On the Internet, content is king. That’s the way it has been, that’s the way it is, and that’s the way that it’s going to continue to be. Having a steady stream of content is vital to any sort of marketing effort, and it’s especially relevant when it comes to online marketing.
When it comes to content, the difference between quality content and plain content is the difference between an old beaten up pickup truck and a brand new Lamborghini. The difference is night and day. The difference ultimately influences your bottom line. Content needs to be considered something of quality, not quantity.
If you create content, whether for your business in your down time or for a living, you need to make sure people actually click that content. Ask yourself these questions to determine if your content is even click-worthy, or if you should drop it and start from the beginning.
1- Would I Read/View/Share It?
This is the ultimate question that you need to ask yourself with every single piece of content that you produce. Would you even read/view/share this content? Is this content worthy of your personal time, so much so that it should be worthy of other people’s time?
If you’re producing content just to produce content, there may not be too much of a point to what you’re doing. The entire point of having content is to get people to read, engage, and share, and if you wouldn’t do that yourself then there’s probably a chance that a lot of other people wouldn’t either.
If you answered no to the above question, consider what you need to do to make that content click-worthy. That could be writing it from a different angle, spending extra time editing it, or any other number of things to improve the quality of your content.
2- Is It Even Done?
Lots of content producers work under the notion that they need to pump things out as fast as possible because the more content out there, the better. While this can be the case in some circumstances, in the long run it won’t build your brand. Is a piece of content that isn’t even finished going to get clicks?
Rushing through a content assignment might mean you can pump out more content and get more links out there, but in the end if your content feels incomplete it’s not worth it. It won’t get views or shares, and content publishers might even flat out reject it. Many content publishers won’t give you another shot if they feel like the content you provided them in the first place isn’t up to par, so make sure you take the time to ask yourself if the content even feels complete.
3- Is It Factual?
This should be a no brainer, but for people that produce a lot of content sometimes it can slip right by. Make sure you ask yourself if your content is fully factual. Obviously in some cases this won’t be required, but if you’re ever referencing any sort of statistic, take the time to make sure it’s true!
You’d be surprised by just how many facts are either made up or just completely wrong when it comes to content. Whether you’re referencing a percentage, citing a number, or any other sort of situation, just be sure that what you’re doing is actually true.
4- Does It Make Sense?
Finally, ask yourself if your content even makes sense. Does it flow? Will it keep a reader engaged for the whole time it takes to read, or a viewer for the entire length of the video? Part of making sure your content makes sense means making sure your content is relevant.
Relevancy is key to engaging content that’s click-worthy and share-worthy. If you have any doubts at all, shoot your coworker a message and ask her or him to review that content for you. Taking a little bit of extra time could pay off big time for both you and your clients.