What Even Is "Good" Content?

And why it matters as an online business owner

A question as old as the online business internet - what makes good content, good content?

To help answer that question, let me take you back to 2019 (and then a little further) when I first launched my freelance writing business.

💫✨💫✨💫💫✨💫✨💫💫✨💫✨ (that’s us in the way back machine)

In order to make my little bitty business work I needed clients. And in order to find clients I needed to market my services. And where is the first place we go to market ourselves in the 21st century? Correct, the internet.

And what is our best tool for all the promoting & marketing? Content.

Now as a true child of my generation, I am no stranger to the internet, and more specifically, to social media, where a lot of our content creation takes place these days.

I was there at the birth of the world wide web and we’ve grown up together - witnessing each other’s ups, downs, triumphs, & catastrophes.

I’ve been posting & content-ing online since my very first Facebook account created on the family PC in 2006. Back then the “content” we shared was painfully dull and, in retrospect, quite precious.

2006 News Feed

It was all about one liner brain dumps & quirky “gifts” given to a (fingers crossed) growing list of Facebook friends. It was about actually connecting with people. (It was the most social that social media ever was, in my opinion)

A few years later, I started my first online journal - a sort of early blog - on Xanga. (This, thankfully, has been lost to the bowels of the internet) And I wrote a few times a week about the goings-on in the life of an early 20-something.

There were a few other blogs throughout the years and then the addition of Instagram when it first launched in the mid-2000s.

But in 2019, when Katie Kastner Freelance Services first launched, I had to use the internet in a whole new way - as a business billboard.

And I was no longer posting randomly about my life, I was creating purposeful content.

Content Creation As A Business Necessity

With the internet business boom of the mid-2000s came a new way to do business and a new way to promote that business.

Online marketing (digital marketing but without the MLM-type courses & ick) actually saw it’s origin in the mid-90’s but didn’t become the mainstream practice it is now until the 2000s and the introduction of social media marketing.

And the term ‘content creation’ entered the chat.

What is content?
Content is any kind of curated, strategic information produced in written, audio, video or visual form.

And why is good content so important?
It’s a noisy internet world and good content helps you stand out & reach the people you want to reach. It helps you grow an audience. It helps you build your business or brand.

So, What Is Good Content?

Ah yes…a question without a straight answer, but a clear definition…

Good Content is…

✨ Clear & Relevant To The Specific Audience You’re Wanting To Reach
Good content is easy to understand and consume and speaks directly to the people you want to reach. It answers their questions, solves their problems, or allows them to see themselves in it. It’s easily recognizable as information they need, want, or desire.

✨ Super Authentic & Doesn’t Sound Like Someone Else
It feels human, like sitting down with you for lunch and a chat. Good content also sounds like you (or your brand) because it’s not trying to emulate someone else. This kind of realness is what builds trust and credibility.

✨ Creates A Connection & Resonates
It makes your reader/viewer/listener feel seen, heard, or understood. It creates a moment of “Oh, that’s me!” or “I needed this.” It builds community through shared experience.

✨ Has A Clear Purpose
Good content has a job to do — it could be selling a service, starting conversation, growing your community, etc. But it has an end goal for your business or brand.

A Few Examples Of Good Content…

Here’s a quick round-up of good content that I’ve come across recently & why I would put it in the “good” category.