Well, to quickly answer the question posed in the title of this article – yes. Good content is extremely important. Quality content provides a number of different benefits, each one important to your overall success. You’ve probably heard the saying that says that there are no shortcuts to success. Well, the same hold true for content. Since the content on your website leads directly to the success of your online marketing efforts, it can safely be said that there are no shortcuts to online success when it comes to content. Good content is that important. So let’s take a look at why this is so.

Content is nothing more that information. It can be words, pictures, graphics or videos. No matter the form it takes, content communicates a message to your target audience. Like any form of communication, content can be sleek and succinct or it can be confused and garbled. The thing that most people miss when it comes to content is that it is a form of communication, first and foremost. After all, why do you have a web presence if you don’t want to communicate in the best way possible to the people who you are trying to reach? It makes no sense to take the take and money to put up a website, which is your web address, and then not take the steps to communicate with people who find that address in the most persuasive way possible.

The problem is that when it comes to e-commerce, most people are lazy. They have somehow developed a disconnect between the rules of the real world and the online world. They have assumed that all the rules of politeness, hosting, communication and marketing do not apply online. They have decided that because they are online they don’t have to engage, entice and ensnare their customer base. They, wrongly, think that online marketing is about easy money, where customers can be ignored, devalued and exploited and a profit can shall be made. Nothing could be further from the truth.

If you are marketing online, the very first rule is to treat your online business as you would treat you real world business. There is no difference between what your online customers expect and what your physical customers expect. After all, no matter how they find you, each and every one of your customers is a living breathing human being who expects a certain level of conduct when trading with you. The secret to success is meeting, not ignoring, those expectations.