Usability Is An Internet Marketer’s Best Friend

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I’ve been hammering this point home more lately, because I’ve learned the lesson the hard way. Sure, content can be great, but if content is the only thing you work on, you might end up hurting in the long run. I already took a look at the pros and cons of content. People don’t naturally promote content the way they do a usable website. When’s the last time you remember someone saying to you: “Hey, I just found this great content website. It has all kinds of information you can read!”.

Why usability is the superior hidden weapon of marketing

The main reason a usable website is special is because it creates marketing buzz of its’ own. Let’s take an example of “Moon Phases”. You want to find out what the Moon Phase and you search for it in Google. Which website would you rather find?

• 1) A website that contains information about Moon Phases. It explains what it is, the history, and all manner of details large and small.
• 2) A website that actually tells you what the moon phase currently is!

Almost all searchers would enjoy the second site more. If you’re faced with trying to land a keyword for something that is “Action-oriented”, you’re better off making a tool that actually does something, rather than trying to land a ranking for an information page? Why? Because it will be so much easier to get links and stay ranked if your website does what it claims to do.

Content and Usability are not mutually exclusive

There’s no need getting too depressed if you have a content website. You can add “usable features” like tools quite easily, without hurting your content efforts any. I’ll offer some ideas on ways to make tools in upcoming posts.

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