Congratulations! You've got a website! It looks great, it's easy to use, and it's very functional. You may have spent a fair amount of money on it, plus you're splurging for social media marketing to help drive people to your website. What will they find when they get there?
You only get one chance to make a first impression, and for many of your potential clients and customers, that first impression is your website. If it's poorly written, doesn't get the reader's attention, doesn't answer the reader's questions or doesn't adequately tell your story, what will that first impression be?
Boredom? Lack of interest? Confusion? How many seconds do you think this potential client or customer will spend on your web page before going off to read your competitor's website? No one wants this to happen, especially after investing in a brand new site.
If you see your website as a tool to grow your business, well-written content matters. The point of your marketing, your social media content, all those business cards you hand out with your website address, is to get people to your site.
Once they get there, don't you want them to stick around? Learn about your business and the problems you help others avoid or address? You especially want them to learn about how your business is different from your competition and why your expertise and experience surpasses theirs.
Another reason for having quality content is that your website will be more likely to rank higher in search engines results. If you think you can get good results while skimping on content, think again. One of the critical attributes Google considers when coming up with results is the quality of the content.
Google makes money by selling ads on pages providing search engine results. They want users to find accurate, helpful material that matches their query. Low-quality content won't help Google users find what they're looking for, and they may be frustrated enough to use another search engine. The fewer people that use Google, the lower their ad rates.
You've got a much better chance of accomplishing your goals when your website content is concise, compelling, impactful, and educational. Content is the engine driving your website. How good of an engine do you want?
