Myth 3. Web Content Theft Completely Destroys Your Site's Value to Web Surfers.

Web content theft erodes links of trust that make up web. But it won't completely destroy your site. The web is so vast that even having your content on hundreds of sites does not mean that people will find your site unoriginal and not worth visiting. Just look at how much of any newspaper is "duplicate content" in form of AP feeds.

In short, web content theft is bad, but it's not end of web--that is, unless people let it be.

Here's a good starter content strategy:

One-quarter free-reprint content.

One-quarter content contributed by visitors.

One-quarter originally written content you let other sites reprint in exchange for a link to your site.

One-quarter originally written content you do not redistribute.

Scheduling Content Updates

Search engines, especially Google, seem to give pride of place to sites that regularly update their content. Regular content updates also give visitors a reason to return.

In short, if you have thirty web pages worth of content this month, it's better to post one page each day rather than put them up all at once. To make sure you do this, schedule an hour each day for updating your site's content.

One way to get regular content updates for your site is to start a blog, a "web log" in which you write your thoughts and post news. The one disadvantage is that many web users are getting tired of blogs, which are often not well written and contain more opinion than information. Search engines, too, seem to be featuring blogs in their results less often.

Identifying a Content Provider

Ever wonder how Bill Gates keeps MSN and Microsoft sites so content-rich? Doesn't he get RSI from writing a thousand or more pages a day?

You guessed it: Bill Gates does not write content for any of Microsoft websites. Nor should you write all your own content. All successful website owners have someone else write a large part of their content. This person or company is called a "web content provider."

Your web content provider has to be a person or company with proven experience writing content for web, rather than just print content. Ask to see writing samples. You might even ask if you can commission just a single page to start with, for evaluation purposes.

In short, your web content is too important to leave to chance. Make sure you have a strategy for getting best content. Contact a content provider to develop a web content strategy today.