In this edition of #ThrowBackThursday, I'm jumping back to an old topic, and still a very valid topic explained in Daily Golden Nugget number 175 back on March 25, 2011... Adding new value to the internet.
Content, content, content! That's what Google wants. Countless numbers of official Google webmaster blog posts, videos, and presentations by Google employees at internet expos talk about the continual need to create new content.
So what it content anyway?
Content is everything you find online. It's the stuff that people read, laugh at, learn from, enjoy, and share.
A blog post is something you can read, but so is a famous quote written in a fancy font on a solid color background (aka a meme). Those are both forms of content.
You can laugh at a simple status post, a photograph, a famous quote, or a video. All of those are also different forms of content.
You can learn from an in-depth written article, but you can also learn from a video, both of which are forms of content.
It's all content.
Add New Value With Your Content
Google wants you to continually add value to the internet with the content you create. Adding value means you need to create new content different than anyone ever has before.
With billions of web pages online now, it seems like a pretty tall order to create something new that no one has ever seen before.
My friends always say that Hollywood can't come up with a new story line. Movies have been around so long that no one can write an original story any more. Perhaps that goes back to the Types Of Literary Conflict of "man vs. man," "man vs. society," "man vs. nature," and "man vs. self."
With Google at the helm of the internet, perhaps we should be thinking of "man vs. machine" conflicts instead of the classic versions. Should we be following the Google Machine's instructions to create something new?
Is that even possible?
Use your POV
Everyone has an opinion, or a story to tell from their point-of-view, right? That's the added value that Google want from you.
It doesn't matter how many times the same story has been told online; you can always retell the story from your point of view, with your own words. No one else can tell a story the same way you do, and therefore it's brand new content for the internet.
Important point: Plagiarism is not allowed. Google knows!
Is it all storytelling?
Alright, so creating content doesn't mean you need to be a great storyteller of fiction, it's actually much easier to recount some non-fiction stories involving your own customers or experiences. Sure, others have already had those similar experiences too, but this is your unique story.
It doesn't have to be a story either. Have you ever suffered through a friend trying to tell a joke, a teacher giving a class, or some really bad acting in a movie and thought to yourself that you could do it so much better?
Well, why don't you?
Feel free to take someone else's content and turn it into something better. You are making improvements on what already exists, and therefore adding value to the internet.
Important point: Plagiarism is still not allowed. Don't tell the joke with the same words, don't teach the class using the same PowerPoint slides, and don't create a new video using the same script. Google knows!
The Bottom Line...
Everything you upload, publish, and write online is content. Use your own words and vision to create content that is uniquely yours.
That's how to add value to the internet.
