Panda Eats Up Lame Content and Spits it Out!

Some more thoughts on the value of valuable content:

For a long time, one of the biggest promotional strategies of the ‘net has been to establish lots of “content-based” links by writing an article and submitting it to hundreds of article directories, each one with a link to your website.

There were several problems with this.  One was that often these “articles” were thinly-veiled sales letters.  For example, if a website was all about baby strollers, the marketer might pick a few featured items, grind out 500 words about the features of those particular strollers, title it something like, “How to shop for a baby stroller”, and off it goes to the directories.  Or, it might have a brief overview of what, in general, makes up a baby stroller, with a few keywords.  

There was little in these, or most other articles that was truly informative or inspiring. If you check the table in my last post about internet content, these articles would go in the “lame” box in the lower right.

These are web pages that end up as what some people call “flotsam and netsam”.  These are pages that are mere clutter that clog up the ‘net and make it that much harder for people to find the real information that they’re wanting.

So, last spring, Google revised their ranking algorithm in an update referred to as “Panda”.  A lot of those marketers that had relied on their copied and spun articles with linkbacks found their rankings plummeting.  Those that relied on automatically generated content pulled with searches of keywords and scraped and copied text found that their sites had disappeared from top slots in Google’s search engine results pages.

Here are just a couple of good, informative updates on the subject:

• How Does the Panda/Farmer Update Impact Affiliates?
• Lessons Learned at SMX West: Google’s Panda Update, White Hat Cloaking & Link Building

What this all boils down to is that Google is, once again, establishing content as king.  Good, useful, informative content, that is.  One by one, the quick, easy ways to magical Internet ranking and wealth are disappearing (if they ever existed in the first place), and steady, real, honest writing is winning the day.

Here are some ways to get good ranking and good traffic:

• Write (or pay good writers to write) good content for your websites.  This is true both of blogs and of ecommerce, products-based websites.
• Write good content for external sites, like reputable articles directories and content sites (ezinearticles.com, squidoo.com, hubpages.com).
• Make good sensible comments on other people’s good content (in blogs or other discussion sites.  Even if the links are no-follow, it will help establish your credibility and attract directly clicking traffic.
• Submit good content to other people’s blogs as guest posts.
• Make a good, useful blog yourself.
• Use social networks like twitter and facebook wisely, to draw viewers and generate real buzz.
• In affiliate marketing, give people more content than ads, rather than the other way around.
• Make all of your writing and content rich in good keywords that are not already flooded in the marketplace.

These are the ways to make your site the most attractive and useful to visitors, and to make it more respected and ranked by the search engines.

Mark is currently in the curriculum Department of an internet and SEO training company.

Mark also has other sites and blogs, including Mark's Black Pot - Dutch Oven Recipes, MarkHansenMusic.com and his MoBoy blog.

Are You a Good Content Writer?

Are you a web content writer? We all have heard many times that “Content is King”.  The problem with this thought is that many people don’t get it.  These content writers flood the ‘net with garbage articles, blog posts, and comments that amount to just more flotsam and netsam.  The online equivalent of white noise.  They forget that what really reigns is GOOD content.

So, what defines content that’s good?  Is it length?  Is it the use of keywords?  Is it relevance?  All of these are factors, it’s true, but for my money, I think it really comes down to two elements:  Is it enlightening?  Is it practical?

For an article or post to be enlightening, it has to make me think about something in a new way.  It can point out something that I hadn’t considered before, or inform me of some facts or events that I’d been previously unaware.  It has to show me or teach me or inform me.

If it’s practical, then it has given me something that I can apply to my daily life in a very direct way.  It has taught me steps to help me achieve my goals, or it has shown me new tricks to make something easier.

So, I’ve graphed this out in a quadrant scale:  Along one side we can see if an article is enlightening.  Along the bottom, we can see if it’s practical.  Each space helps to score the overall quality of the content.

