Best Practices for Creating New Content (Social Media Week 2011)

It is said that 10% of the content available on the internet is original, and the other 90% is recycled from that 10%. With that highly likely statistic in mind, try to remember that although you may not be an expert on the topic you are given to create content for, it is quite possible to at least have the look of one.

• Corner the Market on Your Personal Style

Have you had others tell you that they enjoy your writing style? Ask them why, and then build on it. Do readers like your straight-forward attitude? Do they prefer to read about vacation destinations as seen through your virtual, or even literal eyes? Readers have told you they like your attitude and the character that comes out in your text, hold that character to a standard, expect it to improve only for the better, and then see that it does.

• Understand Copy Issues

Plagiarism is not only a moral no-no, it is also one that can get your content flagged, ignored and even penalized by search engines. For this reason, it is of utmost importance to understand that even if you always write ‘from knowledge’ or personal creation, it is still possible to duplicate content someone else has created. Be sure to use a copy protection program such as Copyscape or Dustball to check your work.

• Understand Search Engine Optimization

No one says you have to push the letter, the keywords, or keyword phrases to the very edge of acceptable percentages, but if you are speaking on an item, topic or service, you may want to be sure you mention it at least a few times in a long article, a couple of times in a short one. Although managing the algorithms of search engines may be difficult for a novice user to understand, the simple understanding that to get attention, you must use the same words or phrases to describe something as someone would put into a search engine browser.

• See the Whole Picture

What do you want this content to accomplish? See the whole picture before you begin to create the content. Work the best way for you to understand the start to finish. Create an outline or work erratically if need be, but be sure your finished product is what you envisioned it to be in the first place, and don’t accept any less. You are putting your name, your business and your websites professionalism on this content, be sure it meets the same standards other aspects of your business are expected to.

Don’t forget to join me at Social Media Camp: New York as part of Social Media Week 2011. I will be a co-presenter for “Content is King…” on Wed Feb 9 at 10:30AM at the Roger Smith Hotel in NYC.

Sources:

• BestWebMasters
• Copyscape
• Dustball
• LifeHack