Almost every webmaster runs his/her website with one task in mind; to gain the more traffic. It’s not a surprise either because traffic means a lot to many; including the single-most contributory factor in the amount you earn through your site.
With this in mind, many webmasters strive or even dedicate whole blogs to produce new ways and techniques to generate traffic.
So, with so many new and different ways to get more traffic – Why is Content still the best way to do so?
In today’s online world – there are almost an unlimited number of ways for people to reach a targeted audience. Whether it is through social marketing, search engine optimization or even black-hat methods – there’s something for everyone. Yet, with all these methods available – you might wonder why writing unique and useful content is still king?
Why Content is King?
If you strip away all the promotional crap, the fancy designs, the strong communities of a website – you are left with one thing that laid the foundation for everything around it to be successful – that is; its CONTENT. In essence, the content of a blog is its ultimate tool to drive their users time and time again; back to the site.
Without a rich source of content that appeals to your targeted audience – no other promotion technique can be deemed successful. You could buy every visitor to your blog but the challenge lies on whether or not; you can make them come back.
That’s all there is. Personally; you could drive 20x the traffic to your blog in one day (either buying traffic or hit the front page of Digg) but the more important question is; how many of these visitors can you retain on your blog in the long run? The only way you can do that is by producing content or a source of information that is unique to the rest of the internet – and something your readers will want to read on your blog than on any others!
Ways in which “Content” can contribute to your blog;
- Develops Your Community
- Social Bookmarking
- Brings Authority To Your Twitter
- Word-Of-Mouth
Your content is your key weapon to spark discussion. People will come to your site in hope to read something useful, and if you are able to produce that content – they are most likely to spend a few seconds or minutes to leave a comment. This is the initial stage of gaining more readers and more followers in the long run.
Many webmasters spend a lot of time investing in social-media networks such as Digg, Reddit, Stumble and etc. however, a single person’s efforts can only go so far. The key idea behind these networks is to connect with real people and make an impact. If you can create content that readers find favorable – you will succeed in the world of social-bookmarking.
With Direct Messaging and ReTweets; this benefit is pretty self-explanatory. If you are able to generate content that your followers find useful – they are more likely to tweet about it and perhaps even request a few retweet for it.
If you content is worth reading, your readers are more likely to talk about it. They will tell their friends, discuss it with relatives or even send an email to someone who they might think is interested. This can be a powerful tool (depending on the background of your site), especially if your content is something everyone can relate to.
Conclusion
Many might still argue that you can run a blog without producing top quality content; I beg to differ due to the above reasons. No matter how well you market your site or throw money at it; your success will ultimately depend on the quality of your posts. It’s depicts whether your reader will return to your website or not – and also depict whether or not they will subscribe to your blog.
Success is defined differently by everyone, but I would say it’s in every webmaster’s interest to gain more subscribers – and not having unique and useful content – you won’t get far.
{ 28 comments… read them below or add one }
Some will agree on your points and others not. I guess if you have average content then it might still be ok, as you might still be able to retain those visitors in the long run.
Content I would say is 70% and marketing your site is the other 30%. I say this as if you don’t market your site then it would be pointless if you had the best content in the world, but no readers.
George Serradinho´s last blog ..FlexSqueeze WordPress Theme
That’s one thing I, and thousands of other bloggers I’m sure aren’t as keen on – marketing. Marketing is the only way to get your post out there, so like you said – why have the best content in the world if no one reads it?
I’m going to agree that you do still need to market your site(s) one way or another, but quality content will eventually start marketing itself. When people involved in communities (or bloggers, for that matter) visit your site and remember the quality of your content, they seem more inclined to link to it for you when others are looking for the same information. It’s hard to beat free help!
Jake @ How To Easy´s last blog ..How To Save Money on Electric Bills – Heating & Cooling
That sounds like the dream plan, for content to start marketing itself!
Once you actually get to that stage where you audience is large enough for your content to market itself, does content then truly become king over marketing?
Alex´s last blog ..Let Me Critique Your Thesis Customization – 30 Days Only
I say content is 100% king, mainly because I lack the marketing ability that the others are talking about.
Dean Saliba´s last blog ..How To Fix WordPress Internal Server Error
You’re not alone Dean! But I’m trying to figure out more ways to market my blogs better.
Alex´s last blog ..Let Me Critique Your Thesis Customization – 30 Days Only
100% agree that content is king. Good content sells itself – you are always going to have to reach out and do your part to promote/raise awareness, but if you’re pumping out amazing content time and time again, your writing will speak for itself, and with good content, building a community and enhancing your overall web presence becomes that much easier.
Marketing is important – no one will know who you are if you don’t tell them. But once you build up a solid community of ‘regular’ readers, the focus can turn back writing brilliant content. Let your community determine value and promote it for you.
Matt @ Life Without Pants´s last blog ..A Blog Identity Crisis
I have discovered that here on Blogussion, and I 100% agree with your statement. The kind of posts you write on your blog reflect on you and your goals for your blog. Write the absolute best you can, and you have yourself a marketing strategy.
After reading your comment, it’s like a bug chain here. What do you think?
