If there's one thing that most web site developers can agree on, it's this: content is king.

That's not, of course, to say that good design doesn't matter. It does. A good, clean design, which is easy to navigate and optimised for search engines is absolutely essential if you want your online business to be a success. When you get right down to it, though, visitors don't come to your website to admire it. It's content that brings them there, and it's content that keeps them coming back for more. Or not, as the case may be.

Why website content matters

The content of your website is important for lots of different reasons. Here are just two of them:

1. It's your content which persuades a visitor to become a customer. If your text content is persuasive entertaining and informative, you'll find it that much easer to make a sale. If your content is poorly spelled, dull as ditchwater and reads like it was written by a four-year-old, your visitors won't be able to leave fast enough. It's that simple.

2. Search engines love fresh content. A site which has regular updates will rank higher than a website which is completely static (all other things being equal), which is a persuasive reason for keeping your content fresh.

So how do you get good content? Well, you have three basic choices:

Write your website content yourself

In an ideal world, everyone would do this. Let's face it: there's no one in the world who knows as much about your business as you do, and there's no one more passionate about making it succeed as you are. Unfortunately, though, it's not an ideal world. When your site is new, adding content is easy: you're full of new ideas and new things to say, and you'll have no problem dreaming up new content to add. It's only after a few weeks, months or even years that it gets difficult: you don't have the time, you don't have the ideas, and, let's be honest, you quite often won't have the skill to write good content.

This point is crucial. It's not just any old content that's king: it has to be good content. Content that really draws the reader in, sells the benefits of your business, and makes the reader want to come back for more. Professional copywriters spend years learning how to do this: are you sure you can do it just as well?

Get your content from a free article bank

There are free article banks all over the web, and they're all stocked full of free content which you can use on your website for free. This is a great idea, and many people use article banks to great effect. There are just two slight drawbacks, however. The first is that your content isn't original. Anyone can use the same articles you're using, and the really good articles will often appear on many websites at any one time. The second drawback is that in order to find content which is relevant to your site, you'll often find yourself using articles written by your competitors ? and being forced to put their URL and bio at the end of them.

Get custom content for your website

Before you run off screaming in horror, paying someone to write articles for your website needn't be expensive. Constant Content has custom articles for sale for as little as $40 at a time, and www.WritingWorld.org offers custom article writing for even less.

Getting the right content for your website doesn't have to break the bank (or even make you break a sweat). Do you think you can afford NOT to do it?.

Amber McNaught is co-owner of Hot Igloo Productions Ltd. - the small business specialists. Hot Igloo offer a range of services to businesses, including website design, public relations, internet marketing, copywriting and more. Visit their website at: http://www.hotigloo.co.uk