With millions of websites already in existence it is vital that your website has something that makes it 'stand out from the crowd'.  For some, standing out from the crowd means using the latest flash animated menus and intro's, offering video tutorials and scrollable pictures, or employing bright, eye catching colour schemes and logos.

But while the above may be all provide a visual impact, they all fail to address the real cornerstone of web design - content.  As someone once wrote, "content is King", and its as true today as ever, maybe more so with the ever increasing number of websites being produced.

But what do we really mean by 'content is King'?  Simply put, if your website does not contain interesting, useful content then your website is doomed to failure.  Content means any part of your website that contains text (and to a lesser degree pictures) that can be read by internet users, and more importantly search engine spiders.  Search engine spiders are programs that search engines use to explore the internet, reading and analysing websites as they go, providing the information that search engines use to create their search results.  If a spider reads your website and finds little or no text, then they have no way of evaluating your website for inclusion in the search results, and if your website isn't listed in any search engine results then you're going to struggle to get any visitors.

So how do you create useful, interesting content that humans and search engine spiders will appreciate.  Well to a certain extent the answer will depend on what type of website you are running.  If you run a blog or forum then your users will create a lot of your content for you, but if you run a static website (one without any user generated content), then you need to ensure that your content is well written, updated regularly, and most importantly, contains unique information.

Of course, producing unique content is not easy, chances are whatever you write about will already have been covered somewhere by another website.  The key is not to try to re-write history, but to write it in your own style.  Adding your own opinions and ideas is a good way to start, and its important that you research whatever it is that you are writing about.  Producing a well written 1 page article will earn you more visitors than a poorly written 2 page article.  And whatever you do, don't simply copy another websites work.  The search engines will be able to tell, and if they suspect you of copying other work they will likely remove you from the search results.

To help you improve your content, we have created a series of 'how to guide', as well as reviewing companies that offer free content.  Simply click on the links below to get started.

Free Content User Generated Content Writing Articles