Do you have a content schedule you want to get on with? But before you get started, you’re also nervous about the kind of content you’ll be putting out there. What if it’s not what people want to read? What if it’s just not good enough? Don’t worry, all website owners have this same worry before they press publish! We all want to publish the best stuff online. You’ll be well on your way to doing so, if you know what high quality content looks like.

What Does High Quality Content Look Like?

High quality content comes with quite a few hallmarks. Soon, you’ll be able to spot a good post from among the usual type just from the opening sentence alone. But until that day comes, we’ve listed some tips below for spotting the kind of content that’ll elevate your website to the next level.

Knowing how to put together a good post for your blog or social media is one thing, but being able to evaluate content as a whole is something you have to learn over time! Here are a handful of points to consider.

 

It’s Unique and Valuable

Something that’s written to be unlike anything else on the internet (or more specifically, the first or second page of Google) is always going to rank a bit higher than any other content you publish. Google itself likes it when something is new and fresh. Their algorithm responds well to such content. But as time goes on, this is becoming harder and harder to accomplish.

After all, every piece of content published on the web has a cousin somewhere. So don’t be too worried if you’re using the same statistic another site has. Or, that you’re trying to focus on the same subject that’s been expanded upon about a million times already.

How can you make it your own?

Here’s a start:

• • write it your own way
  • form your own structure
  • angle it in your own direction (maybe related to your product or brand itself, for example)
  • provide your own perspective.

When you apply these 4 tactics, you’ll have something new to pitch to the internet at large. Doesn’t matter if the topic has already been addressed elsewhere. It will be uniquely yours.

Knowing how to put together a good post for your blog or social media is one thing, but being able to evaluate content as a whole is something you have to learn over time! Here are a handful of points to consider. Click To Tweet

It Has a High Click Through Rate

Your click through rate (CTR) can be used to explain many things. On the one hand it’s mostly used to measure how well a piece has performed. For example, something you’ve paid for to push your name out needs to have a high CTR to make the campaign worth it. But when it comes to your usual stream of content, a high quality piece will have a high CTR of its own, seemingly out of nowhere.

Suppose you haven’t paid to push this piece. And you’ve only done the usual promotion by linking it to your social pages. But it’s still ranking high, with around double the amount of usual visitors clicking through to check it out.

What does this mean?

Well, you’ve either performed very well at conducting ‘click bait’, or you’ve created something people genuinely want to read. Now is the time to review and evaluate that piece of content.

People Spend a Lot of Time Reading It

The more time someone spends reading through a piece of content, the better quality it is. People don’t like to waste their time when they’re online (well, not by accident anyway!), and they’ll soon click off of something if it doesn’t interest them. And as any serp bot would show you, the content that’s ranked the highest out of your entire backlog is the stuff people tend to spend a lot of time viewing. The two stats go hand in hand!

As such, if you’re noticing one article or post is receiving 3 or 4 times the usual viewer retention, it’s clear you’re on to something. So check out the content again:

• • what was the headline
  • what was it about
  • who wrote it
  • when was it published
  • what comments and/or shares has it gotten (and by whom)
  • how did you promote it, etc.

Delve into these details to see who liked it and why, and see if your long standing readership goals align with the audience you’ve brought in through it.

Are you publishing high quality content? Consider the uniqueness and value to your audience. Review your CTR, and these additional factors, so that you can stay on the high quality path! Click To Tweet

It’s Talked About on Social Media 

Social media is the go-to place for all types of content, on pretty much any subject. It’s where people share video clips, news articles, and blog posts like yours all day long, and there’s a lot of power in that. Because even when there are billions of people all sharing something different to their friends, you can still carve out a portion for yourself. And when you’ve created something interesting that’s great to read through, people are going to pass it along to their friends and family.

This is why social media share buttons are so important to highlight on your website. Make it easy for people to talk about you by having a button ready to go that can link to their Twitter feed or Facebook timeline. Search online for content shares as well; just type in your post’s name alongside the social media platform and go from there.

There’s a Good Sense of Credibility

Credibility can go amiss on the internet. However, if you want to create high quality content, credibility needs to be at the heart of what you write. The most common way people make sure of this is by talking about what few people are talking about, whether it’s real life or how a trending topic has impacted them. Even if you’re a small business owner with a product to make a name for, this can work for you!

If you want to create high quality content, credibility needs to be at the heart of what you write. Click To Tweet

Here’s a key point: you don’t necessarily need to be an expert in a topic for the content to have credibility. You just need to have a clear interest and passion, and it needs to be clear that you care about upholding true facts and voices involved in the niche itself. Use backlinks to your advantage here, and don’t be afraid to schedule an interview or two with people who know what they’re talking about. An original source is another thing Google loves!

High quality content can be spotted a mile away! Make sure you’re creating your own with the points above.

Ciao,
Miss Kemya