January 18, 2007 12:18
Category: Writing
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There are many opinions as to what defines 'good content'. As I like to stress on content as the backbone of any website, I tend to believe that unless the quality of content is such that it enriches viewers' experience in the subject being dealt upon, a website lacks a vital ingredient to connect with the viewers.
But do all websites need rich content in order to thrive in respective web business? The answer is perhaps 'no'. For example, a website that primarily earns money through pure ecommerce, which is by way of selling merchandise, it may not prefer to spend resource on adding fresh content every now and then.
Instead its priority will be to spend dollars on PPC ads, press release and suchlike. The big reason for so doing is that a focused campaign helps to measure return on spending, and by repeating it number of times the campaigner can hone the skill of maximizing returns on his investment over a period of time.
Content on the other hand cannot provide a measurable yardstick of returns with which to decide whether it is at all beneficial to flourish in the ecommerce web business. In spite of this apparent lacuna, savvy marketers still prefer adding contents because they know many viewers seek the solace of well-written content to make a buy. Their numbers are however not many.
But suppose you're not selling a merchandise, but offering a service like this website does. What would you do? I'm afraid in such cases there is no alternative to rich contents. For, regardless of your ad-dollars, your viewers will not place their trust on your service unless they are truly convinced about your ability to serve them to their fulfillment.
If that is so, the next question comes as to who can provide you with good contents. It's here that the real quest begins. Unlike comparison sites for merchandises (NexTag, BizRate, DealTime, PriceGrabber, etc.), there isn't any (to the best of my knowledge) for most services, including writing contents.
Looking at this scenario, if I'm to say good contents are hard to come by, perhaps I'm not off the mark. I've come across many instances where the emphasis is on producing content on a mass scale. In which case the skill required is obviously not on originality and/or relevance of content, but on speed with which one can conjure up as many as possible.
It will thus not be wrong to say that as a result of above, unabashed copying has reached an alarming proportion. There are authors I've chanced upon on the web, who are very skilled in modifying already available contents with deft additions and subtractions here and there. Perhaps this is not as wrong as lifting contents verbatim, since in the latter case it's nothing else than plagiarism, the oldest trick to pose as an authority.
On my part, I've been pretty unequivocal about the necessity of quality content creation, which I always try to strive at. You're right if you ask here if I'm an authority on all and any subject. I'm not. So, given an assignment, what I do is to first study the subject from available information on the web. If I find it difficult to grasp, I do not hesitate to politely turn down the work.
Once I know I can do an assignment the justice it demands, I do it in my own words, albeit borrowing the concept from the materials already available on the web.
That I've fully satisfied my clients is amply evident from the testimonials they've sent without my prodding. Which is the result of my firm belief that anything short of sufficient amount of good content will not stand a website in good stead in the long run.
Related reading:
- Website content positioning is more of managing content.
- Content provider is your best help.
