Search Engine Guide has 7 Tips for Generating Effective Web Content which might help those wanting to improve their quality of content:
- Write customer focused content that appeals to your audience.
- If performing SEO – Focus on writing for the human reader first and search engines second.
- Find out what your target audience’s are really searching for.
- Tips for triggering idea generation
- Creating content that speaks to a specific audience
- Remember to include strong calls to action
- Search engine optimization the stress free approach
It is pretty basic stuff – but I’d echo the advice given in most points. I’m a particular believer in getting in the shoes of your blog’s readership. Start with your readership in mind instead of the search engine robots and you’ll not only end up ranking well but will help some people along the way.
Talk to your readers and find out what makes them tick – and as you do you’ll begin to see your subject matter from their perspective. What are their challenges, problems, questions – make these the basis of your posting and you’ll build a successful and popular blog.
I will add to that something very important, which is to say that the “blogosphere” is a great way to anticipate what people will be searching for really soon, just make sure you’re not to far from the source of the echo… for example, the most powerful post on my site is a post on Napoleon Dynamite action figures, http://www.chrisabraham.com/2005/04/napoleon_dynami.html
While I like those suggestions, I find the number one point is to write about stuff that gets you excited and that you have a passionate interest in. If you are simply following the list above, why not hire someone else to do it?
I certanly do 5 and 6 lol