Content is king. Hail the king! Long live the king! Except … is content really king?

Yes, content curation is an effective strategy to bring prospects to the top of the lead generation funnel. Without content, sites end up languishing on page three of a Google search. Therefore, content is a critical need, right?

Not all Content is Good 

Bad content not only doesn’t help, it hurts your marketing efforts. When consumers open your content to disappointment they don’t follow through browsing your website. Their journey is over. Content that disappoints the consumer is bad content. Bad content includes:

Poorly written content

Content creation isn’t texting; grammar and sentence structure matter. It’s not okay to publish poorly written copy. Don’t get me wrong, writers make mistakes. You will publish posts that contain errors. Earlier today I read an article online from a local newspaper that contained “an vicinity.” I didn’t think less of the journalist because they put out thousands of words a day and they try there (see what I did?) best. I have a problem when the writer doesn’t try. When I see a post with improper grammar, misspelled words, and unclear thoughts throughout the post I leave and I think less of the organization. If you want to improve your writing, if you care what you publish there are many sources, my book How to Stay Ahead of Your Business Blog Forever covers the basics.

Unappealing typography

We all know that Comic Sans in’t funny, but any font that’s difficult to read or detracts from the content is a problem. Posts with cumbersome layouts, articles that don’t use subheads or bullet points, and blogs that don’t share images are not inviting to readers. When you click a link to a post and find a page of uninterrupted words what do you do? Do you read it? I don’t. I move on. Online content shouldn’t look like a page in a book. It should be pleasing to the eye, invite the reader in, and then hold them with great content.

Improper formatting

This includes content that doesn’t fit all devices from mobile to full screens. Responsive design is key to your content looking good regardless of the size or type of screen. “Put simply, responsive is fluid and adapts to the size of the screen no matter what the target device. Responsive uses CSS media queries to change styles based on the target device such as display type, width, height etc., and only one of these is necessary for the site to adapt to different screens.” — UXpin

False Promises

Click bait (when the title doesn’t match the content) may get you visitors but they will not stay, and they certainly will not interact with you. When an organization sinks to click bait tactics, whether online or through the US Postal System, they often do their brand more harm than good. It’s not the number of visitors you bring to your site that matters it’s the number of visitors your site connects with and converts.

So, Is Content Really King? 

Is content really king? Yes, and no. Good content, content that is useful, that benefits an audience is king and will be into the foreseeable future. However, content for content’s sake isn’t even a prince.

If you enjoyed this post you might like, How to Defeat Writer’s Block.

Photo by Pro Church Media on Unsplash