On a website there are two things pf primary importance:
a) Written content and
b) Visual content.
All your tools, functions, facilities, user options etc. in some way make use of either of these two types of content and are hence deemed to fall under them. Thus, in reality, there’s really only one thing that counts on a website – and that’s content.
It is commonly said that a website becomes popular when it effectively caters to the wants or needs of a particular audience. It must be convenient, must provide the reader or user with the information or facility they desire and it must be reliable, secure, fast, efficient etc. However, in reality, it all comes down to one thing really, the quality of the content. For example, there are now hundreds of websites or online encyclopedias that provide you with ready reference on diverse topics and yet Wikipedia continues to reign supreme. You my say this is because of its popularity, long presence on the internet and customer patronage. But take the line back a bit and you will realize that all of these reasons became possible only because the content on the site was of a high quality. If initial users had found the content mediocre or unreliable it would have spelt doom for the site. It’s only because initial reviews were positive and there have been continual improvements in the quality of content that the site is able to retain its popularity until today.
If you’re looking to start a website, or have already started one that seems to be going nowhere you need to take a look at your priorities. The likelihood is that you’ve been spending too much time on beautifying your interface or creating cool graphics while neglecting your content. You have to realize that fancy graphics make a good first impression, but if there’s no quality matter on the site nobody’s going to keep coming back just because your site looks pretty. Reshuffle priorities or create new ones, do whatever it takes but there’s no two ways about it, when the content sizzles, over time, the site does too!
