Quality Content: What it is and how to write it

Finally discover the six must-have features of quality content.

"I still don't understand what quality content is."

That's a comment I saw on a Steemit post in the past week. The person who said it has been around for at least two months and has been active both writing and commenting. I found it a bit distressing because it shouldn't take that long to figure out what it is. But the trouble is, when you ask what it is, it's hard to find a simple answer. It seems like the famous saying, "I can't define it, but I know it when I see it."

There's more to it than just writing well without typos or poor grammar (you should always do that). But what else should a quality post include?

It's a problem beyond Steemit. Anyone who publishes content on the web faces the same question. So I went on a mission to define it for bloggers, especially those on this platform.

Who's the judge?
Who is it that decides what quality content is, and what it isn't? That's the first question I needed to answer. And guess what I found? Almost every resource or authority site on developing good content referred to Google. I'm talking about big names like Forbes, Content Marketing Institute, Hubspot, Kissmetrics and LifeHack.org. Of course, each of them had their own spin on the topic.

But it seems that what makes Google happy, will also make readers happy. At least that is Google's goal, and the reason they have such an impact on what people consider to be quality content.

What I did next was comb through a bunch of the articles looking for commonalities. I pulled out the following list of attributes everyone seemed to agree makes quality content.

It must be original
Original is defined as:

Created personally by a particular artist, writer, musician, etc.; not a copy.

Whatever content you create needs to meet this definition. You need to create it. That doesn't mean you can't be inspired by someone, or even use them as a reference (properly sourced of course). But the content you post needs to have originated from your own mind, in your own words, images, music or video. It's just that simple.

Be informative
The best content serves a purpose. It answers a question, solves a problem, inspires, or entertains. You want to add value to the community or the subject you're writing about (or creating videos for).

People want to hear what you have to say, but say it in a focused way. Rambling about your grocery list probably isn't something that adds value - unless it's a humorous story that will entertain. The point is that posts don't need to be research papers to offer value, but they do need to have a purpose.

Make it "long enough"
How long is long enough is a question everyone asks. There is no absolute answer in terms of the number of words or video length. The content should be long enough to make your point while keeping the reader/viewer engaged.

The trouble is that it will vary by topic, the purpose of the post, the audience, the expertise of the author and even change over time. But while there are no firm numbers to go by, you can gauge what it should be by doing a little research on other posts on your topic.

The one thing that is universally agreed is you should never "fluff" your content to make it longer just for the sake of making it longer (to meet some arbitrary word count for example).