How to Identify Cheap Content
1.
Quantity Undermining Quality With everyone rushing to accommodate Google's recent Panda and Penguin updates much attention has been given to pushing out fresh content as fast as possible, unfortunately at the expense of quality.
While you should be updating your blog (as an example) weekly, I'd rather see a client post a high quality article once per month than gibberish once per week.
It's not a hundred meter dash, it's a marathon.
2.
Too Many Links There's a thin line between too many links and not enough.
You want optimized keywords in the body of your content with internal links directing the user back to relevant pages on your website BUT you want it done sparingly.
There's little more irritating and distracting to a reader than to see a webpage article riddled with blue or red bold text links that stand out like neon lights - without the kitsch appeal.
Your article should look more like Wall Street, not Times Square.
3.
Off-Topic Whether you're creating content or paying someone to provide it for you, it must be on topic to the nature of your business.
Penning a cutesy article about your recently adopted lily white Persian kitten and somehow attempting it relate it to your garbage disposal business by stuffing keyword phrases and links into the mix is content dissociative identity disorder.
If you owned a taxidermy business on the other hand...
4.
Déjà vu If you're reading through content and catch a wave of déjà vu then that's a sign that the work had a previous life someplace else.
You don't want your readers experiencing the same thing.
Never copy and paste your own work to multiple pages on your website or onto off-site blogs.
It also goes without saying to avoid plagiarism like the plague.
If you're securing the services of a content provider, be sure that the work is clearly personalized to your business and not generic in nature - a telltale sign of content reincarnation.
5.
No "Duh!" "How to" articles serve as great content to attract traffic to your site but after a while when ideas run out you start to see less inspired instructional pieces that practically insult the intelligence of readers.
A moving company provides valuable online fodder when they instruct customers how to safely pack full length mirrors but when they start offering entire pieces about how to roll up and pack socks and undies (I've seen it!) they've officially run out of ideas.
Neither write nor accept articles from your content provider that will make the reader think you road the short yellow bus to the office.
6.
Incorrigible Curation Content curation - collecting industry articles from other sources and presenting it to your online audience - is a great way to deliver useful content to consumers and have them come to you as a consolidated source of industry information.
However there is a fine line between collecting and sharing and just being lazy.
Curation is a valuable tool as long as you add your own introduction, context, and parting thoughts as it relates to your business.
Either you or your content provider isn't doing their job if they are just regurgitating the work of others - it needs to show your business as the solution to whatever the topic is related to.
Otherwise consumers will look at you as nothing more than a referral service, without the kickback.
7.
One Big Sales Pitch At the end of the day we all know that content is really about closing a deal in some manner.
But so many are too transparent about this fact and ultimately provide nothing of value in their content.
I can't count how many webinars I've sat through that end up being 90% sales pitch, 5% lead-in, and 5% valuable content that I can actually apply.
Don't just present your readers with a problem - solve it for them without requiring that they dial a 1-800 number first.
Conclusion Content is everything in website marketing.
You'll want to invest the time and/or money into securing and delivering useful and informative content to your customers.
Stay tuned until next week when I detail how I turn on my computer while holding a cup of coffee at the same time.
Quantity Undermining Quality With everyone rushing to accommodate Google's recent Panda and Penguin updates much attention has been given to pushing out fresh content as fast as possible, unfortunately at the expense of quality.
While you should be updating your blog (as an example) weekly, I'd rather see a client post a high quality article once per month than gibberish once per week.
It's not a hundred meter dash, it's a marathon.
2.
Too Many Links There's a thin line between too many links and not enough.
You want optimized keywords in the body of your content with internal links directing the user back to relevant pages on your website BUT you want it done sparingly.
There's little more irritating and distracting to a reader than to see a webpage article riddled with blue or red bold text links that stand out like neon lights - without the kitsch appeal.
Your article should look more like Wall Street, not Times Square.
3.
Off-Topic Whether you're creating content or paying someone to provide it for you, it must be on topic to the nature of your business.
Penning a cutesy article about your recently adopted lily white Persian kitten and somehow attempting it relate it to your garbage disposal business by stuffing keyword phrases and links into the mix is content dissociative identity disorder.
If you owned a taxidermy business on the other hand...
4.
Déjà vu If you're reading through content and catch a wave of déjà vu then that's a sign that the work had a previous life someplace else.
You don't want your readers experiencing the same thing.
Never copy and paste your own work to multiple pages on your website or onto off-site blogs.
It also goes without saying to avoid plagiarism like the plague.
If you're securing the services of a content provider, be sure that the work is clearly personalized to your business and not generic in nature - a telltale sign of content reincarnation.
5.
No "Duh!" "How to" articles serve as great content to attract traffic to your site but after a while when ideas run out you start to see less inspired instructional pieces that practically insult the intelligence of readers.
A moving company provides valuable online fodder when they instruct customers how to safely pack full length mirrors but when they start offering entire pieces about how to roll up and pack socks and undies (I've seen it!) they've officially run out of ideas.
Neither write nor accept articles from your content provider that will make the reader think you road the short yellow bus to the office.
6.
Incorrigible Curation Content curation - collecting industry articles from other sources and presenting it to your online audience - is a great way to deliver useful content to consumers and have them come to you as a consolidated source of industry information.
However there is a fine line between collecting and sharing and just being lazy.
Curation is a valuable tool as long as you add your own introduction, context, and parting thoughts as it relates to your business.
Either you or your content provider isn't doing their job if they are just regurgitating the work of others - it needs to show your business as the solution to whatever the topic is related to.
Otherwise consumers will look at you as nothing more than a referral service, without the kickback.
7.
One Big Sales Pitch At the end of the day we all know that content is really about closing a deal in some manner.
But so many are too transparent about this fact and ultimately provide nothing of value in their content.
I can't count how many webinars I've sat through that end up being 90% sales pitch, 5% lead-in, and 5% valuable content that I can actually apply.
Don't just present your readers with a problem - solve it for them without requiring that they dial a 1-800 number first.
Conclusion Content is everything in website marketing.
You'll want to invest the time and/or money into securing and delivering useful and informative content to your customers.
Stay tuned until next week when I detail how I turn on my computer while holding a cup of coffee at the same time.
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