How many times have you heard the importance of creating quality content? It’s what bloggers, marketing professionals, online businesses, and even Google look for. It’s what makes the difference between success and failure in your content marketing strategy.
Quality content is powerful and it will help your website position rightly in search results, attract links naturally (through link building), generate trust and credibility among your customers and show you as a reference within your sector.
However, quality content is an abstract concept that makes you wonder: “How can I know if my content is of real quality?”
The definition of content quality may change according to the sector you are targeting or the target audience, but there are various common features that serve as reliable indicators.
Checklist to Create High Quality Content
Here is a series of points that you must meet to ensure that the content you are creating is really of high quality.
1. Is the length of your content adequate?
There are many discussions about the ideal length or extension that the content you create should have.
Google shows preferences for extensive quality content, but above all, it covers and treats all the details of a given topic. On the other hand, we must not forget that users of mobile devices, which are growing exponentially, prefer to consume shorter content quickly.
It is a battle that does not seem to yield but rather to increase. So what would you prefer: lengthier and in-depth texts or easy-to-consume pills?
In the end, everything depends on your goals and the audience you are targeting. If you want your content to occupy the top positions in search engines and attract links naturally, texts of more than 1,000 words or more with very competitive keywords are what you need.
On the contrary, if you prefer to focus on mobile users to get the information they need quickly, you’ll have to cut back on the length of content you create. For this, focus on articles that attack mostly long-tail keywords since they are searches that mobile users perform more frequently. At the same time, help yourself with lists of bullet points and outline your posts in sections to make them easier to read.
2. Do you use images, videos, infographics, or other visual resources in your content?
It is not rocket science to create high quality content without resorting to images or other resources, but it is clear that visual content has a greater impact on the user. It helps attract natural links, encourage viralization in social networks, or increase the time spent on the page. So, what kind of visual content are we talking about?
- Screenshots
- Photos
- Infographics
- Charts
- Videos
- Gifs
- Memes
When incorporating multimedia content into your texts, make sure that you answer the following questions in the affirmative:
- Do my images and videos support and complement my content?
- Are they aesthetically pleasing?
- Is my infographic or video content original and of quality that others would like to share or identify with?
- Do they adapt my website, technically speaking?
If you are going to put an image with letters made in Paint or that is too small, a video that outlines the content or that really has little to contribute or to see with the topic that you are trying, better not do it for the mere fact of including content visuals. This might just hamper quality content!
3. Do you take care of the spelling, the coherence, and the tone used?
There are debates about whether spelling influences web positioning. The truth is that reading a post full of spelling mistakes is not pleasant for anyone and prevents you from being seen as a reliable writer or a reliable source. Use tools like Grammarly for text correction and for inculcating a notion of quality content for readers.
At the same time and especially when dealing with technical issues, it is very important to structure your content correctly and in a logical order. Make sure that your texts follow a coherent order and that you do not jump from one point to another, giving explanations that will only make the reader dizzy.
Finally, depending on the target audience you are targeting, it is advisable to use a more serious tone or a more casual tone. Adapt your language according to the context since it is not the same to be a community of animal lovers or a law firm.
In general terms:
- Is my grammar correct?
- Are my spellings correct?
- Is the content arranged in a logical manner?
- Is the language used correctly according to who I am addressing?
4. Is the understanding of your texts easy?
Quality content must be easy to read and, above all, to understand. You must adapt your content to the level, expectations, and preferences of your audience. You can write about web design, but it is not the same as talking to programmers where you can use a technical language that people who want to start their blog for the first time and in which you will have to give everything you chewed. Prior to embarking on content creation, it’s crucial to grasp how individuals will discover and engage with it alongside the desired results you aim to achieve.
If a user, after reading a couple of paragraphs, has the feeling that you are speaking to him in Chinese and has not understood anything, he will go and look for information elsewhere. Does that mean that the content quality is bad? Yes and no, it will be good for a certain audience and bad for another. Make sure it’s appropriate for your target audience.
5. Do you format your texts?
Whether you like it or not, quality content is also aesthetically appealing as well as easy to read. Even formatting your texts is essential to work on the SEO of your page.
A page with a good format should include:
Source: Wordfast
Also Read: How to Create Perfect Heading Tags for SEO
6. Is your content as per E-E-A-T standards?
E-E-A-T, as per Google, represents Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trust, serving as criteria to assess page quality within the Search Quality Rater Guidelines. While not an official ranking factor, it carries significance in SEO.
Google gauges content alignment with E-A-T by examining:
- Quality Content
- Author Credibility
- Source Reliability
- Backlink Quality
- And more
E-E-A-T becomes crucial when producing content on YMYL (your money or your life) subjects like healthcare and finance, where misinformation can have serious consequences.
Now, does E-E-A-T solely impact SEO content?
The answer is yes and no.
E-E-A-T is a core Google concept, yet its principles can inform quality content creation on various platforms. For instance, imagine you run an accessory shop and want to make an Instagram Reels video with usage tips. While Instagram lacks strict E-E-A-T guidelines, the essence remains: Users seek original content from experts.
You could compile basic tips from Google or employ your own expertise for valuable, unique, and quality content. This approach demands more effort but sets your content apart.
7. Do you explore current trends and build a content idea repository?
Every piece of content starts with a chosen topic, and this choice can significantly impact the success of your content marketing strategy.
Selecting topics that resonate with your target audience is crucial.
