You Tell Us: What’s Great Content Worth? August 10, 2012 by Sarah Bauer BA English Literature

Your four-year-old daughter picks a book for you to read before bedtime. It’s the same battered copy of a Robert Munsch story that’s been favoured for nights on end. This trend makes you weary, as she comes to you with it in her hands. You open to the first page. “Here we go,” you think.

But then: her eyes widen and her hands spread across the pages. She expresses shock at turning points in the simple tale, and exasperation when the protagonist does something silly. She’s experiencing it as though for the first time, and it is perfect to watch this person become completely absorbed in the story.

She will turn to this book again and again, with no conclusive explanation for why it so engages her. She’s four-years-old, so let’s not expect some deep self-analysis. As adults, we can muse. What makes this book great?

It’s got something to do with the picture-to-text ratio. Originality. The level of audience participation factors in there, too. The content draws her in.

The content, friends: images, text, and video weaved together with reader participation in mind.  The craft lives in your daughter’s storybooks. And it thrives online.

Great content draws users back to websites again and again. Great content converts, accommodates, and informs new and returning customers. Great content educates. It goes beyond search engine optimization and promotional language. It becomes the basis of authoritative reference online. We need more of it, if we want to continue to see the Internet used as a reliable knowledge resource.

We are in the midst of a content renaissance. Content strategy pioneers such as Brain Traffic founder Kristina Halvorson, and Clout author Colleen Jones, are guiding the development of methodologies and systems of deliverables that have further legitimized the craft of content. This is not a trend. Content is the new marketing currency.

But I’ve said this before (http://www.kelownawebdesigns.com/search-engine-optimization/“but-king-content-where’s-your-strategy”/), droning on about how quality over quantity will improve your web rankings and brand authority, conversions, and customer loyalty (http://www.kelownawebdesigns.com/search-engine-optimization/organic-search-results-wholesome-and-nutritious/). I’m interested now to hear what you think. Strategizing, creating, managing, and maintaining content takes time and money. How much are you willing to put in to accomplish your web-marketing goals?

Let’s hear it in the comments section. This is a conversation that needs to be had, so that web-marketing agencies like Navigator Multimedia can adapt to customer needs, and provide solutions that are realistic and effective.

Content: what’s it worth to you?

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