What Makes Good Web Content?

In my last post, I have talked about the importance of having good web content. Today, I am stressing on how to churn out that good content for your website. But before that, I would like you to take an exercise. Don’t worry! Its easy and you will love it.

Think of a few sites that you like to visit again and again. YouTube, Digg, Tech Crunch… What makes you keep coming back? Think.

Most likely, if your answer is the compelling, relevant, and timely content; then you have hit a jack pot! See, all the things that you like will also be adored by others since they are just like us. Quality articles, tutorials, tips, etc. compel the reader to come back again, and again, and maybe even email some of their friends to come too. The sites that are consistently top ranked in the search engine results have these things in common when it comes to content:

• Interesting and unique content that is well-written.
• Links that point the searcher to other parts of the site (and more well-written content).
• Fresh as well as updated content. “Fresh” means that the information will not be outdated in a month from now.

So apart from the above mentioned points, these are the things that you should give importance while developing good web content:

1. Keywords – You’ve worked hard on these keywords; make them stand out (bold, header tags, different font, etc.)

2. Clear titles – Make it clear what you are going to talk about. Sometimes its fun to use puns but search engine spiders just aren’t programed that way.

3. Be short and sweet – Adjust your points in the ratio of one idea to one paragraph. Long, unbroken blocks of text tend to turn away visitors, as they are difficult to read on a computer screen.

4. Don’t be a marketer – atleast while writing your content. Don’t inflate your writing with a lot of hot air; keep it down to earth.

These are just general guidelines for writing quality web content. It’s not something that most people can master overnight, so give yourself some time. Read a lot, see how other people are doing it, practice the same (if applicable) and always put yourself in your web site visitor’s place. We at Word Chillies always write content by doing a brainstorming process. This lets us get various insights on how and what a visitor can look for. So choose what’s the best combination for you and you can attract enormous traffic to your website – purely because of good content.