To identify relevant subjects, you can analyze your competitors’ content. If you’re short on time or patience, consider utilizing tools such as BuzzSumo and ExplodingTopics to discover trending themes.
As you gather your list of topics, begin populating your editorial calendar. This will help you avoid last-minute topic hunting and ensure a well-planned content strategy.
8. Is the content shared on social networks?
Although Google has already stated that social signals are not yet part of its algorithm, many studies show a strong correlation between the number of social actions and better positioning in search engines.
Although the correlation is not causality, it is logical that the more content is shared, the more relevance it acquires, and the more links it obtains, an important factor of positioning.
Although Google does not have access to Facebook or Twitter, we must not forget that Google Plus appears in these studies as the social network with which there is a greater correlation between sharing and positioning.
That is why your bet should be to integrate and disseminate your quality content through different social networks and encourage your readers to do so. Make it easy with well-visible share buttons.
9. Are you contributing value to your content?
While it is true that for a search engine, it is difficult to determine whether your quality content brings value or not, do not forget that what is really important are the people who read you.
How can I add value? Once again, answering affirmatively to these questions:
- Does the content help solve a problem?
- Can I answer a question?
- Does it make people laugh or entertain?
- Do I provide a unique and original view shot by an expert?
In the end, the search engines look for content that adds value to the users, but since these by themselves are not capable of detecting it, you have to trust the rest of the related signals.
It can be said that the contents that add value to the user fulfill many of the premises that we have mentioned as a factor of quality.
10. Are the comments enabled and of quality?
Pages that have the ability to comment and have a high number of comments can be considered of higher quality content wise than those that do not.
On the other hand, if comments are allowed but are full of spam and often contain links without any control, they give a sense of sloppiness and lack of seriousness to the site, damaging its credibility.
If you have a good number of comments on your website, do not be afraid to continue encouraging your users to leave their opinions and show the number of comments in a visible way.
11. What is the author’s credibility?
The credibility and reputation of an author improve as he/she makes quality publications either on his blog or on other portals.
If you have doubts about whether the content is really reliable or not or if you should let a guest author post to your blog, you can take into account what and where he has previously written.
It is known that Google seeks to end anonymity when it comes to generating quality content, and for that, it helps with the rank of the author (Author Rank). It speaks about greater content quality created by an author and creates more outstanding facilities to position new content.
12. Ensuring Trust and Authority through Comprehensive Research
In today’s climate of diminished trust in institutions and media, as highlighted in the 2021 Edelman Trust Barometer, it is imperative to maintain the credibility of your content. To achieve this, it is crucial to conduct thorough research and substantiate your claims with data.
Even when sharing personal experiences, research remains indispensable. The goal is to safeguard your audience’s trust by avoiding the dissemination of inaccurate information. Therefore, it’s essential to reference current and up-to-date studies and data sources. All these factors make your it to the list of high quality content.
To remain updated on pertinent developments, a useful strategy is to establish Google Alerts for topics of interest. You can even apply this approach to monitor online mentions of your own name and brand, enabling swift responses when necessary.
13. Do you have a good link structure?
One of the most important indicators to give credibility to a site is its links. A page that links to fraudulent or spam pages goes directly to Google’s blacklist, just as one that abuses an unnatural internal link is viewed with great suspicion by the search engine.
Probably the most important indicator of the quality content or quality of a page (especially from the SEO point of view) is the number and quality of links it receives.
How is this quality determined? If the links come from known pages and reputable sites, it is a good indicator for Google that the page is trusted. Also, backlinks from reputable websites can significantly enhance your SEO performance.
If there are no links to the page or there are links from low reputations, unknown sites, or spam, this becomes a sign of low-quality or unreliable content.
Also Read: The Role Of Link Building Tools In Content Marketing And Domain Authority
14. Focus on a Niche Subtopic
In all fairness, the majority of the subjects we tackle could be considered subtopics already. However, we strongly recommend delving even deeper.
Why, you ask?
For starters, you’ll encounter less competition.
Going after a broad topic, such as “Best wedding venues,” is just too expansive. There’s a multitude of competitors all vying for that keyword. If you create content in that space, it’s akin to being a minnow in the vast ocean, especially if you are commencing your content strategy and haven’t yet established your website as an authoritative source.
Narrowing your focus to “best luxury wedding venues” or “best outdoor wedding venues in the world” significantly enhances your chances of securing a Page 1 ranking.
15. Enhance Content Readability
When crafting text-based content, such as blog posts, ebooks, or social media updates, ensuring readability is crucial for engaging your audience and making sure quality content written by you goes viral instantly. Consider the following strategies to enhance content readability:
- Employ concise sentences: Whenever feasible, break lengthy sentences into two or three shorter ones.
- Focus on one idea per paragraph: Utilize brief and straightforward paragraphs.
- Incorporate visuals: Employ images to break up extensive sections, aiding readers in maintaining their engagement.
- Utilize lists: Whenever applicable, use bullet points or numbered lists.
- Prioritize relevant information: Avoid making users sift through your entire piece to locate what they’re seeking.
If you’re involved in blog writing, Semrush’s SEO Writing Assistant proves to be an invaluable tool for improving content readability. This tool continuously assesses your content and offers readability recommendations, assigning a readability score that updates as you make adjustments.
Do you create high quality content for your users?
If you are constantly publishing content thinking only of Google without providing real value to your readers, you should rethink your content strategy. After all, high quality content will not only give you a good rank on Google but also churn out leads or sales.
