To paraphrase someone who once paraphrased Winston Churchill: ‘Never has so much been written, by so many, with so little substance.’
It used to be said that p*rn was ruining the internet (fair call, we have to star that cheeky little ‘o’ just so some of you can read this at work).
In fact, the internet’s real nemesis is truly awful content, often seeded by the least scrupulous SEO companies. I hear if you put enough of them in a room with enough PCs they’ll eventually churn out the complete works of Shakespeare, in LOLspeak……..‘but it’ll rank in the top 10 on Google’.
A quick Google blog search for ‘crisis management’ throws up a first page full of rubbish, with this notable exception.
There’s no need to explain SEO to me. I know how the poor articles got there, why they are there and what function they perform for those who placed them. But not all are anonymous and if you’re going to have your business or brand associated with a blog, there’s just no excuse for it to be so bad.
If you’re going to blog, even if it is just for SEO purposes, at least get someone to write it who doesn’t draft copy that looks like it was transcribed from a broken Speak & Spell and put through Google’s translation service three or four times.
Many SEO companies, bloggers and PR agencies do employ people who write well and there is some amazing, insightful content out there which is improving someone’s web ranking, providing an interesting read and improving a client’s reputation. Unfortunately, it’s still in the minority.
Organisations are producing increasing amounts of their own content. If it is going to be available directly to customers and consumers without going through the ‘filter’ of a newsroom or magazine editor, it has to be good.
Reputational management isn’t just about what others write about you, it starts with what you write about yourself.