Quality blog posts are key to your business getting found on the Web. While that may sound obvious – (“Of course, why would I write something ho-hum boring?”) it’s harder than you might think. Not everyone agrees on what quality content is.
Quality content scores high with readers, your target clients, and with search engines. If you want to get found, get known and get clients online, you need to write and publish quality blog posts that resonate with your readers.
Two weeks ago I posed the question, “what makes you mad?” This can be a great first step in uncovering a hidden drive – what motivates you. It can also help identify what drives your readers; what content resonates with them.
There’s a lot of emphasis on publishing frequently. Most professionals and small business owners are told that once or twice weekly is a bare minimum. But none of that matters if what you write is boring, mediocre, confusing or poorly written and formatted.
What is quality content? Sure, you know it when you read it, but what are the essentials? It depends on who you’re writing for. As writer Ginny Soskey at Hubspot blog points out:
“There are lots of concrete principles of writing that can help determine the “quality” of a piece of content. Verb usage, spelling, sentence structure — these all have defined rules that, for the most part, have stayed pretty constant. It’s black and white. That is wrong; this is right.
“Then there are the gray areas in writing. Stylistic preferences. Imagery. Storytelling.”
There are not only those style issues, but key is making sure your blog content appeals to the right audience, your target market, your ideal clients. If you write in a casual manner, without a lot of research, but with a lot of humor, you’re probably not going to appeal to Ph.D. level scientists if they’re your target clients.
Quality posts are foremost relevant to your readers. In the Hubspot blog post, “Memes vs. MBAs: What is Quality Content, Anyway?” the author compares what quality content looks like in Harvard Business Review to content on BuzzFeed.
These two sites couldn’t be more different in purpose, audience, and style, but both are enormously successful in their own ways. I recommend you read the full post to understand why. Many of their success tactics can be replicated on your own business blog.
Quality content is defined by your readers. They will subscribe, share with their friends and colleagues and spread what you have to say. What works for one business won’t always work for another. Are you finding what works with your readers? If you haven’t already done so, signup to receive my Shortcuts to Content. It can help you identify what quality content is to your readers.
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