[ot]wordsofworth, you complained earlier that you did not like shyflower’s tone
why are you doing it, then? your last post is, frankly, offensive
please, let’s try to stay civil towards each other[/ot]
How is what I have said offensive? The phrase ‘As those of us who actively work writing content for the web know’ is the exact same phrase Shyflower used towards me, so it cannot be offensive as a moderator wouldn’t do that.
The ‘That is where you are wrong’ is a statement of my opinion, based on my experience. I know that content rich sites can outrank big brands and link heavy sites.
Where has the offense taken place?
If you don’t consider hiring someone. Here are a few tips:
Be direct.
Be interesting and informative at the same time.
Write like you’re just having conversations with your customers.
No offense taken here whatsoever. What’s good for the goose you know… 
However, I still dare say that Ma and Pa’s Books and Notions will never get ahead of Amazon.com or Barnes an Nobles unless they can either (as I said before) 1) show expertise in an area that neither of these deep-pocket competitors show or 2)offer a service or product that neither offers.
In any event, their ability to draw a target audience through search engine results will stem from the keyword phrase they use to optimize the page. Today, in another thread, a member suggested that you simply choose a keyword the competition isn’t using to rank well in search results. I say, go ahead if you want to waste your time. If no competitor is using it, it’s likely that no searcher is using it either. Could be wonderful to be #1 on a page that nobody sees.
But, I digress. Let’s get this thread back on content and away from SEO. (I know that I am at fault here, too so no need to point that out to me!)
Thanks for the support Rudy, but I believe that WordsofWorth and I are working towards a civil agreement to disagree. I enjoy the debate. It sure beats reading fluff!
Keep it Short and Simple - KISS. But make sure you drive the point. People don’t read long sentences and paragraphs.
I always thought there should not be much writing on the home page.
It should be links to other parts of the site.
The home page is a reference point for other parts rather than information itself.
I’ll concede that it is very hard for a site to rank above a big player, but it’s not impossible. A strong content strategy, including the addition of content that, as you said, shows expertise that other websites don’t have is a good way of gaining rankings. By offering the sort of information that no other site does is a way to rank highly for specific long-tail and generic keyword searches. UGC is another useful tool in this, as it’s free and is naturally optimised for the sorts of search terms that you wouldn’t normally optimise for and that your users are actually using. Using content in this way can rank websites above official sites for keywords, especially when the ‘official’ site has been lazy with its content.
Completely agree with you hear. It’s the old saying ‘if a tree falls in the woods and nobody is there to hear it, does it make a sound?’. ‘If a website ranks #1 for a keyword that nobody is searching for, does it really rank?’.
Quite agree, it has been an interesting discussion.
You should put your traveling route list on your home page content.
Since the op has not come back to this thread to comment, thread closed.