What is Quality Content, And How Can You Start Consistently Creating It?

In my blog last week, I showed you that consistently publishing quality content is thought to be the top ranking factor in Google’s Algorithm in 2024.  What this means is that creating quality content is THE thing you need to be focusing on in 2024 if you want your website to be showing up on Page One of Google.  

No, you’re not off the hook for everything else! Your site needs to be in top condition, but once you’ve got it all fixed up, content is what you need to be working on.

But what is quality content? Who decides what quality content is, and what does consistent mean?

These are all questions I’m going to answer for you today, so you’re set up to get your website ranking at the top of the search engines in 2024.

Prefer to watch? Here's a video for you instead. 

First, What is Content?

Content, and specifically digital content, is any information that’s available on the internet. But let’s focus on the content that helps us get our businesses seen, the text and images we use to market our business, which includes:

• Blogs
• Podcasts
• Videos
• Infographics
• Ebooks

The purpose of this content is to inform, entertain, educate and persuade our target audience and also includes our emails, newsletters, social media posts and paid ads.

So, What Turns Content Into Quality Content?

Google want you to create quality content so it can provide its users with the most relevant and high-quality search results and to make sure it delivers on its promise; it regularly updates its algorithms so it can identify and rank what it deems quality content. 

So, Google wants you to create quality content so it can provide its users with the most relevant and high-quality search results. To achieve this, it continuously updates its algorithms to better identify and rank quality content. But what does Google consider "quality content"?

And Google defines quality content as  “content that provides valuable information, is engaging and well-written.” Thanks, Google, that’s as clear as mud!  

If you want a look, here's a link to their guidelines on creating helpful content.

Basically, your content needs to show:

Relevance

Your content must meet the needs and answer the queries of your target audience. It should be focused, informative, and directly related to the keywords or topics your target audience is searching for. That’s why keyword research is so important.

Authority

Your content should show that you have an in-depth understanding of the subject you’re talking about. Sites and pages with higher authority on a topic tend to rank better.

Comprehensiveness

To make sure you’re creating quality content, you need to cover the topic in as much depth as possible, offering valuable insights and information that satisfies your user's intent. You can do this by looking at other people’s blogs and content to see how much detail well-ranking posts have. 

Freshness

Regularly updated content that keeps your people up to date with the latest trends and information often ranks well in Google. This is where consistency comes in. A post every few months won’t cut Google’s mustard. Set a publishing schedule that works for you and stick to it. 

Give A Good User Experience

As I said before, it’s not just about the content; you need to make sure your site offers your visitors a good user experience, so you need to make sure your site gives them fast loading times, a mobile-friendly experience and is easy to navigate. 

And Now Google Wants More! Meet The EEAT Principles. 

To make absolutely sure Google gives their users a quality experience, i.e. top-notch answers to their questions, they introduced the EAT principles in 2014 which were expanded in 2022 to EEAT.

EEAT stands for Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness. And now, in addition to the elements I’ve outlined above for you, you need to make sure your content also stacks up against these standards in order to rank well in the search results.

Experience

Google values your personal experience and practical knowledge and looks for content that shows you’ve got firsthand experience or personal insight into a topic. You can demonstrate this by using personal stories and testimonials.

Expertise

Very similar to having authority, expertise relates to the depth of your knowledge on a particular topic. Your content needs to be informative and show that you have a deep understanding of the subject. Taking a hub-and-spoke approach to content creation can be really helpful here.

Authoritativeness

Authoritativeness is all about the credibility and reputation of you and your website. You can build your online credibility by creating quality content, giving citations, and sharing recognition you’ve been given by respected businesses or individuals in your field.

Trustworthiness

Trustworthiness looks at the reliability and honesty of your website and its content. Secure sites with clear ownership, contact information, and transparent practices score highly with Google. For eCommerce sites, customer service policies and user reviews are also important.

So, How Do You Create EEATable Content?

Here are a few tips you can use to start creating content that is in line with Google’s EEAT principles.

Show You’re The Expert

Share your knowledge and experience in a way that adds value to your audience. Use case studies, tutorials, and detailed guides to demonstrate your expertise.

Build Your Authority

Engage with your industry community, contribute to reputable platforms, and seek opportunities for others to reference your work. This builds your site's authority over time.

Ensure Accuracy

Fact-check your content and provide references to reputable sources. Accuracy is critical for building trustworthiness, especially in YMYL (Your Money, Your Life) topics.

Prioritise User Experience

Design your website with the user in mind. Ensure it's secure, fast, and mobile-friendly, with content that's easy to navigate and consume.

Be Consistent

Consistent doesn’t mean continuous. Pick a publishing schedule you can keep to and stick to it. At least once a week would be great. But even a couple of really high-quality pieces of content a month will pip a tonne of super short, low-grade posts. Most important is to stick to your schedule and consistently publish high quality content.

So Now You Know What Quality Content Google Wants From You

Now you know that Google wants to see you creating valuable content that answers its user’s questions, shares your experience and your expertise and is authoritative and can be trusted. 

Google wants you to be writing for real people, sharing your stories and being of help.

And Google wants you to show up and do this on a consistent basis. Consistency endears trust; it shows you’ve got lots to say about the subject and that they can rely on you for answers.  So set and stick to a publishing schedule that works for you and start tracking the performance of your content.

Any questions? Just ping me an email at [email protected]

Now, get writing!