Content rules

from an SE point of view.

[mack]

Hi there.
My site is basicaly a web directory. About three months ago I started adding new features to the site where I was adding fresh content on a regular basis. By adding this new content I was finding search engine referals for searches that i realy couldent have expected with my origional site set up. I have been writting articles and product reviews. As a result i am getting quite a lot of referals by people searching for "<productname> reviews" By linking to the product homepage and having content relevant to the product, I am ranking fairly high for some pretty usefull searches. I think this just goes to show that if you think of your site as a net... The bigger your net, the more fish you catch. By constaintly adding to your pages and adding fresh content, you will get referals that you wouldent have got previously. Content is still king...

[brotherhood of LAN]

For sure mack!

I see the site layout as a pyramid, and compare my net (keywords covered) to a typical web directory. Over time, the higher tiered directory keywords (ie main subject) have been pushed up in rank over time, due to all the sub-category content.

there is a defenite accumulative effect when adding content, alongside link pop gained for linkage pointing to your valuable content

A good mix, and yeah, you can rank high on keywords that pull millions of results..... then people start taking notice :) as a newbie, I find it quite heartening

[WebRookie]

Exactly. You can get them there, but do you really have a reason for them to hang out? If you don't have good content and/or new content it's pretty easy to click away. Directory editors and spiders both like plenty of text.

[mack]

The best part is the pages that I added as content where only added as an aditional feature for my existing users. for example a section called web guides where people who are new to the web can learn the basics. The result is I am drawing new users simply because of the articles... as a good example a section explaines what an ftp client is and has a short review of a few products with links to the companys download page and homepage. It was quite amazing how many people where coming from google loooking for reviews. so reviewing other peoples products might be a good way of getting people to view what you have to offer :)