If your content is bad, you’ve got nothing. What constitutes bad content is somewhat arbitrary, but here’s a quick list:
- Bad grammar, misspelled words, typos
- Broken links
- Too long (too much detail or not broken up in a way that someone can easily read)
- Too short (not enough detail)
- Mis-targeted (correct, but not written in a way the visitor can relate to or can easily understand - it’s above or below knowledge level)
- Too aggressive (pushy language too early in the buyer’s journey)
- Too passive (it’s filler, irrelevant or doesn’t actually say anything)
- Bad pictures, use of clichés or clipart (nobody wants to see PowerPoint on the web)
- Overly optimized for SEO (Maybe it’s readable by a machine, but not by a normal human)
If your content is incredibly valuable, someone might forgive a few of these and focus on the good stuff. If you’re trying to attract, impress, or are in a highly competitive space, poorly written content is the kiss of death.
“Content precedes design. Design in the absence of
content is not design, it’s decoration.”
-Jeffrey Zeldman