Content marketing has played a huge role in the success of digital marketing and search engine optimization. In fact, many users and business owners are investing both their time and effort in consuming and producing all types of content – from blog articles to vlogs or videos. But as much as content creation has created a positive impact in building the image and boosting the sale of many companies through the years, some content has been causing major negative impacts to some businesses.
So, what do we need to do about it? Simple. Choose quality over quantity. Many errors committed in content marketing are just a result of failing to consider the quality of their work. Content creators, or SEO strategists, are so engrossed with numbers; they want to be on top, to be the first, to be the best. Because of this, the basic rules in creating a valuable content is often missed out.
Let’s try to go through some of the basic aspects that many, even long-time content professionals, are missing out.
Typo Errors
The most basic, most common error that many writers commit are typographical errors. Do you know that when you miss out a single letter, it can create a huge impact not only to your business but also to the people that you are featuring. Take a look at this example:
Holes vs Roles. An error that can easily be spotted by a sane writer, right? In fact, R may be a little near H on the keyboard, but they don’t really sit next to each other. If you will come to think of it, the error is just minimal – you mistyped one letter. However, the context of the whole sentence (or the headline, in this case) changed, damaging a reputation of a well-known personality.
It pays to have someone else edit your work. Sure, you can always reedit your work as many possible ways and forms as you please, but it’s always important to have someone else check your work. And for the editors, make sure to do your job well. As editors, you have to be thorough. Otherwise, your simple typo error can lead to massive lawsuits and cases.
Information Validation
This is a no-brainer. Creating reading materials, be it for advertising or education, should come with factual information. In content marketing, false advertising is a big no-no. Think of it this way, if you are creating an advertising strategy, your goal is to entice the audience and to get their attention so they will notice your product. Once you have their attention, the selling comes after.
It’s different in content marketing. People go online to actually search for information and not to buy a product. If you want to produce a content material that everyone will else read, share, and recommend, always make sure that your information is correct.
Moreover, Google is also checking the relevance and accuracy of your content through a very comprehensive set of guidelines. Some of the basic principles that Google wants us to adapt in creating quality content are as follows: create pages primarily for users and not for search engines; do not deceive the users; avoid using tricks that are intended to improve your rankings; make sure to be helpful to users; consider having a unique and valuable website; and make sure that your site will stand out among others.
And all these attributes can be summarised in one sentence: publish credible content. Information validation plays a huge role not only in boosting your sale but also in keeping a well-respected reputation online – both in the eyes of your target market and of search engines.
Getting the right writer
Not all writers can write anything. Sure, they can do research and reference to other website. But if a writer is not a good fit for a topic, it will be very evident and it’s bad for you. Take a look at this example:
If you will create an article about a niche topic, make sure that you will assign a writer who knows something about the topic or industry. In this day and age, you can no longer survive the “fake it ‘til you make it” perception. Research and reference can only do so much, but sometimes it’s not enough to get the actual tone (and information) necessary for the write up – not to mention getting a very common information wrong.
The key is to know your writers. As much as we want our writers to be versatile, all writers, just like any other individuals, have their own strengths and weaknesses. Versatility is not a measurement of great talent. So, the next time you’re working on the editorial calendar, consider if you are assigning it to the right writer. Simple tip: get a geek.
Keyword Overload
Online content will be for nothing if search engines will not notice it, right? And how will you do that? Easy. Utilising keyword effectively. Sadly, “old school” content writers are still out there bombarding their articles with tons of keywords such as this one:
On the article shown above, we wouldn’t need to emphasize that “plus size women” are the keywords for it as it’s being mentioned about twice in one paragraph. Content writing such as this is the old-school approach. It was back when Google’s algorithm is focused on the number of keywords used in an article. Well, wake up, it’s 2019 now and keyword overloading can be penalised. Instead, use your keywords wisely and effectively. Make its presence sensible to the entire article.
More graphics less info
Users are very visual. Yes, they really are. They are always captured by colours and artworks. But, many content creators are missing the actual point of converting an idea to graphics. Make sure that the graphics and designs (including the elements) are relevant to the topic. Using graphics and art as a content strategy has to be well-thought off. If you use it too much, it will be like this:
Cluttered.
Infographics are actually a very good strategy, but you have to make sure that you are creating it in a strategic manner. Remember the basic rules of design: colours matter, elements are basic, and purpose is important. Don’t make your infographics be just another useless jpeg file on the Internet.
So, basically…
These things can happen, yes. But these things can also be avoided. Creating good content is tougher now because the audience is wiser now. It’s inevitable to commit mistakes when creating content, and it’s not news either. Even during the hype of print publication, numerous content errors has been made in the marketing and advertising industry, and they sure have created a negative impact to many brands as well. However, the old era wasn’t really gifted with the power of disseminating information like what we have today. Yes, we are speaking about the intense crawling of news and updates on various social media platforms that we have today. Websites such as Facebook and Twitter make it easier for these errors to be seen online. A simple screenshot can make or break your company. And no matter how much erratum you published or how many times you would want to edit your post, your errors will live forever in the World Wide Web.
