Content Trends

Content Marketing, SEO and Digital Marketing

High Quality Content: A Simple 4-Point Checklist for Creating the Best Content

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Last year, Google’s Panda filter shook up the internet. The biggest losers were sites with duplicate content, plagiarized content, sites with obvious keyword stuffing and grammatical errors.
The verdict was out: Google was cleaning up the internet and making it a great place to be once again. Panda brought about a much needed new awakening, a new search for high quality content among site owners. In the wake of Panda, several pundits weighed in on the definition of high quality content. I took this opportunity to ask a few experts what their views were on high quality content.

I gleaned key pieces of insights from that discussion, my own experience and also through talking to several web content managers, directors and editors, over the years. These top 4 characteristics have been on everyone’s list as essential for creating the best content for your audience:

# 1. Unique and Original Content

All 4 experts in my interview unanimously agreed that quality content needs to be unique and original. Web writer and editor, Alan Eggleston summed it up eloquently when he said “The facts may be the same, but it is written with the style, voice, and tone that is unique and original to you as the author and with the interest of the audience in mind for the vehicle in which it will appear.”
In a post Panda world, unique and original content is rewarded by coming up at the top of search results. Plagiarized and duplicate content have always been a no-no but Panda took care of enforcing this rule with heavy penalties for the non-conformists.
The topic doesn’t have to be unique but your perspective does. For example if you have a recipe site, there are tons of recipes for chocolate cake, but what would make your chocolate cake recipe unique would be your own original recipe.

#2. Extremely Articulate and Well Written

High quality content is so well written that your audience will keep coming back for more. It flows well, sounds good and feels almost like a melody.
Here are some key indicators of well written content:
•Besides being free of grammatical errors, well written content is also succinct and to the point. Every word that doesn’t belong is eliminated.
• High quality content is never vague. It paints a concrete picture and captures our imagination because we can picture it in our minds.
• High quality content is never pretentious or pompous. Instead, it has a natural flow. If a sentence feels uncomfortable, it needs to be cut from your copy.

#3. Easy to Understand

The internet revolution has changed the way we communicate – less is always better, easier is always better.
Gone are the days of bombastic language, hyperboles and exaggerated speech. They still work in poetry and prose but as a form of communication, they are passé. The high quality sites are usually where the most complex subject matters are explained (to their target audience) in a surprisingly easy way so that any lay person could understand. The Mayo Clinic is a perfect example. Even the most complex disease or condition is explained in simple terms. The Mayo Clinic has an Alexa ranking of 1,400 which is an indication that it’s an extremely high traffic site, because people who research their conditions can actually understand what is happening to them!

#4. Educational

High quality content always makes us think in a new way or rewards us for spending our time because we learn something new. It’s educational without being preachy. As content creators, if we strive to create at least one key takeaway we would greatly enhance the quality of our content.
The following sites are perfect examples of educational content. They are at the top of their game, receive high rankings and plenty of traffic and subscribers, in large part, due to the quality of their content. These sites have interesting informative, educational stuff for content writers, bloggers and people with a passion for great content.

To sum it up, high quality content is always unique and original, well written, educational and easy to understand.

Do you agree with these 4 characteristics? Do you have more to add? Please share in the comments below.

You May Also Like:

High Quality Content: 4 Experts Share their Views
Google Gets Picky over Content with Panda
How to Write Quality Content that is Search Engine Friendly

5 Ideas for Creating Original, High Quality Content

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It’s no secret that the best way to attract traffic and achieve higher rankings is by creating high quality content. High value content is ultimately what separates you from the millions of other sites and blogs in cyberspace and in the blogosphere.

Yet, the internet is exploding with thousands of pages of low value content. Most content creators look at the content on other sites, and rewrite some of those ideas and throw in a few keywords. This rehash has resulted in the internet being flooded with pages of low quality content.

So what is high quality content?
High quality content:

  • Is original and involves creating new ideas
  • Is created when you share your unique experience, your fresh and unique perspective with your community of readers.
  • Is created when you use your voice to give new life to the same copywriting formulae that writers have been using for decades.

If you are an affiliate marketer, it means researching and personally experiencing the benefits of the product that you are selling. Your review will be of value to your customers as you have spent the time and effort required instead of simply copying ad copy right out of your vendor’s website.

If you are a real estate agent, it means writing an honest review on why you love the area where you sell and why you feel it would be an attractive place to live.

Benefits of Creating High Value Content:

  • Unique content will engage and delight your customers and will keep them coming to your site for more ideas. Quality content along with these content writing tips will ensure audience engagement on your site.
  • Search engines give higher rankings to original and high quality content. A higher ranking in turn will drive more traffic to your site. Google’s early 2011 algorithm updates were specifically designed to penalize short and shallow articles and reward high-quality content.
  • Fresh ideas get the maximum shares on social media.

Here are 5 content ideas that are tried and tested marketing strategies. Use them with your voice to create content of a high quality and value.

#1. Make Some Predictions

The New Year is always a perfect time to predict how 2012 will shape up for any number of industries such as the outlook for:

  • small businesses
  • cell phones
  • the economy
  • movies
  • web design
  • social media

The sky is the limit. Every product and industry lends itself to speculation, predictions and a future outlook. People love reading predictions. Make sure that the prediction that you make are purely from your perspective on the future of your market, service or product.

#2. Common Problems in Your Profession and Their Resolution:

Almost 60% of respondents to a recent Pew (Project for Excellence in Journalism) survey said that they used internet search as a way to solve problems. In fact, more people turn to the internet as a source or solution than consult experts, family members or friends to provide information and resources.

I came across a number of small technical issues while I was creating this blog. I kept a track of these issues knowing that other people who faced similar problems will be able to benefit from my experience. These problems and their solutions, I have no doubt, will turn out to be original, high quality blog posts.

#3. Before and After

People love to read about before and after stories, and the more dramatic the transformation the greater is the level of engagement; the more it gets shared on social media. Besides, before and after projects are also extremely well illustrated with some nifty graphics. After all, a picture is worth a thousand words.

Every product and service has a before and after story in terms of why the product/service was created and the value it added to customers’ lives. Every client project, sales pitch, marketing effort has a before and after project story with: lessons learned; value created; and income earned. Other classic examples of before and after projects include:

  • before and after a makeover
  • a complete site redesign
  • before and after a social media strategy
  • before and after a home design project
  • before and after slimming diet or product
  • sales figures before and after a marketing campaign

    • #4. Write a Review

    Early in 2011, Derek Halpern used this strategy by writing blog reviews of popular sites such as Chris Brogan and Think Traffic.

    Review any product or service that is making waves in your industry that you have personally tried or experienced. Better yet, be among the first to review a new product or service.

    #5. Do a Comparison

    Give your unique perspective on 2-3 products or services in your industry. You could list the pros and cons and why you would recommend one over the other.

    You could do side by side comparisons of any product or service under the sun: Cars; cell phone plans; tablet pcs; Digital cameras; and laptops are perfect niche markets for comparison tables that work wonders for ratings.

    What are you doing to create original, high quality content? Please share your thoughts and ideas.