Website Content Basics: What is Good Content?

Who Said Content is King?

Anyone that has ever performed research on how to write content for a website, blog, article, press release or any other online medium has surely encountered the phrase “Content is King.” Sure, it’s important to create good content to provide value for users, but what exactly is “good” content? In the second post on my series of creating content I’ll attempt to answer that question.

A good way to get started might be to check out my first post Website Content Basics: Going Old School which offers some background on how users read on the web.

Content is King: It’s Not That Simple

Creating good content is not simple, so the continued use of the “Content is King” shorthand is really a disservice to every business working to attract users, prospects and customers to its website and blog. Essentially it’s a tidy way to define what can be a messy process and unfortunately many businesses dive right in without giving content creation much thought. It doesn’t need to be complicated, but some advance thought into what that business’ target may find useful is a good place to start.  Let’s look at some of the content most people enjoy.

Characteristics of Good Content

While most people may not be able to define “Good Content,” we all can generally identify a several characteristics that make a particular post or video standout. Here are a few that I’ve come up with:

Unique – A story, approach, or perspective that nobody else has is inherently interesting
Solves a Problem – We all have daily problems that we need to solve and help solving them quickly & efficiently can be compelling.
Educates – The early purpose of the internet still holds true; people want to learn about their subjects of interest.
Entertains – Entertainment may not be a deal-breaker, but good content often entertains.

Generally, I think that good content includes at least one of these components and becomes even more compelling if it includes more than one.

Characteristics of Bad Content

Haven’t we all been repulsed by some really bad content at some point? It’s sometimes easier to define “good” by understanding what is “bad.” Here are a few qualities that I feel define sucky content:

Self Centered – As a consumer and prospect, I’m selfish. I want to know how it helps me. Not the publisher.
Confusing – If the content is visually confusing, tricky to operate of difficult to understand, most will normally leave. I know I do.
Negative – Unless it’s celebrity gossip, negativity rarely helps.
Overly Dense – Few web users want to read “War & Peace” or watch a 1 hour video. Make it feel manageable.
Ugly – Hey, if content is uncomfortable to consume, fewer people will consume it.

I’m sure that I may have missed a few; if I did, tell me what drives you nuts in the comments.

The Answer? It Depends

Unfortunately, if you were looking for a definitive, comprehensive answer to the question “What is Good Content” you’ll be disappointed. A quick review of the characteristics of both good and bad content suggests two things:

Content Quality is Subjective – Content quality is subjective because it is directly tied to the knowledge or experience of both the content creator and reader. What may be useful, educational or entertaining to you may not be for me. The key is positioning your content in a way that will resonate with your prospects as helpful, educational, entertaining, etc…

Content Quality is Relative – Your content will be judged relative to that of your competition. Remember the grading curve in secondary or high school? Well, your content is graded on a curve as well. As a result, it may be either easier or more difficult to have content recognized as good. So businesses should look around to understand how they can create content that beats their competitors.

Only Your Prospects and Customers Can Define Good Content

With the understanding that the purpose of creating content is to either directly or indirectly generate business, only your prospects and customers can define good content. Therefore, it’s imperative that businesses have a clear understanding of what their clients find useful, how clients consume content and then create content to suit that need. Seems like a version of marketing 101, eh?

Bill Rowland