What does ‘Content is King’ mean?

By Jess Williamson

Whether you’re well-versed in digital marketing or not, you have probably heard the phrase ‘content is king’ at some point. It has been around for a long time and is something that many marketers still believe in. In this article, we’ll be exploring what content is king means, where it comes from, why we say it, and the value of content in the world of digital marketing and SEO in particular. Is content still king in 2023? Read on to find out… 

The meaning of content is king 

The phrase content is king essentially means that content rules all, it’s the most important part of digital marketing, and serves as the foundation for all methods marketers use to reach their target customers. Content is at the heart of every digital marketing strategy, without it, businesses couldn’t effectively communicate with their audience, establish their brand identity, or use SEO tactics like keyword research to appeal to Google and improve their position on the search results page. Digital content creation is a broad topic and can include a wide range of content types, it doesn’t just have to be words on a page like blog posts or web pages. In fact, images and video content has been gaining a lot of momentum and popularity with audiences and search engines alike in recent years. 

The idea and term were started by Microsoft founder Bill Gates in 1996 when he wrote an essay about the future of the internet, and how content was where a lot of the ‘real money’ would be earned. Also, he suggested that content could prove to be an effective equaliser as any person or business can create and publish content. The essay changed the direction of digital marketing and quickly proved Gates right as good quality content was massively successful with audiences and search engines. 

Of course, digital marketing has evolved significantly since then and some opinions have shifted surrounding the phrase and the weight it holds. However, for the most part, it is still believed that the idea is still true, and no one can deny the importance of high-quality content as part of any marketing strategy from a reliable content creation agency. Google itself is regularly releasing updates that rewards naturally written, good content and penalises any content that is doesn’t fit that criteria. 

Content allows businesses to provide information, advice, or offer entertainment to their audience so they can establish a relationship with them. If businesses can create and deliver content that addresses the issues and concerns their target audience has, they will be closer in converting them into a sale and potentially a regular customer. 

No matter what style of content you are creating, it’s important to ensure it is always relevant to the customer and how your product or service can solve their problem and be what they need. Equally this will help your content rank higher on search pages as search engines like Google are looking for value and relevant content to display for users, giving them a direct answer to their query. The main benefits of high-quality content creation are: 

• Content helps to educate your target customers, helping them to make the right buying decisions. 
• Search engines and social media look for strong content that will be of benefit to users so the right content (and SEO) will improve your visibility and presence online. 
• Great content will encourage other authoritative websites to link to it from all over the web (known as backlinking and link building). This will increase traffic to your content and build better authority in search engines. Boosting your chances of being displayed higher up in the results. 

According to a recent study of more than 11 million SERPs (search engine results pages), the average word count on pages that rank in the top results on Google is 1,447. That is not a small amount of content by any means, so it is clear that search engines love content, but it’s not just about the quantity of what is on the page, the quality is the most important factor for content success online. 

With so many businesses and people following the content is king idea the landscape is flooded with content of all different types. This makes standing out from the crowd more difficult, so it’s not just about how much content you’re putting out but making sure that anything you do create and show your audience is the absolute best quality it can be. 

It is this over-saturation of the market which has made people question the validity of content is king. Bad content certainly won’t be king, so it’s important to know that in today’s digital marketing world, only high-quality content is king. It doesn’t quite have the same ring to it as the original phrase but is probably more accurate to how content is perceived today by search engines and customers. Don’t forget, digital marketing is a massive part of daily life with audiences consuming content constantly. It is sown into the fabric of our culture to such an extent that customers know immediately whether a piece of content they have seen or read is good or bad. 

Therefore, businesses and marketers are having to be more innovative and take greater care with their content planning to make sure what they are creating is appealing, relevant, and won’t just fade into everything else consumers see. It has to stand out for all the right reasons and using good SEO practices is a big part of getting positively recognised by search engines and in front of online searchers. 

Ultimately, content is still king in 2023 as long as it is high quality content that follows the right SEO practices and is relevant for audiences, getting the balance right between pleasing search engines and potential customers will put you in the strongest possible position to make conversions and be successful with your content strategy. 

How can Deliver help? 

As we have seen, it’s not easy to create content that will rank on search engines and appeal to audiences – and with so many other things to focus on, many businesses simply don’t have the time to commit to content. That’s where Deliver can help. We are an experienced and professional SEO agency Wirral that is committed to helping businesses like yours grow and be successful with their digital marketing. 

Our content marketing services are designed to support you by our expert team creating quality SEO content that your target customers want to see and that will bring traffic to your website. Want to know how your content is currently performing? Get a free audit from us today and find out how you can improve your digital marketing with no obligation. Also, check out some of our recent work here to see how we have helped clients with their content.