• Square 1: In the lower left, we have content that is neither enlightening nor practical.  This is 90% of the sludge out there on the internet now.  It’s sales letters, and ad campaigns.  It’s vapid blogging.  It’s everywhere.  And it’s lame.
• Square 2:  This is writing that is enlightening, but not practical.  These are philosophical musings, opinion blogs, well-thought essays.  This can be really well done, and enjoyable to read.
• Square 3:  Here we’ll find content that is practical, but not necessarily inspiring.  How-to articles are frequently here in this section.  This kind of content frequently draws inbound links, because people like content that solves problems.
• Square 4:  Content like this is often difficult to write.  It requires knowing your audience’s needs, and knowing how your information can best help them, both in a personal and a practical way.  It’s powerful stuff, and it draws lots of links and attention. If it’s placed right, it can go viral and draw lots of qualified traffic.  Even though you might not hit this everytime, always strive for this, the best of the best.

Compare what you write to the graph and see what you get.  In time, it'll improve your efforts as a web content writer!








Mark also has other sites and blogs, including Mark's Black Pot - Dutch Oven Recipes, MarkHansenMusic.com and his MoBoy blog.

Website Usability Testing - Figuring out the Black Box

Ever heard of the “black box”? It a scientific concept, used in research and development. The idea is based on pretty simple concepts:

• Something goes into a system, like it's being plugged into a big black box.
• Something happens to it in the system.
• Then it comes out the other side, changed.

Then the scientists try and figure out, based on the way it changed, what happened inside the box.

There are lots of real-world examples of this. Driving a car is a good one. You sit in the seat, and you step on the gas. The car lunges forward. Most people do this several times a day, and don't even think about it. Most people have little or no clue what goes on under the hood and under the car that makes it go. They simply know that if they step on the gas (something going into the system), the car moves (something coming out of the system). In between those two things, it might as well be a dark black box.

But it would seem that knowing what goes on in the black box would be of real value. You would be able to tweak the box, or send in better stuff so that whatever comes out would be more like what you want. If you don't know what goes on in the box, it's all going to be a mystery.

Your website is very much the same way.

People come to your website. You spend a lot of time and effort bringing them there. Then, they leave your system in one of two outcomes. One, they simply leave and go somewhere else. Or, they buy something/sign up for something and then leave. In between is a mystery. Even the best tracking systems don't really give you a true, clear picture of what goes on, click-by-click, inside the black box that is your website.

To find that out, you'll need to do some face-to-face usability testing. Here are the steps:

• Prepare the test

First of all, as with all tests, it's important to decide exactly what you want to know. How easy is it for my customers to find the products they want and buy them? Can they sign up for my newsletter? Can they find information they're looking for?

Come up with 3-4 specific tasks that you'd like your test subjects to complete. Vary them, but they should be important things your site contains. Put these in a list. Don't list the instructions on how to do the task, just the task itself. For example: “Find and purchase a blue Tiffany lamp.” or “sign up for the free information email”

• Find the usability test subjects

The more people you have do the usability testing in your site, the more effective your information will be. 5-10 people will be a good range to start. If you have more time, you can do more. It's also good to get people with a variety of computer skills, from those that were born with a mouse in their hands, to people who barely know how to turn on a computer. Family and friends can be great usability testers.

• Run the test

Sit down with your test subjects in front of a computer. You'll be watching over their shoulders, but you'll not be interacting with them. Load up your website, give them the list of tasks, and watch them do the tasks.

Here is the important part: To make your usability test true, DO NOT SPEAK TO THEM, or answer ANY questions. If they turn to you and ask, smile and shrug. If they make a comment, smile and write it down. DO NOT RESPOND. In the real world, people are visiting your site, and you can't talk them through it, either.

You'll pay attention to how long it takes them to complete the tasks, of course, but also watch the paths they take through your site as they do them. Do they struggle at any point? Is any part frustrating or confusing? Write all of these things down.

When they've either completed or given up on all of the tasks, then you can talk. Ask them about the experience overall, and for any additional comments.

Then, buy your test subject some soda and chips. They'll appreciate that!

• Analyze

Once you've run these tests a few times, you'll see patterns. Some of them will be good ones, others will point out problems or bottlenecks in your navigation. The beauty of usability testing, if it's done right, is that it will provide you with stark reality. You'll see, first-hand, how your customers are interacting with your website. Powerful stuff.

Then you'll be in a position to make some real changes to your site to improve the user experience. And that will improve your bottom line.

Mark is currently in the curriculum Department of an internet and SEO training company.

Mark also has other sites and blogs, including Mark's Black Pot - Dutch Oven Recipes, MarkHansenMusic.com and his MoBoy blog.