What is your definition of quality? Chances are, it would differ from your coworker’s definition, or even your friend’s definition. The thing is, every developer thinks they know what quality is, but somewhere along the way the definition has been altered or lost. Then there are some who don’t really understand what quality is, why they are creating it, or are looking at the wrong kind.
Redefining quality content is important.
Not just because it’s obviously what drive traffic and appeals to customers, but because Google says it’s important.
Why should we listen to Google? Well, in short, Google is the most popular search engine worldwide. With an impact like that and being able to control traffic to our websites, we need to cater to Google a bit. If you’re curious about how much of your traffic comes from Google, you can check your own analytics by sorting by the source of your traffic. Most likely, Google is at the very top. Sure, Google has a lot of rules for websites, but if we follow them they reward our websites handsomely.
Google’s algorithms can detect many things about your website, one of the most prominent being your content. If you have quality content on your site, Google will send you more traffic. If not, you won’t see nearly as much.
Google has told us before what they like and don’t like to see in your content.
Let’s start with what they don’t want to see when analyzing your website.
Automatically generated content, unoriginal content, sneaky redirects, hidden links, irrelevant keywords, and embedded viruses are just some of the major things Google rejects. Alternately, Google appreciates when you monitor your site for hackers and remove or have preventative measures for spammers.
Google doesn’t just use robots to monitor your websites, but has a team of real people who check quality on your sites. They stick to Google’s guidelines when giving your website a rating as far as quality goes. Here are a few guidelines pulled from Google’s internal recommendations.
- Write at an advanced level. Your website has no place for mere proficiency.
- Focus on your audience when creating content. Make sure they always have a good experience.
- Create as much content as you can. The more information for your readers, the better.
- Reference professional sources on your website. This will provide more rich content.
- Make sure your contact information is easily accessible. Not doing so seems unprofessional.
- Update your content regularly. This speaks for itself.
We already know that Google penalizes for low quality content, in the form of their past updates, Penguin and Panda. These algorithms search your websites and if the content is lacking, among other things, you’ll be penalized. This can result in decreased traffic and revenue.
If you’re still questioning exactly what quality is defined as, here are a few tips.
- Use unique content
- Don’t overuse keywords
- Create streamlined website navigation
- Make sure your content is thorough
- Each piece of content should be singular
- Don’t fall prey to ad overload
- Your content should include supporting media such as videos or photos
You can use these tips and techniques to improve your entire website, not just your articles. Doing so will reflect positively on your site and result in a digital “thumbs up” from Google.