What defines high quality content

The words “quality content” have made quite an appearance in the past couple of years, but few truly understand what that means.

Standards of quality change at a very fast pace and what works today might not work tomorrow. Staying updated on how to produce high-quality content is hence crucial to climb up on those ranking and get Google to think your content is worth it. Here are few tips to consider when creating content.

Make it Engaging

 

Capturing user’s attention is a challenge that is becoming harder by the day. And if you think that’s hard, try keeping their attention until the end of an article. Creating engaging content is key to climb up the Google rankings, and it’s often easier said than done. According to the fifth annual B2B Content Marketing Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends – North America report, the biggest challenge faced by marketers in 2015 is creating engaging content. As a rule of thumb, you content should either educate, inspire, or entertain. Find out what your audience is interested in, monitor competitors and fill in any gaps they might leave, and deliver your content in a manner that your audience will read with the same enthusiasm of a kid on Christmas morning!

Watch the Word Count

 

Defining the right length for content has become a tricky business, and there is much debate on this topic. While many consider short articles to be the preferred choice by mobile users, this might not be the best option when it comes to SEO.  Back in 2012, the optimal length of a blog article was between 500 and 700 words. However, Google increasingly seems to prefer longer and more comprehensive content. After a study that consisted of analysing over 3800 blog posts, Moz suggests the ideal length is 1,500 words. In essence, the longer your content is, the more beneficial will this be for your ranking; but, do not compromise quality to achieve length.

 Prioritise User Experience

 

Another factor that will get you on the good books of Google is usability. Ensure you offer a smooth navigation to your visitors, get rid of dead links, make information easy to find, present your ideas in a clear and well-structured manner as these are all qualities Google look for. Before creating any content, ask yourself what objective you are trying to achieve, whether it’s to increase sales, get people to subscribe, or simply get traffic to your site, and then ensure your content clearly expresses what you want your users to do. In short, make user’s life easier and Google will like you a little better.

Bring on the Images and Videos

OK, it’s not written in stone that to produce high-quality content you MUST include images and videos. Plain text could be perfectly fine on it’s own, but we all know how much we like to see a pretty image or an interesting video online. Having visually engaging elements in your content might not directly contribute to higher rankings, but according to Mashable, when you have visually engaging content, it has a chance of being shared 12x more than just plain text. This in return will earn you inbound links, and guess who loves inbound links when it comes to SEO ranking? That’s right, Google! Keep in mind that you should always ensure that the visual elements are relevant to you text and of high quality, don’t just flood your content with images of kittens and robots for the sake of it (unless your content is about kitten and robots!).

Don’t Go to Town with Keywords

Inserting a keyword every other word is never a great idea, and it’s something Google frowns upon, you will be punished for doing this. We do understand that it might seem easier to just stuff you article with keywords and focus your entire header on them too, but be warned that this will do exactly the opposite of boosting your ranking. Once you have completed your content, scan through the article and evaluate if you overused keywords, in case you have, just replace them with a synonym and the problem is solved.

Check Grammar and Flow

 

Proofreading might sound like a given, but it does not get stressed enough (ask you editor and we’re sure he/she will back us up on this!). Correct grammar and an easy to read flow are the stepping stone of any good piece of content. If you publish content with grammar mistakes, your credibility and respectability will take a hard hit. No matter how long you have being creating content for, always ensure to spell-check for any typos and grammar mistakes.

Check your Facts

Here is another way to get rid of credibility: publishing facts that are not true. Double check the stats and facts you share against a second source if possible and ensure to copy the correct numbers and figures. Also, when referring to a third party source, before you even think of taking few facts from it, check the date of publishing. Outdated content is a surefire way of losing credibility and climb down Google rankings. Speaking of credibility, another factor you should consider including in your content is author details. Google Authorship might be no longer “in”, but  Author Rank is alive and kicking. Google appreciates it when authors are displayed on page and might kick your ranking up a notch.

Created: September 3rd, 2015