What Exactly is Quality Content?

People have been advising us for years to create websites that have “quality content” on them. But, if you think about it, the phrase can be rather vague – especially since people have varying writing abilities. So, what does it really mean? There really is no set way to answer this. The general guideline is to encourage people to “write content that others want to read”. But, unless you’ve  already  cracked  the  code  on how to do this, this advice can seem equally vague.

The good news is that there are some tangible things you can do to boost the quality of your site content.  Keep these things in mind especially when you read the next section on article marketing

incorporating keywords

We mentioned keyword placement a little bit at the beginning of this chapter. While this is an important  strategy, nothing should ever take the place of providing useful content that actually makes sense. Have  you ever read a keyword optimized article that felt awkward? Don’t let this happen to you.

First of all, the keyword or keywords absolutely need to match the topic of the article. There was a time when people would stuff nonsense keywords into a post or article to try and trick Google into ranking a  site. This absolutely doesn’t work anymore and hasn’t for a number of years.

Basically, keywords should never overshadow the article itself. That is why it is important to either  become a good SEO writer or find someone who is. They’re experts at weaving in keywords in a natural  way. Remember that things need to flow. If they don’t, it diminishes the quality of the article.

Make it personal

There are a lot of websites on the internet. Chances are, whatever your topic is, you aren’t the first to  cover that topic. This pertains even if you have a business website, an eCommerce site, a blog, or a  website filled with pure content about a topic.

So, what  makes  you  unique?  Actually,  you’re  the  thing  that  makes  your content unique. No matter  what your site is about, injecting your personal stories and anecdotes will set it apart from the crowd.  In  other words, it boosts the quality of the content you have. Google loves this.

Here are some tips that can help you embrace your unique voice:

Personal life. Share a few small details from your personal life. However, there is no need to go overboard. Just share enough to make you seem like the real person that you are. For example, even  something as simple as telling people what you had for dinner can humanize you.

Relate it to the content. This one is extremely important. Most of the personalized content on the  site should pertain to the content itself. For example, if you have an informational site on chocolate because it is your passion, you will want to share not only facts and articles about chocolate, but also personal opinions and experiences with chocolate.

Talk about your business. If you have a business website or blog, you will want to share with your customers real stories that were taken from your experiences. For example, if you have a business  about pottery, you can share some stories related to your customer’s reactions to your pottery.

In other words, personal experience is something that makes the words on your site unique. Otherwise, there won’t be much to set your site apart from other people’s. This is a big part of making a site that people want to return to.

Vary the length

For a while, content that was around 500 words was considered an industry standard. This is no longer  the case. It seems that content articles or blog posts that are all uniform in size can negatively impact your site.

To avoid this, vary the length of your content across the board. Create articles that are 300 words long,  1000 words long, and everything in between. Just make sure  that  the  length  is  dictated  by  the  topic.  If  there  really is only enough information to fill up 400 words, don’t try to stretch it out.

It should flow

Most  well   written   content  is   clearly   organized.   It   has   a   recognizable introduction,  body,  and  conclusion.  Not  only  that,  but  it  should  be  well written, free of misspellings and grammatical errors, and well organized.

These are basic principals of writing. If you can’t seem to accomplish this on your own, then it is worth  your while to outsource your content. Don’t feel bad if writing isn’t your forte. There are plenty of able-bodied writers who can do the deed for you.