I personally feel that every website should use text to convey what the site's purpose is, or what the organization who posted it does. It should also provide contact information.
Beyond this more information about the organization can be provided, but try to put yourself in the shoes of the reader and think of what they would like. Perhaps technical information, "how to" articles (see..."HOW TO Create a Photorealistic Drawing", "How Do I Interpret My Site Statistics?", "How can I use RSS on my site?"), testimonials of previous clients (see..."Partial Client List") , a step by step story about a project (see..."The Design Process of One Book Cover"). Timely news is always popular and rates well on search engines, but be realistic. If you aren't willing to dedicate the time to writing articles for a blog then don't start one. I have another article already posted that goes into more detailed suggestions.
Visually your website can have photos and or graphics which could illustrate what you do (example), what you sell, set a mood (example), or show the results of using your product or service (perhaps just happy people). Illustration can sometimes convey a concept better than an actual photo or written text (example). Of course there are always charts and graphs, but keep the snooze factor in mind and make sure your visitors are really interested in them.
Video is a great way to draw in traffic and live video events are perhaps even better. It keeps your site on people's minds.
Video can be expensive and a lot of work, so be realistic if you choose to go down this road. A poorly produced video can have the opposite effect of the one you are seeking. A well produced video can draw people to your website, inform them even if they aren't patient enough to read your text. You can also use it for other things as well like promotional DVDs with the same content in higher quality.
Flash Animation is kind of where illustration and video meet.
Adobe's product called Flash allows an artist to animate a vector based illustration and bitmap graphics to some degree as well. Without getting technical, this can add a cool feel to a site and in some cases it can explain complex concepts in a way that other means cannot. Flash can explain what you do (example) or set a mood (example) very well. It can show the results of your previous jobs (example) or how you go about it (example).
Audio can be steamed straight to the site so that people can listen online, or it can be "podcast" so that people can download it to an media player and listen at their leisure. It doesn't require expensive equipment or really that much time.
The possibilities are pretty wide open. Just don't settle for less than you deserve. Content is what drives a website and it doesn't necessarily mean you have to put tons of time and effort into it to get something good out, and it doesn't necessarily mean you need tons of content. Good content people care about is what matters.
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