Websites need content. It does not depend on the type of the web site: an online store, service, image hosting, any type.

Every webmaster is faced with the problem how to generate content: much of it. And preferably of high quality. I have analyzed our options and here are my conclusions.

1. Duplicate content (RSS feeds displayed on your website, article syndication, public domains, Creative Commons, etc).

This content is of low value for the website promotion in search engines and its visitors in general. But it can be a nice addition to other types of content. Also it is good when it is a new project and we develop other types of content in the meantime.

How to generate much: find the resources that fit for your website and are not copyrighted, copy and paste.

2. ‘Half-duplicate’ or ‘half-unique’ – whatever you like.

Re-written news, blog posts, press releases. Events and news important for your industry. If you re-write them (instead of using the 1st content generation method) you increase your chances to be picked up by search engines. It is a good idea to add some personal attitude.

How to generate much: hire freelance college students, provide them with info sources and control their work quality (general quality and with www.copyscape.com for duplicate issues).

3. User generated content (forums, blog comments, image and video downloads, etc.)

One of Web 2.0 key features. Very valuable content but it is not an easy task to start the process.

How to generate much: find the answer to this question how to motivate my website visitors? I agree with Chris: motivate them with MONEY (can be cash, prizes, points), RECOGNITION (select and feature top community members, reward them), ADVANCEMENT (develop and feature a good ranking system).

4. Unique content, something that other websites do not have (I also think that link baiting fits into this category – it is unique content, but edited in a special way that makes it easy and tempting to link to and refer to).

How to generate much: if it were easy – everyone could do that. But here are some ideas that will definitely help you with this task:

- You need perfect knowledge of the industry. Better: partner with one more expert in this field.
- Explore types of content bookmarked in your industry on del.icio.us and digg.com (I agree with Nick)
- Research industry forums and blogs (Aaron provides a great list of resources)
- Find FAQ (frequently asked questions there) in your niche forums and discussion boards.
- Analyze the results of your ongoing research (see above); produce posts/ articles of various types (interviews, reviews, surveys, case studies, charts, etc); develop online services and tools that are likely to be in demand in your industry, make images, animations and graphics.

Summary: Well, these are the only four types of web content (as I see them) that are available out there. All you need – use this ‘magical formula’ mixing all types of content, generate much, publish it and become rich.

Any ideas and comments are welcome.

[tags]web content, web 2.0, unique content, duplicate content, links buying, links selling, myspace, seo, internet marketing, affiliate marketing, blogs, content generation, ebay, google, make money online, work from home, home based job, wikipedia, del.icio.us, technorati, bloglines, duplicate content, links, earn your living online[/tags]

It is obvious that making money on the Internet is not an easy task – cut throat competition drives the margins lower and lower. But one positive trend on making money online I can see is the growth of miscellaneous ways to make money – you can code, design websites, be in affiliate marketing, sell some product from eBay and your website, promote miscellaneous online services (for example, link sales).

One more method that allows you to earn some cash online is MMORPG Gold Selling site. What is MMORPG?

It is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game that enables thousands of players to play in an evolving virtual world at the same time over the Internet.

I am not in the game industry and this method is not familiar to me. But David Turnbull knows much more about this.

a. Start a few page website explaining the advantages of buying gold and other equipment. Add contextual ads blended into your website design.

b. Join affiliate programs of numerous MMORPG websites (for instance, MOGS.com, GamerKing.com, IGE.com). The more the better – it will help you with time to select the working programs and drop the inefficient ones.

c. Now you need to promote your website – as you have next to nothing chances to get search engine traffic you need some other ways to get people to know about your website. Recommended ways: join TOP (top 50, best 100) sites.

d. One more promotional technique: join a few active gaming forums and add a link to your website in the signature. From my experience, you should spend some time to explore the subject to look like a knowledgeable person – you are going to post messages on those forums. Another technique – use some wisdom from another forum transferred to a new forum or just keep asking questions (but ‘smart’ asking questions if you want to get some traffic from your link in the signature.

