Why Quality is More Important than Quantity When Writing Web Content

Quality web content endures by remaining a useful source of information, whereas quantity obscures by manipulating short-term market trends for a quick gain. In other words, when writing web content, the quantity of that content might perform well with high Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and no quality. However, after time, competing websites that utilize just quality will garner stronger support through viral rather than optimized traffic growth. This does not mean marketing is not needed though.

• Quality Web-writing addresses visitor motives

In Volume 11, number 3 of the Journal of Electronic Publication, Gary Hanson and Paul Haridakis indicate the ability of a website to meet the needs and motives of its visitors is a key factor in the importance of the content on the website. The example used is the dissemination of media via You Tube rather than traditional sources of media which doesn't beg the question of why quality is partially defined by how well that particular website is suited for its most likely audience.

• Achieving global value through web content

To further illustrate the above principle with an example, consider the website http://www.conduit.com. In September of 2010, this website had an Alexa traffic rank of 71 within the United States and 33 globally. This website is a software application provider that is hugely successful but with only 140 employees, is much smaller in size than sites such as Yahoo with over 13,000 employees. Thus size or quantity, does not appear to be as important as quality of 'written' software because it doesn't provide an in demand service, and evidently the apps at Conduit Ltd. are good enough to drive a huge amount of traffic to its website.

• Search engines assess quality

Another reason why quality is more important than quantity is that web content with low quality and high quantity will sooner or later be weeded out by search engines and web searchers as less useful, full of bugs. or ill equipped to handle web visitors. For example, a website may have the best marketing plan on the planet, but without a product or service at the website to back it up, that marketing plan has gone to waste.

• Repeat visitors value web content

The principle that quality is more important than quantity when writing web content can also be demonstrated using side by side contrasts of websites within the news publishing industry. There's a reason why the New York Times is ranked more than three times higher than the Washington Post, and that reason is at least partially due to quality. Web visitors might simply appreciate the writing more or the website may better facilitate web visitors needs better.

In summary, quality is more important than quantity when writing website content because it provides something of value, and is favored by its target market. Quantity alone does neither of at little of these things for a websites clients but rather the website itself. Quantity driver web content runs the risk of incurring website traffic erosion and can drive the need for new and creative ways to drive traffic to the content rather than allowing the content to do that itself.

Sources:
1. http://bit.ly/6gz0he      (Alexa)
2. http://bit.ly/bPQRlY     (Journal of Electronic Publishing)
3. http://yhoo.it/9cWZn9 (Yahoo Finance)