How to Create Quality Content
Search engine optimization and keyword-rich content are critical to your website being found by Google and other search engines. However, focusing too much on SEO and not enough on the quality of your content may lead to potential clients to leave your site almost as quickly as they find it.
Regardless of page rank and search results, your main priority for your website should be creating a valuable user-experience. This means creating and curating content that website visitors and social media followers not only want to digest, but actually seek out. Focusing on relevant, informative, and quality content is much more valuable than cranking out pointless dreck.
Deciding what counts as “quality content” is much harder than it sounds. Luckily, you can rely on the Three T’s of Content – Teach, Tickle, and Touch. By meeting one or more of these T’s in every post, you are much more likely to get website visitors to a) read your content and b) share it with their own audience.
Teach
This one should be obvious. If you own a business, you are most likely an expert in your field. That means you have knowledge most people don’t! Share that knowledge through blog posts and social media posts. If someone can read your blog and find an answer to their question, it shows you have authority in your field and that person is more likely to return to you for services in the future.
Take this blog post about the effectiveness of image sliders on your website, written by our Associate Art Director, Corey. It is both informative and relevant to our (potential) clients; it shows that authenticWEB is ahead of design trends and aware of the best practices for websites.
Tickle
This means to “tickle” someone’s senses – usually through humor or something adorable where they can’t help but go “Aww!” Take a look at this photo we posted on Facebook a few weeks ago:
This photo received 95% more engagement than all our other posts on Facebook! This includes links to our always relevant and informative blog posts. People love pictures of babies and puppies. Babies and puppies get way more Shares and Likes than other posts.
Before you start scouring the Internet for cute photos, I’m not suggesting you post nothing but pictures of small animals – like I said before, the content still needs to be relevant. Max, of course, is our CEO and Art Director’s sweet son. Plus, the photo was taken in the authenticWEB office, giving followers a taste of our daily life.
Touch
Tuggin’ at the heartstrings is a surefire way to get Likes, Shares, and Retweets. Touch is the most difficult T to master (not many businesses have heartwarming stories they can or want to share regularly), but it’s the most powerful. People remember how you make them feel more than what you tell them, and posting emotional or motivational content is a great way to make website visitors remember you and your business.
Take a look at this post from the Florida Little Dog Rescue in Orlando:
I started following them on Facebook a few weeks ago, and I have already found myself obsessed with this sweet puppy. I’ve probably told a dozen people about this puppy, and I usually pull up FLDR’s Facebook page when doing so. Sure, the whole purpose of their page is to get people to donate to their cause – but telling a story about this little guy, complete with updates and frequent photos, ensures people will not only remember their organization but also share their posts, thus securing more donations.
Of course, you probably don’t own a business where content like this is always possible, but keep Touch in mind when posting to your website or social media.
Consider the Three T’s Before You Post
Before posting anything to your website or social media, ask yourself, “Does this post meet one or more of the Three T’s of Content?” If not, don’t post or rework the content to fit. You’ll be amazed at how posting better content actually leads to more visitors and higher conversion rates.