8 Simple Rules for Creating Compelling Content

Editor’s Note: We’ve written a lot recently about how bringing more users to your site through various marketing methods, such as word-of-mouth marketing, social media marketing and linkbaiting. But getting users to your site is one thing. Getting them to stick around–and click around—is another. It requires a strong foundation built on compelling, high-quality, original content.

I asked John Murphy, a Senior Manager of Partner and Product Policy, and one of our superstars of online content, to put together a sort of “Content 101″ to help guide new publishers (and offer active publishers a remedial course). He came up with the following nine must-do’s that you can use to help make your content experience the best it can be.

1. Write what you know.
Compelling web content starts with a webmaster who understands his or her subject and knows how to write about it. Think about your own experience as a reader: You take the time to read articles and blogs because you believe the author has special insight into a subject, gleaned from personal knowledge, industry connections, or just plain old hard work. If you feel the author didn’t know what he or she is talking about, you stop reading.

With the sheer variety of content available on the web, and switching costs approaching zero, there’s absolutely no reason a user is going to stick around if your content isn’t “up to snuff.” So don’t try to write about things you don’t understand—your audience will pick up on your lack of knowledge immediately and turn away.

2. Write what you love.
Equally important to creating compelling web content is that you write about topics you care about. Nothing is as infectious as someone’s passion. By focusing on subjects or causes that you love, you both engage your audience and give yourself incentive to continue the hard work and long hours necessary to develop high-quality content. It’s easy to write a blog entry or two; but if you don’t have a true interest in your topic, what will you do when you need to write your one hundredth?

3. Start with a narrow focus.
Unless you are one of those rare polymaths who can write as artfully about the finer points of quantum mechanics as well as the sordid lives of reality show contestants, you’re best off picking a fairly narrow topic that satisfies points 1 and 2 above. Besides that, you’ll be much more likely to stand out from the crowd if you focus on a niche rather than trying to be all things to all people. As a smaller publisher with limited means, you’ll also be better positioned to survive competition from larger, better capitalized sites.

So, rather than writing about cars in general, focus on your favorite make and model. Instead of writing about restaurants in California, focus on ’50s diners in L.A. You can always expand the scope of your site as you gain an audience and build up your knowledge base.

4. Build a community.
Your goal as a web author is to build a loyal, engaged audience—an audience that comes back to your site because they want to, not one that you have to continuously replenish though expensive SEM. The first step toward building a community is to get to know your audience. Be sure to solicitfeedback: Create a conversation with your audience by adding a comments section or forum. Understand the ways users want to receive your content, such as RSS or email, and incorporate these features into the site’s design. Advertisers value an engaged, well-defined audience whose interests and characteristics are known or can readily be inferred. The more you know about your audience, the better advertisers can target them, which translates into higher CPMs for you.

5. Focus on unique content.
You’ll only to be able to draw an audience to your site if you offer them an experience they cannot find elsewhere…

 True, it’s a lot of work to develop your own content. But you need it to build and retain your audience. Plus, it’s the most essential thing you can do to separate your site from the pack.

6. Supplement your content with free web services and community tools.
While the main draw of your site must be your unique content, you can take advantage of a constellation of free Web 2.0 apps and services to supplement and enhance the user experience. These run the gamut, from those aimed at building a community like MyBlogLog to those that add search functionality to your site to those that allow access to essential Yahoo! services like Answers and Maps. Besides saving you a lot of development headaches, these services can add valuable functionality to your site. For example, if you’re writing about surf shops in Southern California, why not include a map showing the locations of your or your users’ top-rated picks?

7. Follow web-design best practices.
Your site won’t be successful if search engines can’t find and index it. Always follow web-design best practices to ensure that your site is visible. Keep your design simple and logical, while retaining flexibility through the use of CSS and publicly available web services.

8. And lastly, worry about content first, then worry about making money.
While it may seem counterintuitive for a big publisher network like ours to suggest that monetization should take a backseat, it’s crucial that your content strategy be driven by the user first and monetization second. The tendency of many webmasters is to design a site as much around monetization as satisfying the user. While this is certainly understandable, it places the cart before the horse. Not until a site has established a community of repeat, engaged users can sustainable monetization occur.

Hey, nobody said building compelling web content was easy. It’s hard work, and it takes an ongoing commitment. But having your own piece of the web populated by a community you’ve help create is a tremendous reward.

Suggestions for Further Reading:

• The Yahoo! Search Marketing blog recently ran a piece about landing page optimization. Though geared toward e-commerce sites, you may also find some of these tips useful.
• A while back we ran a three-part series on optimizing for relevancy: Part I, Part II, Part III.
• iMediaConnection recently ran a bylined piece by our blog editor, Michael Mattis, on the benefits and best practices of biz blogging that you may also find useful.
• Jen Slegg offers tips on how to avoid blogging Faux Pas
• Jeremy Zawodny wrote a guest feature for the YPN Blog in the way back on “Zen and the Art of Blogging.”

— John Murphy, Senior Manager of Partner and Product Policy, Yahoo! Search Marketing