What exactly is GOOD content?

[hopeful1]

I'd really like to know what you think about content as it relates to everything from interesting topics to good grammar to crossover potential (that is, the potential to reach your blog audience in other media such as radio, tv, newspaper, etc.).

[Melody]

I really think that there are only two primary touchstones to GREAT content that will grab people's attention and drive traffic:

(#1) First, you have something really unique and interesting that cannot be found elsewhere. So, for example, on my blog I've written several times about the "test" custom Starbucks Frappuccinos in Dallas and Vermont because very few people are writing about this, and most people don't know that Starbucks is testing a new kind of Frappuccino. I can give you some other examples, but having something that is interesting and unique to your blog can really create some attention for you.

(I bet that someday the Frappuccino as we know it now will die and be replaced with this new version in Dallas, but who knows. It's been in testing for a whole year.)

Just as another for example... I had heard that an author was coming to Seattle (see my Bryant Simon interview). This author has written a popular Starbucks-themed book. I contacted him and asked for an interview and he agreed! This is fabulous content. I created orginal content that no one else will have.

I have several more of these examples, but you get the picture.

(#2) Second, it must be well-written. It must look professional. I actually think that the originality and intrigue in #1 is more important than this. While I believe every blog should be perfect, a few misplaced commas and typos can be overlooked when your content is great.

Those are the two most important keys to great content, imho.

[ChickenFreak]

I'd say that the biggest test for good content is whether people come eagerly to _your_ blog to see if there's any more of it - to see if you've produced a new post.

They might come to your blog because:

- You provide information that no one, or few others, can provide. (Example: Maybe you come up with great recipes that people swoon over, or you write essays on Eastern European harmonica artists of the 1930s, or you're an obsessive perfume shopper in Pittsburgh, PA, and you're the first one to know when a new perfume is released or a new shop opens up.)

- You provide information that for one reason or another, no one, or few others, _do_ provide. (Example: Maybe you have a blog where you write comprehensive reviews of snack foods, or you came in at the beginning of a new hobby or a hobby that has little online coverage so far, with one of the first blogs.)

- You communicate in an amusing or otherwise entertaining way. (Example: Maybe you write fantastic rants about those awful TV commercials that everyone has seen, or you have a nightmarishly bad boss that you can write great stories about, or you write movie reviews in a particularly amusing husband-and-wife-bickering format.)

- You've developed yourself into something of an authority, and people trust you and want to know what you have to say. (Example: Maybe you test low-fat recipes and provide really good information on which ones are easy to make and taste good in spite of the lack of fat, or maybe you just write really good movie reviews that have a record of predicting whether people will like the movie, or maybe you give great advice on organic vegetable gardening.)

- You have a different, underserved take on a more general subject that's overserved. (Example: Maybe a blog on finance for children, as a take on the giant subject of finance and investment. Or a blog on cooking for people that never cooked a thing before. Or a blog on learning to sew that's for men, not women.)

OK, I'm sure that there are more possibilities, but I've run out of major categories. The general idea is it needs to be good, and it needs to be a kind of good that isn't also provided by a zillion other blogs and websites. It needs to have a special appeal to some (you don't need all) of the prospective readers in your niche.

All of these assume certain things as a prerequisite - that in general, your writing is good and correct, you post reasonably frequently, your blog is organized and readable, and so on. It also assumes that if you have a multi-topic blog, there's enough material in each topic to make it worthwhile for a reader who's interested in only one topic to keep coming back.

And, of course, I'm assuming that you have limited resources - presumably with enough resources, one _could_ tackle a major, overserved category. But that would be a major-corporation-sized enterprise, I think, and even then, why burn money facing off against established competitors instead of finding an opportunity with fewer competitors?

Ideally, you'd qualify in more than one one category - for example, it would be good if you wrote in an amusing manner about an under-served subject about which you have special knowledge and interest and did so in a reliable and accurate way that makes you an authority.

But that's not always possible. Just try not to write in a dull and inaccurate manner about an over-served subject about which you have very little knowledge or interest. Even if that subject looks like the Big Thing with Big Readers.

[rypher21]

a content is considered good if it has lots of audience...means they like it
usually content thats useful, interesting, humorous, etc..

[printmakingus]

we all like art and poetic vision...it might good to seek art visuals to correspond with your blog message

[hatemesoftly]

it's content that doesn't suck. meaning, no long and painful laments about a junior high girl's latest crush, or your poetry that hasn't been published for a reason.

word to your mother,
lucy and beelz
How To Hate Everything

[hopeful1]

Chicken: I think you covered every possible scenario, except multimedia. I went to Huffington Post tonight looking for something and discovered some multimedia blogs. Specifically, one of the bloggers (a radio and tv talkshow host) had print material and video clips of an interview with a celebrity. It's probably a bit harder for some of us "regular" people to do this, particularly because the expense of purchasing lighting kits and good microphones to use on location. Are any of you guys using including original videos in your blogs (particularly video interviews)?

[Sumiki]

melody has exact answer for your question, something unique what will earns traffic and money and if you not yet have Good English command, I suggest you to take short course.sometimes Good content just don`t get proper words to express it and that become writing failure

[libsonluv]

Content means strictly relevant and to the point as well as valid points covered in a set length of page.
Check this website to have better understanding of content writing
Content Writing | Pro Articles

[newsblugger]

Try and put yourself in your visitors shoes (or underwear since that seems to be the only thing people wear when they are using their computer) and don't write based on what you think is good. Ask yourself what your visitors want, write for them. In one word, contribute. Whether it is teaching something, inspiring someone or just entertaining them. Give, give, give and your rewards for doing so will come.