web content faqs Do I have to write my own website content? I don't really have time. Yes and no. If you don't want to hire a copywriter, then yes. The content for your website must come from somewhere. And you know your company/organization better than anybody, so we must rely on you to have an understanding of what should be available on your site specific to your target audience. If you do want to hire a copywriter, you still aren't off the hook. The copywriter still needs background information from you in order to create good content. How much does a copywriter cost? It depends on the rate of the individual copywriter and the size of the assignment. Aztek works with a pool of talented copywriters who are almost always able to perform the copywriting services within a reasonable budget for our clients. Plus, we've got them ramped up on how we like things done for search engine optimization. Can you help us get pictures for our website? Certainly. Depending on your industry there may stock photography available, but the best option is to hire a good photographer to do a custom photo shoot for you. That way you know your images are exactly what you want and they will be unique to your website. We're happy to share the names of our favorite photographers with you. My competitor has good content on their website. Can I copy theirs and just change it a little bit? No. Both your competitor and your audience will catch on to this very quickly. Your content should be unique and crafted specifically to the way you do business. My competitor stole my content! What can I do? You can report the copyright violation to Google (http://www.google.com/dmca.html), and it probably wouldn't hurt to have your attorney send them a letter. Can you disable right-click so nobody steals my images? We can, but I have some bad news for you? I know a dozen other ways to get that image even if you disable right click. And if somebody wants to steal your images that badly, they'll find a way to get them as well. Disabling right click also eliminates other useful features your visitors may want to use, so we don't recommend it. You should look into digital watermarks or other, non-invasive techniques to discourage image theft. At what point in the project do you need to have all my content by? We like to have it all up front, but realize that this isn't always possible. We can get as far as building your entire site skeleton (functional, linked, but sans content) before we can go no further. Can you make my visitors fill out a form before they can see my content? We can, but we don't recommend this practice in most instances. Putting barriers between a user and the content they are seeking can frustrate and discourage your visitors. The more work a user has to do to get something; the less likely they are to have the motivation. I want to add a company blog to our website, what do I need to do? Apart from picking the blog technology you want, the most important thing about adding a blog is its content. You must be committed to having not only a unique focus for the blog (such as web design topics), but the resources to maintain it. Decide on a realistic schedule to write new posts that your organization can keep up with. Many people find out the hard way that they don't have anything to write about, or the time to do the writing. How do I know if my company/business needs a blog? Before adding a blog ? consider these questions. Do you have a lot to tell your customers on a regular basis? Are there frequent industry happenings that people could begin looking to you for as their source for such happenings? Can you generate educational content on a periodic basis to keep people coming back? Where are they getting this information from currently? Do you have the time and resources to maintain the blog? Why is content so important — isn't having a “cool” site good enough? Having a flashy, busy and over-designed website was popular several years ago when the Internet was still exploding. But over time, the way people use the Internet has evolved. People are looking for information, for content. Not for flash and spark and sizzle. They want it fast and easy, or they'll bail. Your content comes first and the website layout should work to support it, not the other way around. What are some good ideas for adding content to my site? Ask your customers what they would most want to see and do on your website. They're the ones who will be using it. You'd be surprised what kind of things they'll ask for that your website doesn't currently provide. Why do I need to add more and new content on a regular basis? Adding new content on a regular basis helps keep your site up to date. Creating new content often means you can begin to target very specific keywords and phrases and increase your visibility in the Search Engines. Plus it gives your audience (human and search engine spider alike) reasons to keep coming back to your site. Will my web content be optimized for the search engines? Absolutely. We optimize all of the sites we build. But remember, search engine optimization is no substitute for well-written, keyword rich content. My site is mostly an ecommerce site full of product spec pages that don't rank particularly well. How can I increase the amount of content? You'll need to look at ways to add content that is meaningful, relevant and most importantly, helpful to your users. Things such as user reviews, ratings, frequently asked questions, instructions and more robust descriptions are all good places to start. Can Aztek assist in creating an ongoing content strategy for my site? Certainly. Sometimes it takes an outside perspective to help you see new ways to develop content that is going to be both helpful and keyword rich for your users without sounding "spammy". Contact us to see how we can help.