Web Content Strategies You Can Learn from Your Thanksgiving Meal

One of my favorite parts about Thanksgiving is being able to take the time and thought into putting together a meal as an event. From deciding on the dishes to coordinating the napkins to the centerpiece, Thanksgiving allows me to play Martha Stewart for a day and fashion a Thanksgiving feast that not only focuses on the little details but also how they all come together to create an atmosphere that makes the meal more than just a typical family dinner.

The same strategy that makes my Thanksgiving "event" meal such a success can also work when you're thinking about how to develop your website. A website, just like a great meal, is made of many components; some are more important than others (the Turkey vs. the napkin rings), but they all need to work together to create something memorable. When you ignore the less important details, you'll still get a meal, but it just seems rather ordinary.



Your website is your business's chance to shine and should by all accounts be extraordinary.

Just look at your dinner table on a regular weekday night and then look at a magazine spread of a Thanksgiving meal in Food and Wine magazine. See the difference? If your website looks and feels like an everyday meal, i.e. - a few core pieces of content, a contact form, maybe an image or two, visitors will take a look at it and go, ok, that seems fine. But, if they leave your meal and go to Martha's Stewarts house and see the beautifully placed linens, the flowers that match the place settings, etc., that person is going to see everything your table (website) is missing and go with the professional.

In website terms, those Martha Stewart details are comparable to creating a variety of SEO content that includes a library of core articles, a thriving blog, landing pages, E-books, online videos, etc. that all compliment each other through their relevance to your business. Individually some of those content choices may seem small or insignificant, but together they create a stylish spread of information that is certain to wow your visitors.

Great websites and great meals share many commonalities, but the most important lesson to take away is: There Are No Small Details. Everything you publish on your site from the design to the navigation to the content should flow and work together to create a beautiful and professional website anyone would be proud to own.