I have come to a realization as of late and it’s a little embarrassing to ‘come clean’ about it. For years I have been talking about search marketing, Internet marketing, social media blah, blah, blah and have then added the standard “Content is king!” line to it. Well, that falls woefully short of how content should be viewed. In other words, if we are only giving ‘catch phrase’ consideration to the content on our sites, in our blogs and in our social media efforts then we will get ‘catch phrase’ level results.
In the midst of giving the highest quality content a much lower priority level than it deserves, we have started to concentrate on the tools that content is presented through rather than the content itself. We work to produce content, which gives the picture of a production line quality of churning out content on a daily basis. This call to produce as much content as possible is actually a very damaging approach when not coupling the efforts with some serious consideration for the actual content itself.
How good is something that you have rushed to get out the door versus the same effort that had just a little bit of thinking time behind it? Usually not nearly as good, correct? Why do we push to ‘produce content’? By creating this assembly line feel do we then put a pedestrian effort into the thought that should be the foundation of quality content?
I think so for sure. As a result the vast majority of the content on the web is average at best and pathetic at worst. Who’s to blame? We all are. As a result of this revelation (it’s a revelation to me but maybe you have already gotten to this point) I am asking us all to stop ‘producing’ content. Rather, I believe we should be ‘thinking’ content.
Now don’t be silly and suggest I am saying we don’t write anything and just sit around with our chin our hands thinking about stuff. I mean we just need to pay attention and think about our content production constantly and the content itself will be richer and thus better for the customer and the search engines alike.
So maybe think about content like this:
- Do more than writing – Video, images and any other form of content that is more than just copy opens up the options of what can be content. Pictures of things often tell the story much better than words. (Don’t forget the words, though, because the engines still want those). Use every resource you have and if you don’t have them then you need to consider making them. Remember the Cree video I discussed a while back? Can you make your “product” something beyond ordinary? I bet you can and video is often the quickest way to get there.
- Take a chance – Try to think about content that is beyond ‘the norm’. Much of the content on the web, especially in the B to B space, is very similar. It does not set itself apart from the competition. If you do what everyone else is doing you look like everyone else and then you and your competitors are left to compete on the lowest price because there is little differentiation between offerings. If you don’t step out to look different the only other way you can look is just like everyone else. That is the death knell of any branding effort.
- Think it through – Producing content for content’s sake is crippling for any business content effort. You will quickly slide into the ordinary with a quantity over quality approach. Give your content the thought it deserves. Rushing to produce anything will produce nothing of import. It will be average. Give yourself time to think about your content’s message, structure and purpose. Your chances of success go up exponentially when there is even just a little thought given to the effort.
I am going to be encouraging clients to think content rather than produce content. After they get done scratching their heads they’ll see it’s the best advice they can take.
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