How to Plan Your Website’s Content (Part 3)
Part 3 of a 3-part series
Evaluating Your Website’s Content
After you’ve established what pieces will go into your website (Part 2), the next step is to evaluate your content, especially if you plan to include a blog.
Earlier this year, Google launched Panda, which is a new algorithm aimed at identifying low-quality pages and sites. These “low-quality” pages are often the result of content farms, providing text that may not provide the best user experience.
To offer a little bit of clarity on how this will affect owners of websites, Google’s Head of Search, Amit Singhal, posted on Google’s official blog, a list of 23 questions you should ask yourself regarding your content.
- Would you trust the information presented in this article?
- Is this article written by an expert or enthusiast who knows the topic well, or is it more shallow in nature?
- Does the site have duplicate, overlapping, or redundant articles on the same or similar topics with slightly different keyword variations?
- Would you be comfortable giving your credit card information to this site?
- Does this article have spelling, stylistic, or factual errors?
- Are the topics driven by genuine interests of readers of the site, or does the site generate content by attempting to guess what might rank well in search engines?
- Does the article provide original content or information, original reporting, original research, or original analysis?
- Does the page provide substantial value when compared to other pages in search results?
- How much quality control is done on content?
- Does the article describe both sides of a story?
- Is the site a recognized authority on its topic?
- Is the content mass-produced by or outsourced to a large number of creators, or spread across a large network of sites, so that individual pages or sites don’t get as much attention or care?
- Was the article edited well, or does it appear sloppy or hastily produced?
- For a health related query, would you trust information from this site?
- Would you recognize this site as an authoritative source when mentioned by name?
- Does this article provide a complete or comprehensive description of the topic?
- Does this article contain insightful analysis or interesting information that is beyond obvious?
- Is this the sort of page you’d want to bookmark, share with a friend, or recommend?
- Does this article have an excessive amount of ads that distract from or interfere with the main content?
- Would you expect to see this article in a printed magazine, encyclopedia or book?
- Are the articles short, unsubstantial, or otherwise lacking in helpful specifics?
- Are the pages produced with great care and attention to detail vs. less attention to detail?
- Would users complain when they see pages from this site?
Not all these questions may be relevant to you and your website, but what Google is essentially trying to do is to make sure that your website’s content is unique, written with authority, relevant, and not merely meant to mislead people into entering your website thinking that it’s one thing, but is actually just a place that advertises something else.
So lots of food for thought when writing the content to include on your business website!
