Content is King image by Atwoodz
YES and NO!
First, let’s handle the “no” portion of the answer.
Should you treat your content different for web and print? NO.
The content for any communications piece should be treated as the most important first step. Let me give you an example.
Our print team (who is incredibly talented and awesomely inexpensive) rarely gets a project where the content hasn’t been flushed out a bit. People normally have the copy prepared in a rough draft for the poster, brochure, flyer or even an annual report. If not, they know they need to have the content before the design can begin because the design of the document really depends on the content. Right, that’s pretty straight forward.
But this seems to get forgotten on the web side. A lot of people will come in wanting a website but have absolutely no content prepared. They just know they need a website. Or they will have a couple of different copy pieces ready but the majority of the website isn’t ready – isn’t even close. In fact, they may have a site map all prepared. Like they know we need an “About” page, a “Program” page, a “Courses” page, a “Contact Us” page but don’t know what is really going to go on those pages. I don’t understand this. The web design shouldn’t move forward without the content just like the print side. But many times, the web team (who are also amazing talented and inexpensive) will build a site and a sub page that the client can fill in after the site is in production.
But then what happens? The content doesn’t fit the way it should. Or maybe they wrote everything in Word and stylized it there and now it can’t work that way on their website and they have to come back to the web team to get a special template for displaying the content. Frustrating themselves and web team because if the content had been done and viewed ahead of time, it could have been planned for and designed before being put on the page.
Should you treat content different for web and print? YES!
Do you read the same way as you do with a brochure as you do on a desktop screen? Nope. Do you read a poster the same way as you do on a mobile screen? Nope. What about hyperlinks, bold, H2, navigation, endless distractions from other open screens like Facebook, Twitter, email, etc…
Web writing is very different than print writing. You have to take into account the interactivity of web, our mindset when we are viewing communication on the web vs. print, how the search engines read vs. how a person reads because if you aren’t keeping the search engines in mind no one is going to find your content anyway (that’s search engine optimization or SEO).
What I’m saying can be summed up pretty easy – CONTENT is EVERYTHING. And it needs to be thought through first before building anything whether it be print or web.
BTW, we can help you do this. If you don’t know our experienced Content guy (and copywriting genius) Mike Roe, you should. Sit down and chat with him. You’ll learn a ton in just a few minutes.
Don’t take your content for granted. It is the foundation of everything you communicate. And if you hadn’t read Bill Gates essay on Content on the Internet, you should. It seems as if he wasn’t far off on how things have worked out for the internet.
What do you think?
Very true. Thanks, Don.
Yes, there are vast differences between print copy and web content. You are right- we read each differently. For instance, when we read content, we have a tendency to either be compelled to read further, or abandon the text within the first few sentences. With print, however, our eyes are naturally drawn to the the middle or a little above.
Content is “king” on the internet. If you want your site to have regular and returning visitors it is essential to have the best content you are capable of producing. If you are not capable of producing great content, outsource or hire someone who can. Starting without decent, credible and consistent content is a waste of valuable time and money.
Contents is king of internet marketing
@blackhatspotseo
Hey, well I agreed with you Content is the king of internet marketing because Google needs content and for that have to update content for your site, so that Google that Google crawl your site and its beneficial for site owner because site is visible on the top pages of search engine.
Updating content of any website could effect its ranking on search engines.If content is relevant and descriptive then help to attain interest of many users.Content should be decent and consistently written.I agree with mountain content is actually a king of internet marketing. http://blustandard.com/web-design.php
I think that most of the people that have posted onto your comment section are actually attempting to build links by linking to your blog. It is humorous when someone mentions that content is king, but then proceeds to use incorrect grammar and punctuation. Especially, someone with the email blackhatspotseo. I am not specifically saying that they do not actually believe content is king or that everyone is not entitled to a typo every now and then, but they definitely have a different perspective than a true SEO professional.
I have a different perspective on the industry since I am an in-house SEO. My job is not dependent on building many non-relevant links, but actually creating industry specific content that people find useful. Sorry for getting on a soap box, but I have been researching a freelance article and several blogs I have read provide good content, but the authors are so fed up with the spam posts that they are considering ceasing publication. It is a shame.