I would recommend you to start browsing the gaming forums: you need some content for your few page website. If you do not want to pay for content – you have to write it yourself. Check also the game websites for FAQ and general descriptions.

Write your content based on your research:

- describe games, why they are great
- rewrite their FAQ
- explain why people need gold and equipment (they need it to save time and enjoy the game not spending much time upgrading their equipment)

Top Sites in Gaming Industry:

http://www.warcraft.extreme-gamerz.org

http://www.topgamesites.net/worldofwarcraft

http://www.xtremetop100.com/final-fantasy

http://www.topsites.d2event.net

http://www.rpgtopsites.com/list.php3…4123962&gate=n

http://www.xtremetop100.com/world-of-warcraft

http://www.toprankgaming.com

http://www.gtop100.com

http://www.xtremetop100.com/guild-wars

Summary: MMORPG’s gain popularity fast. It means that their user database increases and people need products offered on your new website. Do not expect to make a fortune with this technique, but you can ask a few teenagers to help you with this – I primarily mean posting on forums. As a result, your online business gets a new income source, you enjoy a more diversified (and that means a more stable) business.

[tags]MMORPG, multiplayer online role-playing games, video games, myspace, seo, internet marketing, affiliate marketing, blogs, content generation, news aggregator, ebay, google, make money online, work from home, home based job, wikipedia, del.icio.us, technorati, bloglines, duplicate content, links, earn your living online[/tags]

The most valuable asset of any blog is content. Who will argue? Every blogger realizes this fact. And every blogger thinks hard – how to generate much of this asset that will help to gain extra visibility for his online property?

There are two ways to go:

1. Fast, easy and inefficient
2. Hard, long and rewarding (unfortunately, not always the case)

Let’s start with option one: fast, easy and inefficient. What do I mean here?

Yes, it is duplicate content and link posts (when you just find some worthy news and post it on your blog with the link to the source). Both post types are fast and easy to generate using some news aggregator, top websites in your niche and copy/ paste functions of your mouse. One more advantage of these posts is they help to grow your website and look it more established.

Disadvantages? Due to the duplicate nature of the content you are not likely to do well in the search engines. When it comes to the news, even if you reword it properly the chances that you will beat the top news websites in your niche are scarce.

Let’s go to the second option: hard, long and rewarding (unfortunately, not always the case).

Here I talk about so-called ‘unique posts and articles’. They are not unique. They are just standard articles that you can find plenty on the Internet (including the one you read at the moment – just Google for ‘blog content generation’ and you will get thousands of similar ‘unique posts’). What are their ‘uniqueness’ and value? It is the fact that the blogger adds some comments and information based on his own experience.

How to write ‘unique’ posts? Yes, you have to write them from ground relying on your research, experience and general knowledge (your general knowledge will expire shortly and if you would like to keep posting frequently you will need new angles, aspects and research results. Or – post types discussed at the top).

What are your options for inspiration and research (in addition to the search engines) to generate ‘good’ posts? Well, they differ from industry to industry. The ones that I use:

- a news aggregator (in my case – bloglines.com)
- technorati.com and other popular blog search engines
- del.icio.us and other social bookmarking websites (see the list of 33 services posted here)
- top industry websites – RSS feeds or e-mail newsletters
- top industry forums – unlimited source of wisdom and experience
- industry printed magazines
- top industry sources in other languages
- wikipedia.org
- trackengine.com/ webwatcher.com – the services alert you when there are changes on the pages you add to your account. Great if you keep an eye on the websites that do not send out e-mail newsletters or generate RSS feeds. But recently I seldom use them
- eBay.com

Summary: It is up to every blogger which way to choose. Personally, I am in favor of a mixed approach.

I have tested both ways and know for sure that sometimes you can get a considerable amount of traffic by using duplicate content and news (I call it ‘noise’ and still think it is a valuable part of my websites if some unbiased comments are added). It is also a good idea to rotate different types of blog posts, post categories not to bore your readers.

[tags]blogs, content generation, news aggregator, ebay, google, make money online, work from home, home based job, wikipedia, del.icio.us, technorati, bloglines, duplicate content, links, earn your living online[/tags]