Define and Describe "good content"!!!

[VetTechJess]

Maybe i am just being impatient I don't know. as you may know I just created a website not too long ago and right now its up and running. I have heard a ton of different experts say that to bring abunch of web traffic to your site, that you must create "good content". I understand that. I have tried to put what I think is "good content" on my site. My site is probably less than a month old or somewhere around in there.

would everyone who views this thread PLEASE look at my website and POSITIVELY CRITIQUE it as far as the content is concerned?

If the layout isnt great, its my first real site I created without using one of those free sites from angelfire or geocities. If the layout is bad dont just suggest a new layout, by all means recommend links to places for FREE web template layouts that are related to my site. I dont need anything too flashy just something pretty decent.

Also I know nothing of how to write html, even in html editor. about the closest thing i can come to is using myspace layout generators, and you know how well that can go...it can only take you so far.

heres the site: Home

thanks in advance

[Brutha]

Their isn't something that I would recognise as good content. You would have lost me after the second paragraph. If I click on Blog and get: "No posts match your query." in the search of a bit of content I see at a vistitor that the site isn't finished.

[Lychee]

Congratulations on your new website. Your website looks great so far, but some of my thoughts:

You can check out free website templates available from the Microsoft website to improve the current look. It would be good to see a separate "Mission Statement" and include the stuff in the first paragraph under the "About me" link instead of on the homepage. Keep a brief introduction on the home page of what the site is about. The first three paragraphs do not really focus on one topic. Perhaps you could narrow down or organize the links which are listed at the bottom of the page. At the link "Email me" you can include what follows it "I give credit..." on a separate webpage which comes up after clicking on the site. The home page is yellow and the rest of the pages have a brown-ish color. Maybe you could keep the same color theme throughout.

[Keith]

There are a couple of significant layout problems. Below is what your site looks like in my copy of Firefox.

• "Most importantly have fun and enjoy the site" is floating in the middle of the boxes.
• "NAVTA" is overlapping the bottom border
• A yellow line cuts through "Welcome to VetTechJess
• "New articles will be posted here in this huge space" is truncated.

Your website doesn't seem to allow for people with varying browsers and textsizes.

Also, I personally find the white text on yellow background washed out and hard to read.

I know you wanted comment on the content rather than the layout, but if the layout doesn't let you get at the content in a simple and clean way, the quality of the content doesn't matter 'cos most people won't read it.

[JohnPlace]

Some rules for making good content, in no particular order:

1) Competent writing skills: You don't have to be Hemingway, but the content should look professional.

2) Subject matter: Write something people want to read.

3) Completeness: Express a thought to completion, so your readers feel like they have absorbed a fully baked idea and not random musings (unless the article is a bits-and-pieces type format).

4) Value: write content that adds value to people's lives.

5) Originality: If your topic (or perspective) is already covered to completion on a hundred other Web Sites, what's the purpose of having it on yours?

These points aren't aimed at anything in particular, just a few of my musings regarding what makes good content.

[Lucas]

Good content is definitely a relative term. For instance, a blog about electrical engineering is of no value to me, good content or not. However, a blog about improving my disc golf form is greatness. So once I find a place that interests me, then I look for good content, and good content is normally stuff that helps me in some way. Either a new way of looking at something, a how-to, or intelligent discussion and discourse on interesting things.

To help you more contextually, my girlfriend is actually studying to be a vet tech, and I am surprised that people don't know that there are plenty of low cost spay/neuter clinics all over the country, and that their are health implications if you don't get your pets fixed. Just saying that is not good content, but writing an article about those implications and what you can do might be.

So really, good content is creating/passing info on to other people that helps them in some way. Or at least its entertaining.

I will be brutally honest, and say I found no content on your site...good, bad, or otherwise. All I really found is a bunch of what seems like affiliate links, and an "About Me" section. And as nice is that is, I have no reason to want to get to know you. Theres no reason to go to that "About Me" page. Had you helped me somehow, then I might want to know more about you. Know what I mean?

[jpfieber]

I would say a good first measure of good content would be once you get done writing a post, would you feel comfortable telling people that you've got a post that they MUST see? If you don't feel confident enough that someone will find it important, go back to the drawing board. If they ask why they must see it, do you have a good reason? If not, back to the drawing board. It's all about creating content that people will find valuable. You need to say something that will make a person stop for a moment and take interest in your words. Maybe it's because they are learning something, maybe because they are captivated by your story. A good way to learn some of the techniques you can use to create good content can be found on Copywriting tips for online marketing success from Copyblogger (plus most of the posts I've read there could be considered 'good content' as well).

[Brutha]

What is your motivation in creating the site?
You don't seem to poses any skills in webdesign. The style in which you writes give me the impulse to immediatly leave the page.

Having a textbox with Keywords that list webhosting is an insult to any human who visits your site.

[Bloggeries]

Basically good content is answering a question the way a reader would ask. Ever search for something and say argh no one has ever answered this exact question. To be good content you have to be specific and speak with some authority. Furthermore most overlook this and it's a SHAME. Best content in the world will get you nowhere if google doesn't know about it. So get linked from a few respected sites in your niche after you have some good content, you'll get crawled through from the respected site, have a trustworthy link (respected site) and hopefully google will take up your content and love it.

In order to have good content you also have to write your posts / articles accordingly, main keyword in the title, in the body, ~2-5% keyword density. Lots of things to consider but they can be worked out. If you are passionate about what you do with some writing skills learning how to optimize is the easy part.

BEST OF LUCK!

[Inquisitive Raven]

As has been noted, if your layout doesn't allow people to get to the content, then it doesn't matter how good the content is.

That site has a lot of layout problems. Since I suspect that you don't have a lot of funds available to hire a professional web designer or web design product, I suggest that you try finding a copy of Web Pages That Suck and Son of Web Pages that Suck by Vincent Flanders. They're both out of print, but used copies are available through Amazon. You should also check out Flanders' web site called, you guessed it, Web Pages That Suck: learn usability and good Web design by looking at bad Web design. Another book that a web designer friend of mine likes is called Don't Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability (2nd Edition) by Steve Krug. This one is still in print and available from Amazon.

A quick search on "web site design" on Amazon turns up several books on the subject including the inevitable "For Dummies" books. Some of them could be useful for a beginner; others require some technical knowledge.

As far as the content itself goes, I strongly recommend that you figure out who your target audience is first, and write to appeal to them. For a professional site, it needs to be grammatically correct with good spelling. A personal blog can be more relaxed. May I suggest a grammar book, and Strunk & White's The Elements of Style? These are not medium specific, but Amazon lists a number of books that are specific to the Web. Check the customer reviews.

I hope this helps.

Inquisitive Raven
Raven's Roost