For some reason, throughout the history of the Internet people have been trying to find ways around writing actual content for their websites. But no matter what they've tried, the best Internet marketing solutions still revolve around creating optimized and authoritative content.

In the past, companies have tried everything from generating automatic content, ignoring the need for content, duplicating content, hiding content, stuffing content, and anything else that might help them cheat the process.

But no matter what Internet marketing solutions people have tried, if they want to succeed online, there's one thing they have to keep coming back to: writing good content.

Content equals spider food.

Little bits of it here and there might be enough to attract the spiders out of their hiding places. But a big chunk of really meaty food is enough to get the spiders to really sink their teeth in.

The lesson those sites that did not have content slowly learned was that they could employ various means to attract a spider and get it to creep out of its hole and take a big bite of what appeared to be a healthy dose relevancy. But it turned out there was nothing on the inside. No real way for the spider to decide if it's any good on the inside.

And indecision, in this case, is every bit as detrimental as a bad reaction.

Spiders love content. Keep feeding them and they will keep coming back.

If you want your page to show up on the results pages, you are actually going to have to have some content that includes the terms your potential customers are looking for. If the spiders can't find the words on your site, your customers may never find your site.

The Internet marketing solutions that are closely related to content writing are referred to as link recruiting activities. Think of links as the trails that lead a spider to your site. And the more trails that lead to your site, the popular it will be.

Content writing is one of the best ways to get these trails heading in your direction. When people have a good reason to link to you, they'll be naturally inclined to do so. You won't have to convince them. They will have convinced themselves.

There are countless things you could write that people will link to: articles, lists, jokes, recipes, suggestions, and much more. Anything that is well written and authoritative will attract others to walk the same paths the spiders did... and maybe even add a trail of their own.

Internet marketing solutions don't stop there, however. Anyone would get tired of the same meal, day after day, and the spiders aren't any different. If all you offer is the same content day in and day out, the spiders will be less and less impressed. Then your friendly little pet spider will get a little frustrated and maybe even a little mean.

Now there is a new way that people are hoping will eliminate the need to create new and compelling content. They are calling it Web 2.0, or User Generated Content, or community pages. New content, all the time, and focused on a given subject. Isn't it grand?

Will this be the Internet marketing solution that works? Will this finally eliminate the need to spend the time and effort required to generate quality content?

Unlikely.

Not unless you trust user generated comments to make your sale for you. We've all seen blog posts and community discussions. While engaging, it is really little more than an endless "letter to the editor." Would you really trust your product or service to that kind of content?

The Internet continues to evolve and good marketing practices change to keep up, but some Internet marketing solutions remain the same. Especially if you want to keep the spiders happy and well fed.