Why ‘Content Is King’ Is Still Relevant In The Blogging World

As bloggers, we are constantly told that “Content is King” wherever we turn online.  In this post I want to explore why we are told this and where the phrase originates.

“Content Is King” Origins

“Content is King” is a phrase that gets branded about a lot these days, especially by fellow bloggers and SEO specialists.  Due to its frequent usage it has probably lost a bit of its meaning to people, however that doesn’t mean it isn’t relevant anymore… far from it in fact.

To get to the heart of why this phrase is so important (and why it is used so much online) we have to go back and look at the first instance when it was used.

Many people probably don’t realise that the first person to properly use the phrase was Bill Gates when he wrote an article for the Microsoft website back in 1996 entitled ‘Content Is King’.  He states:

“Content is where I expect much of the real money will be made on the Internet, just as it was in broadcasting.”

Back then when he first said this the internet was still in its infancy.  Many people (me included) were still not “online” at that point and many businesses were only just beginning to set up their own website.

Fast forward to today and it is clear to see that what Bill had predicted turned out to be completely true.  The most popular websites around at the moment are the ones where we share, upload and create content of our own, whether that be via: social media, YouTube, blogs, etc.

Even online stores like Amazon have gotten in on the act and allow users to upload and create their own eBooks and product reviews for other customers to read.  Factor on top of that the massive search engines like Google and Bing that allow users to filter through all of this growing content online and you begin to see just how important content is.

In Bill’s original article, he doesn’t stop there though:

“One of the exciting things about the Internet is that anyone with a PC and a modem can publish whatever content they can create.”

It has never been easier to create content of your own and find an audience online.  Almost 40% of the global population (7 Billion+ people) are now online, with that set to dramatically increase further in the coming years.  Whatever interests you have in writing about, somewhere out there, there is an audience for you to find.

What This Means For Your Own Blog

Content (and for the purpose of this post I mean written articles) is THE most important aspect of your entire site.

You can spend all the time in the world tweaking the look of your website and deciding whether a particular shade of green looks better to your readers, and you can spend lots of time on your products that you may be selling and whether or not people can easily find them.  Whilst those are important aspects to a certain point, it is the content on your site that ultimately attracts traffic.

Think of it like this.

Each article you publish on your blog is one way in which people can find your site.  The more content you publish on your site, the more ways there are for people to find your blog on the search engines.

‘Content is King’ is very true in the blogging world for this simple fact, as without it your site cannot grow.  Content is the lifeblood of your site and helps keep sending traffic your way.

Now, whilst I say that, it does not mean that quantity is all that matters.  Yes, the more posts you have, the more likely it is that people will find you, but quality is far more important than quantity.

A single, high quality article can be much more effective (if done in the right way) than a hundred quick, short posts that don’t really say anything.

Take for example the recent 8,317 word post written by my friend Kevin Duncan.  Funnily enough, this post is all about ‘how to write a blog post.  The quality of this post is outstanding and if you are after an example of an epic blog post, then this is it!

If anything, you want to aim to have as many QUALITY articles on your site that you can as that is what ultimately attracts readers for a prolonged period.

In Summary:

Spend time crafting your posts and put love and plenty of attention to detail in each one before hitting the publish button.  Always remember that each individual post you upload to your site reflects on your site as a whole.

If people stumble upon a bad post of yours, then they will be much less likely to return in the future.  On the flip side, each quality post you publish can help bring in traffic on a long-term basis, allowing you to grow your site and audience over time. 

“Content is King” is admittedly a phrase that gets used a bit too much online, but until someone comes up with a better phrase that equally highlights the importance of content for a site I guess we are all going to keep using it.

Your Turn:

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 What are your thoughts on the whole “Content is King” phrase.  Do you agree with it?

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