So it’s referenced a lot that “quality content” is what Google is really looking for when it decides what gets good placement within the search rankings. But what exactly is quality content, and what does it really mean?
Original content that provides useful information to the reader!
It doesn’t necessarily mean writing longer content, or content with “big” words, or content that is perfect. You don’t have to be a professional writer to produce quality content. What does matter is you write from your view, in your own words and with your personal style. Give your opinion. It’s fine to reference other pieces of work and get ideas from elsewhere. Just make sure to put your two cents into the picture!
Remember you’re trying to help someone, or offer some sort of value to the reader, so ask yourself if it accomplishes that in your own unique way. If the answer is yes, you’ve probably produced something of substantial quality!
Don’t outright plagiarize content or think using an article spinner will somehow produce “unique” content. It won’t! While the words may be mixed around, it isn’t unique no matter how you look at it.
People tend to think quality means ‘perfect’ writing. And I agree to the extent that it shouldn’t have grammatical or spelling errors plastered throughout because that certainly takes away credibility from the author. But that doesn’t mean it has to be flawless. It’s OK if your content has a few errors at first. The great thing about writing for your own website is once it’s published you can go back and edit it! It isn’t like submitting something to a magazine or newspaper. Your content is always a work in progress! I find myself publishing articles all the time and going back when I catch an error or find something I want to add. It’s ever changing but at least I have it out there!
It’s also important to realize it doesn’t have to sound like it was written by a scholar. In most cases it’s probably a negative thing to use language that most people can’t understand anyway. You have to think of who your audience is. You want to connect with them and not lose them because they have no clue what you are trying to say.
Write content in an engaging way and use conversational speak.
The casual aspect of it will appeal to the vast majority of people and they’ll be able to connect with what you’re saying, and maybe have something to share on your post as well as share with their family and friends.
The truth is, good content leads to more engagement, and that leads to sharing. Sharing attracts social attention which brings in more traffic, readers and potential sales. This is the QUALITY way of getting back-links to your site. When people share, it creates natural links, which Google looks at in a positive light. These are things that matter today after the more recent Google updates, not 10,000’s of back links that create no value to anyone.
I was just reading an SEO company’s sales page the other day. I came across it from a spam link that got posted on my site. (Now of course I have my spam comments filtered, but occasionally I’ll take a peak out of curiosity). Well, this particular SEO company was boasting about how they’re the first search result of Google for such and such search terms, and they’re “experts” in the field. They were advertising their services for thousands and thousands of dollars. But then when I went to check Google, they weren’t anywhere to be seen for such terms, not even the company name brought up any results! Guess they didn’t really know what they were doing after all.
People need to stop chasing every black hat trick way to get to the top and start focusing on value. It’s the only way to assure you won’t be punished, and that’s what’s going to lead to a lasting online presence. Google isn’t going to stop liking quality content, so when you make it your own, there’s no need to worry.
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