4 unconventional methods to boost content quality
As a content marketer, you have goals to create an abundance of high quality digital content. That means your team expects blog posts and web pages to rank for targeted keywords, boost brand image, and convert.
As you research tips to write quality content, you’ll likely find articles about storytelling and keyword optimization. But building a quality content experience goes far beyond these basics.
Let’s take a look at why so much content across the web is low quality and how you can stand apart.
The problem: you’re not a subject matter expert, and you can’t fake it
Content marketers are rarely subject matter experts - especially in their early years at a job. As they attempt to write valuable content, they’ll likely use Google as a research tool.
Beware of this method. Unless you’re willing to trudge through scientific studies and detailed whitepapers, you’re probably copying websites that took the same shallow approach.
The result of everyone copying each other: content grows increasingly watered down across the web.
Did you know that Google can tell if your content is poorly researched? Did you know that your readers can also tell?
What Google looks for in quality content
Google has plenty of basic engagement metrics factored into its ranking algorithm. These include bounce rate, exit rate, scroll depth, click-through rate from the SERPs, and pageviews per session.
Google also takes it a step further - the crawler finds trends in topics mentioned, LSI (related) keywords, accuracy of facts, and other patterns that are difficult for humans to recognize.
Pro tip: Use Clearscope.io to find LSI terms, content length, and other factors to predict whether or not Google will rank your content.
The point is, Google has tracked so much human behavior on websites over so many years, it knows the elements to look for in content to predict if people will like it. After all, their goal is to serve information that is as helpful to people as possible.
If you’re doing a good job of writing for your audience, you have nothing to worry about. Anything you do to make your content more desirable for readers should also help you rank on search engines.
What readers look for in quality content
Readers look for content that is trustworthy, skimmable, easy to read, and valuable.
Trustworthy content is well-written and based in fact. A credible brand will back up their points with statistics and examples.
Value may come in the form of providing information, entertainment, or fostering community. However, for the sake of selling products, most businesses write content to provide information.
The solution: follow these principles to create value
Incorporating these steps will help you create quality content that gives readers what they’re looking for.
Offer a truly unique perspective
To lower your bounce rates and engage your readers, offer a unique perspective right away - in your opening paragraph. People will bounce quickly if you insult their intelligence by stating the obvious.
Make sure your introductory paragraph leads with your main point, allowing the rest of the piece to support this thesis.
How do you create a unique thesis? Instead of Googling a topic and ripping off content from other blogs, think about how you can contribute something different.
These steps can get you started:
Interview experts (whether it’s within your company, or an external source)
Run tests and report on your results
Argue the opposite of a widely accepted viewpoint
Be the first to talk about breaking news and updates
Make abstract concepts tangible
One of the top ways you can provide value to readers is by making intangible concepts tangible. The best way to do so is to provide visuals, graphs, and plenty of examples to illustrate your points.
Let’s take a look at how some of my blogs attempt to do this.
Example 1: Making content strategy tangible
In Your content strategy template: visualize your plan, I used a template to make content strategy easier to understand and execute. Plus, I filled out an example of the template to help people see the types of information they should input.
Example 2: Making the keyword funnel tangible
In Top, Middle, and Lower-Funnel Keyword Strategies, I visually mapped how people might search a keyword, visit a landing page, and convert throughout the marketing funnel.
Example 3: Making features and benefits tangible
In Marketing starts with features and benefits, I used a little chart to describe features and benefits. Then, I walked through multiple examples for different products.
Most people are visual learners, and conveying ideas through images is a powerful tool.
Simplify the complex
Hand in hand with making concepts tangible, take a stab at simplifying the overcomplicated. Be the first to break down a difficult topic into easily consumed sections with examples. Or, offer a shortcut to a lengthy process.
Example 1: Creating a simple content planning process
Most of the web creates a complicated spreadsheet for content planning. In Your Content Calendar Template, I broke it down into a few simple elements. It’s easier to build a plan when you’re not overwhelmed by the information you need to gather.
Example 2: Breaking down what ABM actually involves
When trying to research Account-Based Marketing, most companies have a vague explanation of how it involves targeting entire accounts. I learned about ABM through interviewing 10 different ABM tools and compiled insights in What is ABM and is it right for me?
Unveil new pain points to foster connection
And finally, you can provide value through talking about little-discussed pain points. Help people feel understood.
Example 1: A deep dive into scammy marketers
Why do so many ill-equipped marketers make it far? This is something I’ve heard countless discussions about, but no one is writing about it. I tried to break down why I think there are so many scam marketers in 5 Telltale Signs of a Bad Marketer.
Example 2: Content career happiness guide
Many content specialists struggle to prove their value and advance their careers.
What’s going wrong and how can you fix it? In my Content Career Guide, I wrote about techniques to feel happier in your writing job and set yourself up for success.
Measure content quality
To recap, the 4 ways to write higher quality content include:
Offering a truly unique perspective
Making abstract concepts tangible
Simplifying the complex
Unveiling new pain points to foster connection
Each of these methods will provide immense value to your readers.
Now that you’re on your way to producing higher quality content, it’s time to measure effectiveness.
Like Google, you can use traditional UX metrics to measure success:
Bounce rate
Exit rate
Pageviews per session
You could also track interest and discussion:
Social media engagement
Comments on blog posts
And last but not least, you should always try to attribute your revenue to content:
Lead gen conversions (make sure you know the rate at which these typically convert to sales)
Ask the sales team if any content pieces are helping them close deals
Track orders from people who landed on your content
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