The Importance of Content for Your Small Business Website - Talk #2

Your website needs content. It's as simple as that. I'm only going to focus on written content for the purposes of our discussion here. Five pages are just not enough to have an impact in search.

Google has many facets to its algorithm, and one of them has to do with expertise. If your website does not have a lot to say on a topic, then why should it trust yours as the best result for any of the search terms?

Please don't fill my YouTube comments up with one example that someone has shown you before. I'm talking about the big picture here. There will always be the one exception.

Let me ask you this: what confidence would you have in a book on the topic of wine making that had seven pages? Now, this is an exaggerated analogy, yes, but I think you see my point.

Maybe a book is a good way to look at your website. Each chapter can be a main topic, and the subtopics individual pages and/or blog posts. I personally like to have very few pages on my website and many blog articles. I'll get into more detail in another article.

Just always keep in mind that Google is looking for signals. They can be found elsewhere online, and they are definitely picked up on your website itself.

More opportunities for Internal Linking

Internal links, which are clickable links from one page on your website to another page on your website, are actually more important to the algorithm than most people realize. The more opportunities that you have, i.e., pages on your website, the more internal links you can have to those other pages.

If you have a page on the topic of grape fermentation, is there a link on that page to another on the topic of how alcohol affects the taste of red wine? I think you can see how Google would find this signal helpful.

More Keyword Opportunities

Having more content also provides variation in the keywords your website has a chance to rank for. With less than 10 pages on your website, there are only so many opportunities available. More pages allow you to focus on individual subject matter. Here are some examples:

• How many varieties of wine grapes are grown in Greece?
• Where in Greece is wine grown?
• How to plan a trip to Greece for wine tours?
• Best food pairings for Greek wine
• Where can I buy Greek wines in Philadelphia?

By the way, as a side note, if you've never tried a Greek St. George's grape wine, you are missing out!

Content Creation vs. Perfection

You want to have your content well thought out but not to the point that it will prevent you from creating it. I'd rather have a hundred pages of B work than four pages of A+ work.

Here's why: you publish and see how it performs, then you can go back and improve.

This isn't always the SEO strategy everyone will use, but again, what it comes down to is that those are people who probably already have websites that are ranking well and driving lots of traffic. So they can really start focusing on brand new individual pages of very high quality. Their website is too the point where it benefits from A+.

Yours would too, but at the moment with as few pages as you may have, what you really need is more.

I'm talking about small businesses that are just starting out. This is what I would do.

The best part is that Google will often reward pages that are updated regularly. Perfection stifles production. In my video above, I assure you I could have tightened up my discussion and improved my script, but it may have prevented me from getting it done.

Unique Content

Here is my most important advice: make it your own. Unique content and conversation are invaluable. Your perspective and how you approach a topic make it different from everything else online. Search engines are not fond of ranking very similar pages for the top results. Your experience provides you an opportunity to express your own voice and allow for different opinions. This is your strength.

If you usually talk to technical people, then write that way.

If you talk using slang and explain ideas as basically as possible, then go with that.

Allow others to edit and make recommendations, but don't leave it there. Always review those changes and recommendations. You know your audience better than anyone because, likely, you've talked with customers more than anyone. If they want to write it differently, then have them create content and add it to the website under their name.