Content Writing -“Decent” is often “Good Enough”
Decent Content is Often Good Enough
In general consensus, anybody who owns a website ought to make sure that it sports good content on its webpages. For better ranking perhaps, or the ultimate user experience, whatever the reason, good content is what’s desired by all of them.
But then what exactly does ‘good content’ mean?
Since there isn’t one fixed discipline followed by content writers in general, in accordance to which a piece of content could be judged, whether good or bad, “success” becomes a redundant yardstick that measures the quality of a piece of content. The more successful the content, the “better” it is. Well, in ordinary cases it is not a good practice to wait and see if the content becomes a success or not. And also, it accounts for a huge risk if the content is read by a substantial portion of your audience and deemed unsuccessful, leaving them with the worst first impression.
Since “good” content is a matter of uncertainty, ‘decent’ content suffices to qualify for what could be called “good enough” content, which is maybe the next best thing in line to ‘good’ or the best thing there is which is not uncertain.
Clarity, Simplicity, and Conciseness
Firstly, any and all content-writers must stone-heartedly accept the fact that as much as the website user is willing to ‘read’ your content, he or she is also expecting to consume valid and valuable information at the same time. The idea is to keep your content clear to read, simple to understand, and concise to your subject. This way, you give your content a chance to engage your audience throughout the piece. Remember, each word understood is each word written well. According to Adam Erhart, after reading each complete paragraph, your reader gains a subtle sense of victory, and motivation to read further on. Following this observation, he suggests writers should provide short paragraphs at the beginning of the content.
Rewriting is Key
Secondly, all writers rewrite! That’s how we make our living. That itself is all the more reason to never shy away from it. Rewrite. IT IS IMPORTANT. If you write something for the first time and feel satisfied with it, that’s your brain playing tricks on you; wait till the next morning, grab a cup of coffee, start reading it out loud and wait till you start hating yourself for writing that.
Relevance and Impact
If the information you are passing on to your audience is not directly relevant to them, or does not help them gain any practical advantage, then the content could count for nothing. Note that the reader of your content is expecting you to make an immediate impact in their course of action. The knowledge they gain from your content should be progressive.
Content Beyond Writing
Content writing for the web is more than just about writing. It is about ‘speechless interaction’. And since it is speechless, we use subtle signals like colors to make up for it. Images, especially good images relevant to your subject, do many things at once. But most importantly, they do not let your content bore your audience to death. Being a writer is easy once you accept that writing is difficult and will always be.
Answering Audience Questions
Much more than writing and interacting to make everybody happy, you’re there to answer your audience’s questions. A wise woman once told me: "If you’re to write about something, and have even the slightest of doubts on your knowledge about that something, do not pick up your pen". Being a writer takes honesty. That’s all. Modesty comes with fame. Simplicity comes with knowledge. And good content comes with time!