What is content?

Simply put, content can be but is not limited to; Blog posts, Articles, Videos, Images, Memes, Infographics, Books, Music and much more. Without it, your website loses its potential to gain online exposure and you will have a hard time being found by the major search engines.

What is quality content?

Quality content = interesting + well written + relevant + unique. Interesting content is shared on sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Digg each and every day. If your content is interesting and well written enough, it can spread virally across the web and in return generate massive amounts of traffic to your site. Non-Quality content is: copied, stolen, boring, effortless. The end note, quality content is key.

Why you need quality content

Face it, without publishing high quality content, your online presence is dead. By producing unique and interesting content regularly, your website is now findable. People will like, tweet, email, share, and even link to your valuable content which then increases website search engine rankings and traffic. By getting more traffic to your website, the number of potential customers increases. While your visitors are reading your interesting and well written quality content, you have a chance to tell them who you are and what you do. They will then be more likely to remember your website when they need your type of service, product or expertise.

Creating Quality Content

Whether you’re going to write an article, create an infographic, or produce a video, keep in mind one main principle: the content you create is aimed to provide value to your potential customers. Below are 4 common types of online content:

1. Writing Based Content  (Articles, Blog Posts, Books+)
2. Image Based Content (Photographs, memes, infographics+)
3. Video Based Content (Live Webinars, Commercials, Animated Videos+)
4. Audio Based Content (Podcasts, Webinars, Music, BlogTalkShows)

Choose the best type of content to create based on your available dedicated resources such as budget, time, and skills. Creating quality video and audio content can be slightly difficult to achieve if you’re on a tight budget. However, written articles and images have the same potential of going viral and are nicer on the pocket book.

Writing Based Content

If you plan on writing articles for your blog, write about things that make people think. Inspire people and change lives with your knowledge. If you don’t have any, find some. Write in a style that reflects who you are, perhaps throw in some light humor or jokes every now and then if you write with a serious and mono tone. Don’t forget to add meaningful photography and images to your articles and blog posts. If your stuck on ideas, checkout 17 Copy-And-Paste Blog Post Templates – This article will definitely get your creative juices going!

Image Based Content

While written based content is extremely effective indeed, it is very bland and boring on the other hand. This is where image based content comes in and spices the visual eye. An easy way to do this is to create memes and infographics. Infographics are a visual representation of a story. They often convey a unified message or principle. See The anatomy of an Infographic.

Video Based Content

For those who don’t like to read, a video will direct more of their limited attention onto what you have to offer. Grab users attention by making your very own video commercials, producing a relevant short film, start a podcast around your products, services and ideas. If you are shooting a video, read some tips from Chase Jarvis’: How to Shoot a Fancy Stop-Motion Commercial on the Cheap (-ish).

There’s no limit on how creative, funny or silly your video can be, just remember the intentions of why you produced the video in the first place.

Audio Based Content

This is slightly outdated yet still highly effective. If your producing a podcast, gather a group of like minded people to discuss a topic. Be sure to keep it under 30 minutes. 15 minutes is a minimum but it really depends on your message. Organize your thoughts and plan the key points your going to discuss prior to recording. Always maintain a constant distance between your mouth and the microphone (about 3 inches) so that the sound levels don’t vary throughout the recording. Read more podcasting tips and tricks here. Other audio content ideas include live webinars, blogtalkshows, recording a song and creating music if your musician, try creating an audio-only version of one of your videos.

_____ Based Content

Create your own, there is no limit on the medium you use. The key is to not give up and keep trying regardless of the difficulty of the situation and just have fun with it. Remember though, no content = no visitors.

If you need help or have questions, be sure to post a comment below and join the conversation regardless of your expertise!

Stay tuned for Part 2, we’ll cover how to effectively distribute your content online across major social networks, search engines and more!