According to a recent research conducted by Forrester Research, high-quality content is the number 1 reason cited by users for returning to their most frequently visited sites.
Indeed, according to a recent study carried out by Princeton Research Associates, the Internet is rapidly becoming viewed as a more important information source than the press or television.
|
Internet |
Television |
| Most interesting information |
67% |
18% |
| Most in-depth information |
63% |
16% |
| Easiest way to get information |
65% |
24% |
| Most up-to-date information |
57% |
29% |
| Most accurate information |
51% |
21% |
The same survey revealed that Internet users believe information on the Web to be more interesting, fresher, in greater depth and easier to use than that available from other media:
|
Television |
Radio |
Newspaper |
Internet |
| Where would you go for the most up-to-date information? |
29% |
5% |
6% |
57% |
| Where would you go for the most accurate information? |
21% |
5% |
15% |
51% |
| Where would you go for the most interesting information? |
18% |
4% |
8% |
67% |
| What would be the easiest way to get information? |
24% |
5% |
4% |
65% |
| Where would you go for the most in-depth information? |
14% |
2% |
16% |
63% |
The Princeton Research Associates survey also revealed several factors that users cited as crucial attributes for a site. These were adjudged to be more important than features such as Flash animations, online games and chat rooms:
- Fresh Content: Visitors regard outdated or stale information as a major negative.
- Content Quality: Badly presented or written content proved off-putting to users.
- Unique Content: Users want new information they cannot get elsewhere.
- Ease of Use: Visitors want to find content quickly or move on.
- High Relevance: Users require information that is pertinent to their interests
It is therefore obvious that as a web site administrator, you need to focus on getting the right content for your site, written by professionals who know best.
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