Is Content Still King?

In a world of content networks and emerging technology, what’s the ruling class?

I recently came across an article on Business Insider from a contributor claiming that content is no longer king, and that now curation has taken over the throne.

After reading the article and examining the components of it, I came to conclude that it’s hard to agree with this opinion.

Informative, educational and enlightening content is still going to appeal to people, especially when it involves niche topics that summon passion inside us all.

Although I can’t agree with the main point of this article, I can agree with parts of what the author was saying. To me, they reside along the line of necessary elements for content marketing.

Part #1 – Devices: From the iPad to smart phones, digital content can be received on the go and can be shared from anywhere you can access it. Creating strong, detailed, multiplatform content and allowing it to be experienced with mobile devices will bring added value to online publishers.

Part #2 – Content Strategy: Organizing your content and creating a schedule used to share it will prove beneficial for you and your audience. You will have guidelines to follow for what you are publishing when, and your audience will likely catch on to the schedule.

Furthermore, a variety of content will make your publication more desirable. Incorporate the work of multiple authors, “experts” and crowd-sourced content to appeal to more people.

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Part #3 – Advertising: The online environment is now one of niche marketplaces. Online publishers are required to advertise for their products or host promotions from other advertisers in the most aligned fashion as they can. Provide free content and then offer a paid product based off that free information. It prompts consumers to buy the product and shows its intrinsic value.

Part #4 – Search: Personally, this is the place I believe professional online publishers stand above those creating content as a hobby. Any good online publisher should already know that search engines can be the largest source of traffic for their publication.

Researching all of the related keywords for a niche topic will help in targeting specific audiences. Optimizing website content is the next step after finding related keywords. This is the strategy most successful online publishers are already utilizing. Plus, the more strong content, links, visits and referrals a website receives, the higher rank it will receive in search engines like Google.

With Google being the most popular website on the Internet, it’s hard to argue with the influence search engines have.

Rosenbaum stated in his article, “Today the vectors that you can ‘search’ on don’t reflect what audiences need to know to find what matters to them.” That may be true if content creators aren’t creating the right type of content and aren’t paying close attention to understand their audience better. For those online publishers who are paying attention and communicating with their audience, Rosenbaum’s statement would prove incorrect.

For now, I don’t see content losing its crown, but rather sharing its title with technology. Strong, niche content from reputable sources will remain valuable to audiences, as long as the technology behind it allows for interactivity and accessibility along multiple platforms.

For more on the future of content marketing and the technology involved, join us September 15^th-17^th for our Mequoda Summit Boston 2010.