So when it comes to "good" and "bad" online writing, the core principles that differentiate the two have a lot to do with content, target audience, author's intent, and how successful or unsuccessful the author/blogger is in conveying such new ideas to their targeted audience. Deanna Zandt and Brian Clarke touch base on various interesting aspects of online writing that can improve your interactive audience and website exposure.
The Main things that interested me from Zandt and Clark
Zandt discusses in her article How You Will Change the World with Social Marketing,
that viewership has a lot to do with how personal the writer can make their content. This effort to open up your personal thoughts to the public invites an empathetic response, thus creating a well selected niche, because it is definitely more interesting to talk to a real person instead of a computer (as ironic as that may sound).
A few of the main things that resonated with me in Clark's, How to Create Compelling Content that Ranks Well in Search Engines included:
- Creating cornerstone content
- Optimizing keywords in your writing
- Providing relevant information to your targeted audience
- Gaining authoritative and trust-worthy presence
Just to elaborate on Clark's points, when you have a presence on the web, you want to market your blog around a specific subject(s) of interest, aka cornerstone content. As Clark stated, "The key is creating compelling content that's worth linking to, and then finding a way to get the word out."
This corner stone content in return will also create a targeted audience. When addressing this audience you've worked so hard to get, the goal is to then provide content that is compelling enough for them continue coming back and have them link back to you.
When other sources link back to you, it tells the higher power of Google and their almighty algorithms that your writing is worth sharing when people search for related content.
This is where keywords is a major factor in helping you gain your audience base. Clark emphasizes the importance of utilizing keywords that would "...spoon feed search engines." What he means by doing one or both, of two things.
- Making your content searchable by letting other people find you with the language they search with.
- Make compelling headlines that include keywords and attract readers.
Where do I fall in this online presence?
As a wedding photographer and avid blogger/reader of online content, I am always attracted to things business and wedding related. So Clark's reading was definitely an interesting read for me. After reading his article, I immediately thought of a colleague of mine, a wedding photographer named Ryan Brenizer. He caters to two types of audiences, people who appreciate photojournalism, and photographers. His blog is updated once or twice a week to keep photographers in-tune with his latest techniques and gear reviews while also introducing newer brides to his recent works.
Examples of Good writing/websites
If you google "NYC wedding photographer," Ryan Brenizer shows up on the first page. This is brilliant usage of "letting people find you the way they search. Brides and couples in NYC will always make that their first search when searching for a wedding photographer. He's also gained a high audience in photographers that they are always linking back to his work, gear reviews, and techniques, which in return helps him gain an authoritative presence online. His occasional personal blogs creates a sense of personality and allows readers to connect with him and relate to his work and experiences.
Another example of good usage of online keywords is the megastore, B&H Photo video. Their website alone contains the words "photo" and "video," which is keywords that online buyers would search for when buying anything camera related. Not to mention, the keywords in all the products they sell that will immediately attract buyers. The presentation of the site allows buyers from amateurs to pros to navigate the site easily to find and purchase what they want.
Examples of bad online presence:
I didn't know how to go about finding a bad website, and can't remember any because, well thats self explanatory. So I did what a researcher would do. First entering the words "examples of webpages that suck."
Which in return led me to a site that did a GREAT job of displaying bad sites, because the keywords that they utilized led me to www.webpagesthatsuck.com. Clever guy! Well, this site led me to some horrendous websites:
Serene Naturist is a website devoted to people who enjoy a serene experience? Well, this webpage was anything but serene. The design and layout clashed. Colors and pictures were all over, and the fonts chosen were too loud. This is a prime example of a site that fails to provide a brand or a sense of consistency. The language utilized on their webpage is anything but pleasant. I'll be sure NOT to go their for a massage.
Another example of a website that contained bad content would be The Yale School of Art. After some strenuous research, I've found out that, this is the art school of THE YALE, the Ivy League school! I can see where the majority of their funds are going. They need a major overhaul and they need to be introduced to a graphic/web designer. The website is an eye-sore. Take a look for yourself. It is everything you need to repel new interests. Content (if there is any) is very poorly displayed, and the fact that "everyone"can edit the page just explains everything.
Well, that's it for today's rant/discussion. Bookmark my blog and stay tuned! I got some sexy provocative things coming soon. (Not really)
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