Is your web content good enough?

Danielle Savin, director of retail strategy consulting at Lyons Consulting Group

It isn’t just that great content engages shoppers on retail web sites and leads them to buy, content-rich retail sites also rank higher in Google search results. That’s why it is no longer OK to offer web content that’s just OK.

But producing excellent web content isn’t a simple undertaking. It requires a mix of art and science backed by sound technology, says Danielle Savin, director of retail strategy consulting at Lyons Consulting Group. “It’s a balance of technical and aspirational copy,” she says.

To help retailers achieve that balance, Savin will conduct live reviews of the retail sites operated by members of her audience during a Feb. 11 session entitled, “Live reviews: Is your product content more than good enough?” at the Internet Retailer Web Design & Usability Conference in Orlando, FL.

“During the live reviews, I will be providing a checklist of what distinguishes good content versus not-so-great content,” Savin says. Determining what works isn’t easy because there are no rules to follow that will guarantee a site has the kind of content that match its needs, she adds.

It’s important for retailers to keep in mind both what shoppers need and the kind of content that leads search engines to give a high rank to a retail site, she says. “The customer needs information and may need to be romanced,” Savin says. “And the search engine needs technical information.” The technical information required by search engines often includes specific industry terms associated with particular products, such as the type of materials used to make featured garments or key components in an electronic appliance.

The editors of Internet Retailer chose Savin to speak at IRWD because of her extensive experience as an expert in e-commerce. She joined Lyons Consulting Group a year ago as director of its retail strategy consulting practice, providing a wide range of e-commerce consulting services to retailers. Before Lyons, she was a vice president and senior consultant for multichannel retailing and marketing at consulting firm FitForCommerce from 2008 to 2012. Prior to FitForCommerce, Savin headed the e-commerce and catalog businesses of Playboy Enterprises Inc. for four years as executive vice president of operations at Playboy.com, and worked for more than five years at Frederick’s of Hollywood as vice president and general manager of the Direct Division. Savin has also worked in marketing and production for retailers California Style Inc. and Road Runner Sports.

Frederick’s of Hollywood is No. 321 in the Internet Retailer Top 500 Guide; Road Runner Sports is No. 219.