It is paradoxical that globalisation is creating a global village but at the same time making us more aware of our local communities.

Let's not get jingoistic about it, but many Australian consumers are happier reading something that speaks in their language.

Savvy marketers know this. For example the series of advertisements for Holden cars featuring comedian Dave Hughes would have less appeal and credibility if they had say Jerry Seinfeld. The same is true for the web, if you are trying to reach stay-at-home mums in Australia you will lose credibility if you refer to them as "moms".

So why do Australian sites need Australian content?

The Web is still very new to many users; they feel more comfortable when the material they are reading has a ring of familiarity. Many Australians are distrustful of American enthusiasm which they see as insincere hype. The difference may be subtle but can make the difference between the reader continuing to read on a site and hitting the back button.

For the foreseeable future search engines will be using text as the means of analysing what web pages are about. Having appropriate text based content is the most powerful on-page way that webmasters can attract visitors to a page.

The quickest way to increase the text content of a site is to use web articles, either as pages on the site, or as content for ezines. This is especially true for small and home-based businesses who wish to enhance their visibility on the web.

From the search engine point of view, having more keyword-rich on your site is a big plus.

But don't forget you have human readers as well. If you fill your site with irrelevant rubbish then bang goes your credibility, and any chance you have had of making a sale or otherwise engaging your reader. You need well written and informative content.

There are huge numbers of free articles on the web, but very few have an Australian voice.

The web is a huge competitive marketplace. You need every edge you can get. Using Australian-written material to market to Australian consumers could just make the difference between success and failure.