We’ve heard it said a thousand times- content is king! But what does that really mean in terms of your website or blog? The simple explanation is you need to offer your readers useful information that is relevant to what they are doing and is different from every thing else they are reading. You also need to post that content on a regular basis so your site is always fresh, new and active. Simple right? Not so much. There are three ways to help you keep your content interesting enough to draw attention and useful enough to draw loyalty.

• Check your facts. Make sure your content is accurate and helpful. It doesn’t do you or anyone else any good if you post information filled with errors or self-serving hype. Spend a little time around the Internet and see what people are reading. More importantly, try to find out what questions they are asking. Look on forums and through the comments on blogs related to what you do. What are people talking about? Are they asking how to do something? Where to find certain information? Search out the best answers to those questions and write a post or two providing the information in a clear, easy to read fashion so your readers will have answers to the questions they haven’t even asked yet.

• Keep it real. One of the best ways to demonstrate to your readers- new and old alike- that you are the go-to guy or gal in your niche is to be straight with them about what you know and what you don’t. No one is the master of every detail of every niche. We all have our areas of expertise and mastery and we all have places that just aren’t our thing. Go ahead, claim what you know, and acknowledge what you don’t know. Of course, keywords and SEO are very important to search engine rankings, but if all you are doing is researching keywords and then plugging our words to work around them for SEO purposes, you aren’t going to cut it for long. If the latest research shows that hang gliding while speaking Japanese on a megaphone is the hot trend in your market and you are afraid of heights with a distinct lack of Asian understanding, don’t try to fake it just to work in your keywords. Instead, tell your market that your friend in Japan covers this hang gliding thing much better than I can and go back to writing about what you know best. An old proverb says, “It is better to keep your mouth shut and be thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.” This definitely applies to the content on your site!

• Add your flavor. While it is critical that you know what you are talking about when writing your content, you also need to write in a way that makes it yours. Don’t try to sound like an economics professor if your personal style is laid back and casual. In the same way, if you are at the top of your field on a topic, go ahead and let people know you have the smarts to back up what you are saying! The point is, write in your own style and personality. Be authentic and genuine or everything you write will sound contrived and awkward. At that point, it won’t matter what you know, it will be boring and difficult to read and your audience will wander.

There are many ways to make sure your content is king, but working on these three points is a definite step in the right direction!