What Are Your Requirements for Great Content?

[silvalex]

Lets talk about content for your money site.
From a technical standpoint, what do you look for or require in your published content?
I'm talking about things like min or max kw density, readability metrics/Flesch score, transition words, passive voice, etc. etc.

 

[reuse]

The most important factor is whether the content achieves its purpose or not. Maybe it is conversions, maybe it is the time the user spends on the page.
You need to identify the KPIs (key performance indicators) for your site, and measure them. They, obviously, will be different for different sites.

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[silvalex]

The most important factor is whether the content achieves its purpose or not. Maybe it is conversions, maybe it is the time the user spends on the page.
You need to identify the KPIs (key performance indicators) for your site, and measure them. They, obviously, will be different for different sites.

​

I agree 100% about what the goal should be. I'm talking about any metrics you might be using to make sure you get to that goal.

 

[reuse]

I agree 100% about what the goal should be. I'm talking about any metrics you might be using to make sure you get to that goal.

I don't fret too much about Flesch–Kincaid readability score. It seems to be overly obsessed about syllables. Shopify's successful landing page has an average F-K readability score, for instance.
At the same time, content should not be too difficult to read. So, it is a guideline rather than a metric.

Anyone producing content should know proper use of transition words (use when necesary) and passive voice (minimize).

However, measuring all the above and more shoehorns you into a narrow space where being creative becomes difficult.

So, I don't use them as metrics for assessing performance. I just make sure no content which is too difficult to read gets out of the gates. Same for most of the other metrics you mentioned.

What metrics do you use, by the way, for measuring the performance of content?

 

[Click Farm]

a good spinner

 

[silvalex]

I don't fret too much about Flesch–Kincaid readability score. It seems to be overly obsessed about syllables. Shopify's successful landing page has an average F-K readability score, for instance.
At the same time, content should not be too difficult to read. So, it is a guideline rather than a metric.

Anyone producing content should know proper use of transition words (use when necesary) and passive voice (minimize).

However, measuring all the above and more shoehorns you into a narrow space where being creative becomes difficult.

So, I don't use them as metrics for assessing performance. I just make sure no content which is too difficult to read gets out of the gates. Same for most of the other metrics you mentioned.

What metrics do you use, by the way, for measuring the performance of content?

First of all, I dont particularly enjoy creative writing but sometimes my knowledge on a particular subject trumps a good creative writer's skill. When I do, I have been using the yoast plugin in WP.
You're right, it totally hinders creativity if you're focused on the metrics while writing, but i have found that my copy sounds a lot better after I dial it in for the metrics.
I've also noticed that it tends to train me for the next article.
I wouldn't mind a tool I could pop articles into and get a general idea of perceived human engagement. I find that I spend a lot of time reading articles I've paid for that sound terrible. Then I'm spending more time proofing and rehashing the content than I would have spent writing it myself.

 

[bartosimpsonio]

Some of the best performing articles in my client sites do bad on yoast readibility, flesch etc and have really low kw density. I think most these metrics are really flawed.

I don't know what the technical metric name would be, but I can spot a good SEO article on sight.

I think density is gone really, you just gotta mention the kw on the title, one h1 or h2 and a couple times in the text.

Also Google really seems to like people scrolling down for some reason. Long long skyscraper texts do well.

 

[silvalex]

Some of the best performing articles in my client sites do bad on yoast readibility, flesch etc and have really low kw density. I think most these metrics are really flawed.

I don't know what the technical metric name would be, but I can spot a good SEO article on sight.

I think density is gone really, you just gotta mention the kw on the title, one h1 or h2 and a couple times in the text.

Also Google really seems to like people scrolling down for some reason. Long long skyscraper texts do well.

Narrow column. With an image half above the fold + decent content seems like a good strategy.

 

[MisterF]

a good spinner

Sarcasm or stupidity?

First of all, I dont particularly enjoy creative writing but sometimes my knowledge on a particular subject trumps a good creative writer's skill. When I do, I have been using the yoast plugin in WP.
You're right, it totally hinders creativity if you're focused on the metrics while writing, but i have found that my copy sounds a lot better after I dial it in for the metrics.
I've also noticed that it tends to train me for the next article.
I wouldn't mind a tool I could pop articles into and get a general idea of perceived human engagement. I find that I spend a lot of time reading articles I've paid for that sound terrible. Then I'm spending more time proofing and rehashing the content than I would have spent writing it myself.

I use Yoast just as a rough guide. I also use Hemmingway again as a guide.
For me, it depends on the type of article, the topic and the niche. Keyword density I don't have any hard and fast rules, I try to go with a natural flow to the article.

 

[silvalex]

Sarcasm or stupidity?

PCI. Uh, just yesterday you removed all of my posts since 2011 because I replied "LMAO" to one post.

I use Yoast just as a rough guide. I also use Hemmingway again as a guide.
For me, it depends on the type of article, the topic and the niche. Keyword density I don't have any hard and fast rules, I try to go with a natural flow to the article.

I havent used Hemmingway. Just checked it out. Looks neat. Thanks!

 

[Writerly]

As someone who writes for money sites, I can tell you that I basically make sure that all of the things you mentioned are good. So if I have keywords, I make sure that they’re between 0.5-2.5% density as Yoast says they should be. I also look to Yoast for Flesch, and I always keep it above 60 at least, closer to 70 and 80 if possible. Same goes with the passive, transition words, and the other variables. And, of course, through it all, you’d have to make sure that you have a quality piece of content. Your readers won’t stick around at all, let alone click through to your links if the article itself isn’t good. Aside from Yoast I also use Grammarly, Hemingway, and sometimes even various Datalyze tools if I can’t figure out which words are bringing down my Flesch score.

 

[Seven4]

Easy to read, makes sense, not a lot of fluff or fillers, correct use of words and punctuation, uses keywords correct number of times, formatted correctly.

 

[Deleted member 994306]

Choose a topic that you are more familiar with..if not get ready to do some research...also make use of tools like Hemingway , yoastseo..to validate the quality of ur content..make use of grammarly to avoid mistakes..This works..

 

[Toz]

I just like it to make sense for a native reader who is interested in the topic at hand. I don't focus too much on metrics and all the other things that robots would consider, as robots are not the ones who will be reading it and clicking on links that lead to things that make me money. To an extent, we need to focus on the robots that will crawl the page, but after that, I like to focus on native humanity. Getting too caught up in metrics may leave your wallet empty.