Effective
Web Design

Authoring Quality over Quantity

Funnily enough, the Internet does have some moral fiber and it comes in the form of webmasters who are good enough to produce high quality content for their visitors. The search engines are getting more and more intelligent. They are finding it easier detect who is putting up re-heated trash and who is producing honest content that is actually worth visiting.

So what makes content worth visiting?

The same rules apply for any format, if you are running a health information site, you are going to need well researched and unique articles to give your site a trusted character and good status.

Readers aren’t stupid when it comes to detecting prominent and legitimate information. For example, it is sometimes difficult to find a product review that is actually legitimate and commercially un-bias, if you can provide honest content, it comes with its own rewards.

Providing full and complete information is also a good way to keep your resource on top of all the others. If I wanted to find out the specification of a new laptop, I would have to visit maybe 2 or 3 websites to get the full specification. There would be a gap there that could be filled by somebody who wanted to write a fully complete article on the laptop.

Giving the content a human touch is excellent for a user to feel right at home with what they’re reading, you can achieve this easily by quoting opinions and slipping in a few entertaining lines, obviously, there is a place for informal writing, but if you can, do.

Spice up the articles by adding some variable media in your content. When looking for a simple answer, nobody wants to be presented with a big block of text, so break it up with pictures or bits of tasty html to keep the reader more interested in what is there. Look on youtube, blogs and forums to see what the public is saying about your topic. Get a wide range of opinions and present yourself as a neutral party unless you have an obligation to take sides.

For more tips on Baiting your site with tasty treats for bonus traffic, check out this list on seomoz.

But Quantity is so easy!

Yes, you’re absolutely right, having stubborn, useless content is easy, but it wont be receiving much traffic because that is just not how the system works. If you have a high quality article that fits the descriptions above, you will be pushed up the ranks on google and own the traffic for that topic, it’s as simple as that, don’t be tempted to cheap out because you will lose.

Quality is likely to last a lot longer as the traffic will always be there and the list of link-backs will increase as others discover your content and want to discuss and share it. Quality will give your site a good reputation and a higher value, so it is worth putting the time and effort into all aspects of the site, leaving your visitors with a positive experience and the information they needed.