And then something happened.

Big money from venture capitalists burst onto the scene. Suddenly nobody was talking about content. (Where?s the big investment return on ?content??) Instead the attention went to businesses that came up with some kind of unique ?technology solution?.

Then the dotcom bubble burst.

And here we are.

Is content still important? I think so. People don?t talk about it as earnestly as they once did, but I think that original thinking was very sound.

Here are three reasons why you should be creating more content on your site:

1. Content increases conversion rates by keeping prospects on your site.

When prospective customers arrive at your site, they like to ?dig deep?. They look for all the information they can find before they feel confident enough to commit to that purchase. Whether you are selling banking, subscriptions, noodles or digitals cameras, people want to know what they are buying.

If you don?t give them all the information they need, they?ll find someone else who does. Perhaps they?ll try epinions.com, consumerguide.com or mouthshut.com. Or maybe they?ll just do a search on Google.

The point is, if they can?t find the information they want on your site, they?ll try somewhere else. And as soon as they leave your site, the chances of their returning is fairly slim.

And that?s very bad news for your conversion rates.

2. Content differentiates you from your competitors

What differentiates your noodle site from every other noodle site? Most businesses have a number of direct competitors and all too often there is very little to truly differentiate your products or services from theirs. You may have some marginal distinctions, new offers or price deals. But at the end of the day, a noodle is a noodle.

So how do you differentiate your site? You do it with content. You make your site an absolute magnet for anyone who is serious about cooking pasta. You provide the best recipes, you deliver the best advice, you seek out the most interesting and useful facts about noodles.

When you do that, your products may not be that different from anyone else?s, but your site is. It has become different because it becomes known for being the number one resource for cooking great pasta.

3. Content is great for search engines and inbound links

Here?s something we already know. The search engines love content, especially when it is substantial, updated and relevant.

So do your homework and make sure your content pages have SEO-friendly titles, headlines and body text.

In addition to being attractive to search engines, great content also attracts inbound links. The better the information, the more the number of sites that will want to link to you.

In conclusion...

Creating great content for your site, and newsletters, is still a very smart thing to do. It?s good for your customers, good for your conversion rates, perfect for search engines and does a great job of separating your site from your competition.