Competing on content

By Mikal E. Belicove, Director - Community & Education, Doba

In the world of publishing, content is said to be king. Books that reveal the information the general public finds most interesting and useful sell the most copies. The same can be said of product listings and webstores - content is king. Unique, interesting, useful content that speaks directly to the shopper trumps a bland, boring presentation that puts shoppers to sleep in the aisles.

Well, that's pretty obvious, but how do you become the king of content? This article covers the basics.

Focus on titles and headings

Before you can dazzle the crowds with details, you have to draw a crowd through your titles and headings. When composing titles and headings, keep the following guidelines in place:

• Name products based not on what the manufacturer calls it but on what shoppers are most likely to search for. A manufacturer may call a certain type of chair a "roundabout," but when everyone else on the planet calls it a "papasan," you should call it a "papasan."
• Keep it short, but descriptive. When people skim websites and pages looking for products, they rely on headings and titles to guide them. Nobody will read your product description if the title or heading doesn't catch their eye.
• Avoid useless words and characters in listing titles like...