A good site needs good content. This is a basic rule of search engine optimisation. SEO experts recommend constant content updates to attract the search engines back to your pages. That content needs to be of good quality if it’s to achieve its ultimate purpose, that of keeping users on your site. This isn’t an easy task.

Much of that task can be achieved by sourcing content from a professional, and you can talk to us at SEO Consult about content provision services. If you’re sourcing from your SEO firm, your content is likely to have SEO tactics specific to your pages already built in, and is likely to be of the quality you need. If not, you need to examine it closely, and ask some hard questions.

When you have a piece of content you’re thinking of putting on your pages, you are sitting in the role of publisher. You have the ultimate control over what content appears there. Being able to assess content for quality is essential.

Are your users offered any reward?

It seems a bit rich for an internet user to ask for more after you’ve provided them with free access to your content, but this is just what they do ask. Your content needs to provide users with something of value. This doesn’t mean offering a free toaster to everyone that lands on your pages, but rather offering a quality experience with useful information.

You may feel that you are doing this already. It’s important to remember that users may not be aware of this. The connection between reading and reward needs to be made clear, whether it be with a promise in the title or well-set-out information.

Is the content intriguing?

There is plenty of boring content on the internet. The world doesn’t need more, and your website certainly doesn’t. While not every piece of content that graces your pages can be worthy of a Pulitzer prize, it can all be interesting. It’s just a matter of finding the right angle of approach. A good writer should be able to achieve this. Your initial reaction to the content is a good gauge of whether content is interesting or not. Just ask yourself what, specifically, is intriguing in the content.

Does it provoke emotion?

This may sound a little odd for business content, but the best content in any industry provokes some kind of emotion in the reader. It might be outrage, it might be happiness, or it might be curiosity. It doesn’t matter exactly which emotion is provoked, as long as one is there.

To identify this element of the content, it’s a good idea to familiarise yourself with the opinions and topics that are of interest in your industry. Knowing that most of your site’s users hate BlandSoftware 4.0 will ensure a reaction when you publish a review defending it.

Does it promote your business interests?

This last question is perhaps the most important. If the content is appealing and interesting but ultimately recommends that people avoid your business, you can’t publish it.

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