There’s an old saying among professional writers: Quality work takes time. It can take many hours or even days to research, write, fine-tune and revise your blog post, article, or website copy before it’s ready to publish. Journalists and copywriters have known this for a long time. Increasingly, though, “quality content” is a popular buzzword among digital marketers. But what exactly is “quality” content?
…Quality Content Means it’s Original
People get really turned off when they’re doing an internet search on a particular topic and they see the same old information “content spinning” or reposted verbatim on one website after another.
Sure, it can be easy to be tempted to just swipe content from other sites, because after all, coming up with your own, original content takes time and skill. But using other people’s material without getting their permission or crediting them—plagiarism—is illegal. Now you may be able to get away with re-wording, rephrasing, or cutting-and-pasting various sections of copy from different websites to “repackage” as content for your own site, but it’s still not the best practice. It won’t drive people to your site, because after all, you’re just saying what everyone else is saying.
Increasingly, search engines are monitoring sites for duplicate material, and Google, for one, is coming down hard on those who plagiarize. Don’t fool yourself: If what’s on your site has been copied word-for-word from another site, or if it “highly resembles” someone else’s material, you will see a drop in rank and in visits via the search engines that have made the discovery. Furthermore, if the plagiarized copy is not removed or properly cited, the owner of the material may file a copyright infringement lawsuit against you.
Exactly what is the best way to come up with original material? Conduct interviews with industry experts, company employees, or satisfied customers and share their ideas and insights. If you’re a plumbing contractor, put your own plumbing tips on your website, or write about your personal experiences or business philosophy. If you just attended a professional conference, offer your perceptions and impressions about the meetings you attended. If you’re addressing a routine topic or an issue that has been covered extensively, share your unique perspectives, or at least put it in your own words.
If you don’t have the time or inclination to do the writing yourself, hire a writer. There are plenty of professional writers who will work for you on a freelance or contract basis for very reasonable rates. You can easily find a writer on freelancing websites, Craigslist, or even by posting a “help wanted” notice with the journalism or business communication department of your local college.
…Quality Content Means it’s Useful to Your Demographic
When you write your copy, put yourself in your target audience’s shoes and try to address all their concerns. Don’t leave them wondering or in confusion, and don’t omit important details. If you only provide shallow or surface information, people will give up on your website and look somewhere else for answers.
This doesn’t mean everything your write for your website needs to be 2,000 words; some topics truly can be addressed in less words. But don’t be “short and to the point,” just to get some copy on your site, if a longer explanation really is warranted.
…Quality Content Means it’s Free of Misspellings, Grammar Blunders & Punctuation Errors
If your content is sloppy—you’ve made a lot of grammar and punctuation faux pas, your sentences are constructed poorly, you ramble a lot and the copy is wordy, or you’ve just got a lot of typos and misspellings—you will come off as unprofessional. This can erode your credibility and deter people from doing business with you. Granted, not everyone will realize that you used a subject pronoun when you should have used an object pronoun, or that you misplaced an apostrophe in a sentence. But enough people will notice these mistakes, and they won’t be impressed.
Before you post any copy to your website, proofread it carefully. Don’t just use your spell-checker on your computer and think everything’s okay. The word “contest” will pass spell-check but it’s not correct if it was supposed to be “content.” Don’t rely on your computer’s grammar checker either; computerized grammar checkers aren’t always right.
You might want to hire a proofreader to review your content before you post it. Even if you have a professional writer on staff, have someone proofread his or her work; pros are not immune from making typos, especially if they have been staring at a computer screen for hours on end.
…Quality Content Means it’s Written with Your Target Audience In Mind
Tailor your writing to your target audience’s concerns, perspectives, needs, and wants. Provide solutions and insights to the particular situations they face. This may require you to do some demographic research so that you can adapt your writing style, word choice, and the topics you choose to address to their particular age, experiences, and educational level. If you are writing to people in particular fields of work, know something about their profession so you can use proper jargon.
If you focus on your audience, people will feel like you are talking directly to them, which will make them want to return to your site for more. On the other hand, if you over-stuff your copy with irrelevant “filler material” or keywords simply to get visitors to your site, people won’t stay on your site for very long, and they definitely won’t return.
…Quality Content Means it’s Creative
Content doesn’t have to just be words on a page. Content can be presented in many forms, including infographics, case studies, videos, FAQs (frequently asked questions), blog posts, ebooks, and whitepapers.
If you do have content that will just be read, there are a number of steps you can take to make your content more “reader-friendly.” Keep your paragraphs short (between 1 and 5 sentences is generally good). Use a mix of longer and shorter sentences. Break up long copy into shorter sections with sub-heads; this makes it easy for readers to pick out the information they’re particularly interested in. When you’re presenting a list of facts or tips, present them as bulleted or numbered points.
Why is Quality Content Important?
Search engines like Google and Bing have stepped up their efforts to discourage spam and sketchy SEO practices, and at the same time, have been placing a higher value on quality content. So now, if someone types in a search request for “plastic surgery in Atlanta,” Google will not only seek out sites that fulfill that request, but it will also search for highly-visited websites with quality content. Once a search engine finds a particular website and determines its content is good quality, that site will move up on the search engine’s results page.
But that’s not the only reason to have good content. As an online marketer, ultimately you’re not just trying to attract Google robots, but to please consumers. When your website offers truly useful information that your target market needs and wants, the public will see you as a service-oriented, reliable and trustworthy company. If consumers find your site helpful, they’re going to return. Chances are, they will also link your content to their own websites or share your content with friends on social media, which will boost your search engine ranking even higher.
About the Author:
Deedra Hughes
Experienced President with a demonstrated history of working in the marketing and advertising industry. Skilled in Digital Strategy, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Integrated Marketing, Advertising, and Pay Per Click (PPC). Strong business development professional with a Bachelor’s Degree focused in Communications from Ohio University.