When it comes to deciding on new content for websites, all too often the decision is made by people within the company. In other words, various stakeholders will identify the information they want to place in front of their visitors. Granted, any company or organization needs to present information about itself, its products and its services. But not all the content on your site should be company-centric. A significant proportion, or even the majority of your site's content should be focused on what your visitors want to find.

Why? For two reasons.

One, when visitors find what they are looking for, rather than what you want them to be looking for, they will immediately feel more engaged with your site. Two, you'll get more visitors simply because when people use the major search engines, your site page content will be more likely to match the search phrases they use. So how do you know? How can you figure out which topics and questions are at the forefront of your prospective visitors' minds?

Put simply, you need to listen.

Here are two specific ways:

1. Just ask.

There is no excuse any more for not interacting with your customers and prospects. You call use polls, surveys, blog comment fields and even Twitter. All you need do is ask people what is most important to them. What their biggest problems are. What their most urgent needs are. Which questions they need answered. Compile the results and you'll soon figure out what it is your readers really want you to be writing about.

2. Use Wordtracker's Keyword Questions tool.

This is a free tool and I think it's great. You simply type in a keyword or phrase relating to your business and click the Search button. Wordtracker then finds related questions and tells you how frequently they are being asked online. For instance, on the topic of coffee, the question most often asked is, "Where did coffee originate?" Type in Obama, and the most frequently asked question, by far, is "What nationality is Barack Obama?" Strange, but true.

Concluding thoughts...

There are now so many different ways to find out what your audience wants to know. To me, it just makes sense to address those needs by creating content that answers people's questions. Think of it as stage one in the relationship.

First you answer the question that is most important to someone.

Second, you suggest a product or service that might match the needs that lie behind the question.