It can actually get a little awkward.
Someone asks us why the content on their site has rapidly dropped in the search engines, or isn’t getting any real engagement with readers, or isn’t converting to opt-ins.
One look at the site and we realize there’s no nice way to say it:
Painful, right? The site owner genuinely thinks they’re creating “quality content” because they’re having original material written.
But the content has no life, no personality, no usefulness to the reader, no entertainment value, and a terrible headline.
That’s not “quality content.”
Your best defense against “Crappy Content Syndrome” is to read Copyblogger, because every week we give you ideas about how to make your content better.
But here’s the distillation of our most important advice on the topic:
1. It has to be useful
Content marketing needs to solve some kind of reader problem. That’s why it’s often so useful to start with the words “How To” and then give some thought to how you can finish that headline in an interesting way.
By the way, part of making your content useful is making it friendly for your readers’ eyes. Pamela Wilson wrote a great quick tutorial about that: 8 Incredibly Simple Ways to Get More People to Read Your Content.
2. It has to be interesting
Good content has personality. It has style. It has … dare I say it … authority.
It might be funny, opinionated, charming, snarky, or enthusiastic. But it isn’t dry or bland.
If your reader just wants facts, she’ll go to Wikipedia. When she wants a more interesting, opinionated, flavorful view on facts, that’s when you can step in.
This is very tricky to pull off if you don’t consider yourself a writer. You don’t have to make your 5th-grade English teacher happy, but you do have to be able to express yourself in an interesting way.
If you’re trying to sound “professional” or to create content that looks like a big company created it … stop now. You’re going in the wrong direction. Your content should look, feel, and sound personal … like a friendly, smart figure who’s got your prospect’s problems all figured out.
3. It has to have the “cookie factor”
When you’re emailing, blogging, and creating white papers, videos or other content that are both useful and valuable, you’re building what I call Cookie Content.
That’s content that inherently rewards the reader for consuming or sharing it. It actually acts as a small “reward” for clicking. Every time the reader clicks on your link, opens your email, or shares your content, good things happen — useful, interesting, and user-friendly information gets shared.
Put yourself into your reader’s shoes and ask yourself if the content you’re creating is truly rewarding for that reader.
Does it get him closer to his goals? Does it entertain her, or at least keep her interest? Are the site design and user interface pleasing? Is the content formatted to be easy to read, and across multiple devices?
Good content will build an audience faster than anything else
You’ve probably noticed that there’s a sea of not-too-good content out there.
Thin, uninteresting, not-very-useful junk that just fills up space.
By making a commitment to create content that’s both useful and interesting, you rise above the sea of internet trash. Even though creating good content isn’t always easy, it probably is the most straightforward way to differentiate your business and show your value.
How to take it further
Creating high-quality content — in other words, content that your audience finds valuable — is the cornerstone of content marketing.
But you need more than the cornerstone! For a much more detailed look at what an audience-building content program looks like, pick up our ebook on Content Marketing: How to Build an Audience that Builds Your Business. It’s free with your My.Copyblogger membership.
And as homework for this week, give some thought to the kinds of audience problems you might be able to solve with your content. What’s bugging them? What’s frustrating them? What could you teach that would make their lives better? Brainstorm some ideas for yourself, and the next time you’re ready to create content, you’ll have audience-friendly ideas at your fingertips.
– The Copyblogger Team