I just hung up from a long talk with my brother Dan about the value of good content. During a rambling 45-minute conversation about all things digital, I ranted on about the difference between really great content and content that just tries to manipulate Google’s latest algorithm.
His take, and it’s brilliant, is simple:
“It all comes back to quality. Really good content shows competence and understanding. At the end of the day, the written word is the same as it always was: powered by masters of the craft. The SEO bag of tricks just isn’t going to take the place of that.”
Interesting. And in retrospect, duh! I mean, we went through a few years there where content was really devalued. Content mills would take one article and spin it 100 ways in just a few minutes. Every other person decided to become a writer, because if you ever took English or spoke English, you could Make Easy Money Working from Home.
I actually saw this comment from a woman who had been downsized: ” I’m an engineer, so I’m uniquely suited to become a freelance writer.” Ooooooh kayyyyyy.
Happily, it appears those days are coming to an end (and hopefully, that engineer found work in her own specialty). The digital world is now recognizing the value of true word craft. Something that kind of gives me the giggles, because it’s spawned a bunch of keyword-rich articles from self-proclaimed experts, i.e., 10 Reasons Why Quality Content Matters Now.
All righty then, weigh in, folks. What direction do you think content is headed? Who do you count on to deliver quality wordsmithing? And what one thing would you really like to change about your content?
“The newest computer can merely compound, at speed, the oldest problem in the relations between human beings, and in the end the communicator will be confronted with the old problem, of what to say and how to say it.” -Edward R.Murrow
embark