From here in Utah to the most booming of metropolitan locations out on the East Coast, content marketing specialists are constantly pitching clients about the production of the exact same thing: quality content.
While the benefits of the aforementioned content type are well known—search engine rapport, a more spacious market reach and a reputation as an industry-leader—many are the content marketing “experts” who are left scratching their respective heads asking, “What is quality content?”
If you or a fellow content marketer has ever asked that very question, we’ve prepared a list of the top 10 filtration points to help properly determine if what’s being produced is of great value to consumers or just another advertorial annoyance.
1) Write for an Audience, Not for Search Engines
Believe it or not, this is a huge issue for content marketers. You’d think that for professional marketing writers, making certain to direct all written content towards a specific audience would be easy. That being said, it’s not. If your target audience is a group of industry professionals, don’t speak down to them. However, if your body of readers is new to a particular field, be simple and concise without demeaning the very eyes which keep you employed.
2) Content Accuracy and Relevancy Is Key
This goes without saying, but quality content is build upon a foundation of accurate information. Even if you’ve already proofread your piece one or two times, it’s never a bad idea to go back and check just to make certain that all sources are properly cited and given due credit. Furthermore, be sure to only use data—everyone loves quantitative information—that’s still relevant in today’s day and age. Nothing is more frustrating than a piece on social media marketing with statistics from 2007.
3) Inspiration, Education or Entertainment
Any written piece should do at least one of three things: inspire, educate or entertain. If you’ve written something that does little more than bore, interrupt and annoy, you should probably consider a swift revision of what’s been created. Also, it’s impossible to spend too much time on titles and headers. Seriously, they set a reader up for what’s to come next and build the very kind of intrigue that’s needed to transform content into a liquid marketing state.
4) Be Direct In Helping a Reader Accomplish a Particular Task
There’s a reason for why eHow and WikiHow attract digital masses so easily: they provide something of value. It’s not that every article or story has to be a “how to” piece, but everything should help a reader accomplish a particular task.
5) Unique Value for Readers to Learn From
Unbeknownst to many working in the field of content marketing, there’s a great difference between “unique content” and “unique value.” The ideal here is to publish only the later. Says Nate Dame, founder of Propecta, in a piece he wrote for SearchEngineLand.com, “Any good writer can rearrange words on a page to create content that doesn’t technically appear anywhere else on the Internet. But good content offers a unique value by providing readers with insights and actionable takeaways that no one else does.”
6) Socially Shareable
Remember, if it’s not something that you’d feel confident sharing with both friends and colleagues on Twitter and Facebook, you shouldn’t expect that others to do so. While informative content is inherently important, social shareability is often determined by the title of what’s being pushed. Write strong titles that balance creativity with concision and purpose.
7) Thematic Organization By Way of Subsections
Apart from keeping content tight and well-written, it’s critical to make sure that everything is well-organized. Truthfully, written transitions can be difficult to produce for the writer and hard to follow for the reader. When themes are organized by way of subsections and bullet points, it’s much easier for information to be digested at a rapid rate.
8) Be Leery of Keyword Stuffing
Obviously, keyword stuffing has never been a good SEO or content marketing strategy. Still, even those who are wholeheartedly committed to white hat SEO practices are prone to a accidentally overuse a primary keyword. After a piece’s rough draft is completed, it’s always a good idea to use your computer’s Command+F or Ctr+F term search options to make sure that keywords aren’t being used in abundance. If they are, take a few minutes to replace a handful of them with appropriate synonyms.
9) Include Links to Helpful Sources
This really should come as a bit of a no-brainer to any active content marketer or SEO professional, but—when writing—include links to good sources that will help build your piece’s credibility. These links should only lead readers to other reputable, high-quality site’s where further information can be obtained.
10) Proofread Like Your Life Depends On It
There’s a reason that this point comes in as a final placeholder on this list: every single time, it’s the last thing that should be done before a piece is published. Realistically, it doesn’t matter how incredible a written article, “how to” piece or blog post is, if there are blatant grammatical errors present, nobody will take you or the brand that you represent seriously.
Regardless of industry, as awesome content is produced, awesome results will most assuredly ensue. Take the necessary time to make quality content marketing a conscious focus and both you and your clients will be more than satisfied with what’s to come.