So when you break it down, it actually all comes together and ties back into the other one.
Alex´s last blog ..Let Me Critique Your Thesis Customization – 30 Days Only
I agree with you completely. You may be able to get by for a few weeks or months by using fancy tricks. But in the end without quality content your blog or website will die a very painful death.
HAVOC MARKETING´s last blog ..The ClickBank-Cash System Is LIVE!!
It seems as everyone agrees that marketing is important but does take a backseat to the quality of your content.
I think this can be confirmed with your analytics package. True, anyone can generate content that will bring in a 1000 visitors a month, but what if you get a return rate of 25% in the second month. You get the 1000 visitors plus the 250 from last month. Do this over several months and you don’t really have to market outside if you don’t want too.
S.Miracle@Inspirational Thoughts´s last blog ..5 Christian Inspirational Speakers You Should Know +1
That’s a really great insight!
Adding onto what you said, if you just give even a little extra effort to promoting that article you can continually increase that percentage per month. It’s all about your strategies however, and yes, there is more to it than leaving your URL when you comment on another blog.
Alex´s last blog ..Let Me Critique Your Thesis Customization – 30 Days Only
Completely disagree that content is king. SEO is king and forever will be. Content is only a base for SEO. Yes, your content will get your visitors to come back to your site but SEO and Social Media marketing will drive traffic to your blog.
Deneil Merritt´s last blog ..July 2009 Discount Coupon
Whats the point of traffic when it will bounce because your visitors wont find any of your content useful? Would you stay on a website that has no solution to your problems after finding it on Search Engines/Social Sites?
Take for example; when you need to do research on one of your coursework pieces, and you dont find any of the content that will help you on the first 10 result listings on Google, will you have made money for those 10 sites? They could have if they had the information you were looking for and the possible solutions (affiliate programs).
Abdul´s last blog ..Whats Going On! No Updates?
I’m really glad there is at least one person who has an argument against the point of this topic! But I have to disagree with your statement.
The difference between getting traffic from search engines and earning viewers from content is just that – by focusing the most on content and treating it as king, you are getting the best reward: readers!
Focusing a lot on SEO can bring in traffic for sure, but it’s not a foolproof way to bringing in readers. You want readers who will come back to your blog and read your content, not those viewers who come to your site and increase your bounce rate as Abdul mentioned.
Alex´s last blog ..Let Me Critique Your Thesis Customization – 30 Days Only
Sure content is king but without traffic (search engine traffic), they are pretty much pointless. That being said, you can’t take ‘traffic’ out of the equation.
Nice one, Janith.
Yan
Cigarest´s last blog ..CigArrest
Good point Yan, marketing is very important to making content worthwhile.
Alex´s last blog ..Let Me Critique Your Thesis Customization – 30 Days Only
I agree that among the various things you could do for your site, having quality unique content is probably the most important one. Various forms of marketing might bring more people to your page, but once they land there you need something to make them stay, somehting to make them feel this blog/website is unlike similar sites. And something that will make them want to buy whatever you’re selling
Tons of traffic with a 0% conversion rate is much worse than a hundred visitors with their CTR around 15%
Exactly, it’s about that selling point you have. If you’re a good enough writer and can create good enough pitches, you can probably sell anything!
Alex´s last blog ..Let Me Critique Your Thesis Customization – 30 Days Only
Interesting theme.
I greatly support linkbaiting as a method of link acquisition – and perhaps the method with the longest likelihood of success. However, linkbaiting by-and-large does not develop the level of keyword-specific anchor-text necessary to earn rankings for truly competitive terms. So, content is king BUT quality links are essential for good search engine rankings.
There’s something that hasn’t been talked about yet in here.
You have to be careful how you link bait as there is a line between quality bait and spammy bait. If you can do it right, you’ll see plenty of results – conversions, more viewers, etc.
Alex´s last blog ..Let Me Critique Your Thesis Customization – 30 Days Only
Very Good points!! People often work more on the looks of their blogs rather than concentrating on the Content which is a big mistake. Good for showing the advantages of quality content!
I am definitely guilty of that one! I’m such a design freak, I sometimes put off writing the content so I can design for it!
Alex´s last blog ..Let Me Critique Your Thesis Customization – 30 Days Only
Content is still king because all serch engine like the content and contextual link
Suchmaschinen Marketing´s last blog ..Ludwig Boltzmann Institut – Projekt "LARRGE"
Content is king and it always will be. It is because all search engines like good content.
I couldn’t agree more.
Content is King, Queen and the Royal Guard!
~Igor
Mastermind Internet Marketing´s last blog ..Why Is Respect So Important
Yeah,once your site or the blog content is good you will get the returnback visitors to your site.People like good content to read and also the search engines.That’s while content is the king.
Janith is absolutely right – without compelling content, all of the other marketing strategies are really a waste of time! When visitors come to your site or blog to find spammy content pushing sales, they aren’t likely to return. Provide your visitors with interesting information and value, and your business will succeed over the long haul. Thanks for the great info!
I agree, Content is the king, but have to keep a look at other things also.
Dinesh´s last blog ..Now Play Piano On Youtube