There's been a buzz in the online world about the dethroning of Content. As much as I do not want to believe it, the evidences are there. If truth be told, I have been postponing this post for a long while thinking that by doing so would make me believe that content is still the be all and all of the online world. Content was king but like all kings, they must eventually bow down to their predecessors. Content reigned for a long while and it is now time to give in to the new king - Community.
Together with the influx of social networking sites and its users it is but a short time before we, in the SEO community, bow down to the new king. Yes, content is still important but it is no longer as important as we once thought, content does not give you everything you want to achieve, SEO wise. The new king - Community - has the sole role of saying who's hot and who's not. It does not matter if you have slaved for a week, for a month, to write that killer campaign, that killer content, if you do not appeal to the Community, if you do not give them the experience that they are looking for, then all your endeavors are all for naught.
Here are some guidelines that will help you in the new King's reign:
- Do not underestimate nor overestimate your users. They know what they want and they want to get what they want. You do not want an Idiot's Guide nor a Geek's Guide content, what you need is content that is easy to understand, all you have to do is provide just the right amount of information to first time and returning users and you're all set.
- Love your users. A website that is very technical in nature is very daunting to a newbie, who would want to go into an impersonal website with little or no direction? I know I wouldn't unless I really have to, but then again, once I've done what I need to do I will quickly close that website and forget about it. Providing your users a great user experience will make them stay and will keep them going back for more.
- Provide easy access to information, how-to's and guides. Users are generally hungry for information and if you can provide those information in easy to swallow, bite-size pieces, then you can expect more users to come knocking. The community has its way of disseminating information and creating a buzz for a particular website that they like.
- Build your own community. Create a space for your users to interact with each other, share thoughts and air out grievances. Take Ebay for example, they did not build their content around their products, instead, they built a community around the product interest - just look how successful they have become.
- Be There. Be there to answer any question or complaints. Make your users feel special and well taken care of by providing a customer support that really supports and does not just leave users hanging clueless.
Community is now king and Content has to step down. Although content has been dethroned, it will never lose its importance. But we must all bow down and pay homage to the new king.
