You probably hear marketers around you talking about quality content as the last resort in surviving Google updates all the time. The Panda, the Penguin, the Hummingbird, you can no longer imagine what follows, and, yet, you cannot turn your back on the traffic and sales Google can get you.
What should you do? Make sure the content on your website is:
- 100 % original;
- Relevant for your niche and topic;
- Helpful, interesting and easy to follow for your site visitors.
It sounds easier said than done, does it not? Well, let’s take these three features one at a time and get into details a little.
1. Original
There are two aspects here you should keep in mind: no duplicate content and new, original ideas.
For the first part, you can use a tool like Copyscape to make sure that the content you publish cannot be found on any other website.
For the last part, it would be advisable to come up with some new ideas or arguments to support your point of view, with a new approach to help you stand out from your competitors, the content you post should bring something new to the table, be unique and captivating.
2. Relevant
We hate to admit it, but the fact that many marketers had their websites stuffed with poor quality content, focusing on keywords, is probably the very reason why Google released some of its algorithm updates.
Well, keywords no longer do the trick. It does not hurt to have them there, but quality means useful, complete and correct information, living up to the promise of the website or at least to that made in the title. With so much information available on the web, including everything in blog posts or informative articles is difficult, almost impossible, no matter the topic.
That is why ‘quality’ content began to mean ‘curated’ content as well. No one takes the time to read long pages and synthesize information, so the content you publish should deliver all the important information in as few words and as well structured as possible.
3. Catchy
You want your visitors to read your posts and like them, don’t you? You want your sales letter to convince them that your products and/or services are the best and you, as the provider, deserve their confidence.
Then, either you, or the person writing the content for you, need to put yourself in the readers’ shoes and deliver what matters for the readers. That means no long paragraphs, no beating around the bushes, but subheadings, bullets lists, short sentences and a simple language that even a 6th grader can understand.
It means writing in an empathetic tone and having something to say, writing with passion, delivering useful information and, more important, answering an immediate need. The days when people read for pleasure are long gone. Unless you give them a reason to spend time on your website and return, your visitors will surf away and forget all about your website.
If you would like to get a taste of what quality content is all about, claim your sample here.
