have their strengths and their weaknesses for adding new customers. Ultimately choosing a strategy will require some creative thought and research.

Expansion Strategy Pros:

-You can be the first to offer your product or service in a certain market.

-You may serve a totally unmet need.

-You may bypass a lot of competition by being the only player in a new market.

Cons:

-You may have to work to mature a market if the product is so new that there's little perceived need.

-You may have to repackage what you do to serve the new market.

-Unpredictability creates risk in entering a new market.

Pros of a penetration strategy:

-Since you're already serving the market you know that market and may use tactics that you're already using.

-Word of mouth works well in penetration strategies because peer groups tend to talk amongst themselves.

-Depending on the competition you may be able to dominate a particular market without the need to expand into other markets.

Cons:

-If there's heavy competition brand loyalty will work against you in converting customers.

-You must make sure that your market is large enough, and has enough money, and a need for what you sell to support a penetration strategy.

-If you penetrate a limited target market you are at risk if buying behavior changes, new competitors enter, or economic conditions change.

Large companies will use a mix of strategies and tactics to maximize their effect. Expand, then penetrate or vice versa. It pays to think about your strategy for adding new customers and then use tactics that support that strategy.

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J D Moore - Marketing Comet
More customers, higher profits - sound good?
http://www.marketingcometcoach.com

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Ronald
http://www.affiliateutopia.com/