Maybe I just avoided the question. Or maybe I was trying to channel my inner Ludwig Wittgenstein.
But I don’t think so.
It’s not an entirely easy question to answer (I actually had an easier time answering the question what makes a great web writer): what makes great content? Especially in a round-up sort of manner, which is what blogger Mauro D’Andrea asked me (and supposedly 100 other “experts”) to do.
Here was my reply:
That’s a tough question because there is not one single key–but a thousand. Hard work, imagination, feedback, patience and perseverance rise to the top. You have to have natural talent (there is such a thing), too. And luck. You’re masterpiece is worthless if the right eyeballs–the influencers and thought leaders–don’t see it. But what is outstanding content to begin with? You’ll never know unless you have an audience (of one or a million) to validate it. But then again, a million people CAN be wrong. Just look at Shades of Grey. Or are they wrong? Let’s add ignore the critics to that list while we’re at it. Didn’t expect such a philosophical answer, did you?
You can read the FULL post here. It is FULL (read: long), let me warn you.
What do you think is the key/s to great content? Share your thoughts in the comments.
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Demian, thank you for mentioning my work!
I think that great content is what add value to people.
To me, there are two main ways to add value:
1. Be helpful
2. Evoke emotions
Either of them are enough to make great content, even though the best one does both of them.
Of course, your content can be a little helpful or very helpful; the latter is better content than the first one. The same is true for content that evokes emotions.
You bet, Mauro, and thank you for allowing me to participate in the survey. Great exercise.
Great content meets the needs of the reader. It may evoke emotions – excitement, rage, sympathy. It may weave a clever story that opens the authors soul.
But, in the end, great content is all about fulfilling the expectation of the reader. Even if the expectation is finding a simple, 3 sentence answer to, “How do I…”.
Well said, Scott. And I’d say it MUST evoke emotions. Otherwise it’s a Wikipedia entry.
It’s like being hungry for food… Give a reader what he’s hungry for at that moment and you hit the spot. Hitting the deep hungers, the human cravings, that’s the sweet spot and it’s what makes content great.
Dead on, Mia. You don’t need me any more.
Great content has to have balls (figuratively of course). It needs to stand for something. My personal opinion if you had to drill great content down to one idea, this is it.
Have balls.
Then expect reaction, listen, respond, learn, and write something new.
Thanks,
Hanley
Courage is a must, indeed.
A lot of people gloss over how important a headline is to grabbling a reader. You are good at it, but many bloggers especially in my business blow the headline and the readers never click on the Google result.
Pick a topic right now to search, and I bet you will select the most interesting headline to click. In my opinion, before your content gets to “meet the needs of your reader” ~ you gotta grab ‘em!
Yep, that is the way it works, and thank you for the compliment. I’ve seen it go the other way, too: the great headline but weak content: http://thecopybot.com/2012/10/humdinger-headlines/
the author being human, original and fun. I have no idea about the rest…
Hey Demian.
You definitely didn’t avoid the question–that’s a tough one to answer because there’s no such thing as “great content” in the abstract. So much in writing depends on context.
I turned this question over in my head for a few days and I ended up zooming way, way out to look at the broadest categories of what makes for great content. I ended up borrowing three terms from rhetoric: kairos, audience, and decorum.
Kairos is “the passing moment.” An opportunity to speak arises, and the writer (or the organization that hires her) must notice and harness this context to accomplish their goals.
Audience takes into account who’s going to receive your blog post, your email, your landing page, your book trailer, or your Tweet. Who’s listening? Who do you hope to attract?
Decorum is the art of choosing and arranging words that strike to the heart of the topic, serve the goals behind why you’re speaking, suit the venue, and resonate with the intended audience at this particular moment in time.
Decorum calls on the writer to harmonize small details–even details as small as word choice–with the larger goals of the message. Decorum addresses concerns of cultural norms and comma placement; mobile-responsive layout and carefully crafted metaphor; font size and human behavior. Ethics. Aesthetics. Core values. Personal beliefs. Wordplay. Among other things.
Fabulous comment, Nicholas. I think you’ve got something really good there.