Content is King – I remember hearing this statement a couple of years ago but never put much thought into it, at least not until recently.
One article I found particularly interesting was by a gentleman named David Callan. In his article he defines content as information contained on a website; the obvious answer to anyone right? But he goes on the say the following :
Generally the more useful and interesting [the] content a website has the more successful it will be. This is because more people will want to visit it again and again, this is especially true if a website is constantly adding more and more content on a regular basis be it articles, tutorials, news and opinion or whatever.
This statement resonated with me. The message was simple but it contains the truth about success on the internet. Analogy time! In chess, the king is the most important piece in the game. If your king falls then you lose the game. Likewise, your content is your website most important piece. It is what decides if your site does well or not. By the way, I like analogies…and I could not resist using a chess one here ^^;
Can you name ten sites off that you feel does this well? I know I can, because I visit them daily. I like to call these sites “content kings.” ^^
Mr. Callan also outlines what he believes makes for good content. Again, I can agree with his observations here as well. Basically, he states good content:
1. Appeals to a specific audience.
2. Is original and unique (different from other sites)
3. Shows writer’s personality
4. Easy to understand
I would say that I know my target audience. This site focuses a lot on anime and otaku subculture; because these things interest me a lot.
A good deal of my posts do come from other sources, but I do try and add my own thoughts to them. So I would say it is somewhat unique, though not necessarily original. Don’t think I use wording that is hard to understand, so I meet the fourth criteria I would say.
But I do think there are two challenges I have to work past in order to make my content stronger.
The first challenge would be am I reflecting my personality. I think that my posts in general reveal something about me; but not sure what exactly that is. For example, I may post an entry about a figure release date but I also try to give my initial impressions as well. Do the readers get a feel of my personality from that commentary?
The second challenge is that I am still trying to find my ‘voice’ in terms of my writing. I have a lot of ideas I want to talk about, but find that when I try to write about them the words never seem right. What I mean is that when I am writing something, I question if I am communicating the same emotions I feel about the topic.
As I have said before, Ultima-i is an experiment for me as well as a learning experience. In terms of content, I try to share information others may find useful or interesting. I am under no allusion that I am a content king. If anything, at the moment I am a “content pauper.” ^^;
I do feel that I have room for improvement. For me, creating good content also requires practice, dedication, and effort. Your content reflects the amount of time you put into it.
The point I am trying to make even the greatest of websites had to start somewhere. That even the content kings may have at one time been content paupers.
I do apologize; this post went longer than I thought. I did want to talk about the king’s (content’s) queen. But I have taken enough of your time, so I’ll save that talk for another time ^^;
(Final note…even kingly content requires a good queen. Care to guess who is the queen? ^^)
