Writing good content is at the heart of all online marketing, particularly SEO. Writing involves text and the Search Engine Spiders love text as opposed to Flash Animation or even audio or video within an HTML context. So, before we offer our advice on how to write good content, let’s first define what good content really is for the purposes of Internet Marketing.
Here are the important elements of good textual content:
- It must be unique, non-duplicate content. Plagiarism in the brick and mortar world is illegal and online it is not only frowned upon but can lead to real penalties from The Google and the other search engines.
- The information must be unique, interesting and engaging. Beyond the technical duplication, you must not duplicate information. In other words, write for the targeted audience which means understanding your target audience. Don’t write over their heads, using technical terms that you know many don’t understand; don’t write beneath them or baby them
… this will cause folks to exit from your page. - Provide help or insight. Everyone likes help and everyone likes to gain new insights. Those that don’t, you really don’t care whether they read your content or not anyway.
- Provoke thought. People want to be inspired and by provoking thought you are doing just that. Biologically, you are stimulating brain activity.
- Great Content Infrastructure. Your content has basic elements; Elements that speak volumes about who you are, what kind of person you are and whether or not you are worth someone’s time and attention. These elements are:
- Title – Properly Descriptive and Engaging
- Paragraphs – each one should add to the intent of the title. Each paragraph should develop a complete thought and idea that is relevant to the title.
- Sentences – properly structured, grammatically correct of course. But more so, to fully develop the intent of the paragraph.
- Words – Keywords or Key Words. Both are critical for the search engines and the actual intended readership. Words matter … never so true when it comes to writing excellent online content.
Now that you understand the elements of good content, actually understanding how to write good content becomes comparatively easy.
Subject Selection
This is the most important part. Select subjects that are of known interest to your targeted audience. You must be self-assured that you understand this audience; if you don’t, well you have a first step to take before this one. So I would suggest research your target audience to learn what is on their mind, what do they wish to learn, what are they confused about, etc. etc.
Organization of Thought(s)
First write down all of the random thoughts you have or would like to develop in your writing. Then organize all of these thoughts into an outline that follows a logical sequence providing a sensible pathway for the reader to follow. Take the outline and write a paragraph about each component within the outline, obviously, constructing the paragraph with the blend of sentences to supported the main point of the paragraph. Review the words that you are using. Then double check the grammar and spelling with your favorite checker software.
Write the Final Draft
Knit together your paragraphs so that they flow into one another and complete all points related to the title.
Read it out loud to yourself and others
You will know quickly if it flows well and is easily understood. If you find your reading not flowing from the page to your lips, it likely needs more work. Repeat this until it flows well.
Publish!
Get organized and fully express your thoughts. That’s what good content always results from. They say “think before you speak.” I say “think even more before you write.”
August 12, 2009
