INTERNET

Why original Internet content is worth the effort

There is lots of regurgitated content on the Internet. Many people blame the Internet for degrading the quality of content writing and general writing because one, everybody can publish these days, and two, copying/pasting is so easy. This is a weakness as well as a strength. I think the ability to publish with least effort has empowered millions of Internet users to express themselves and share ideas with the fellow Net denizens. There is no dispute in the fact that the ability to publish easily is a great blessing. But many people exploit this ability and hence the problem of inferior content arises.

The problem is, after all, how much original content can be produced on limited topics? After a while the repetition is unavoidable and this happens in every form of expression whether it is writing, or photography, or painting, of filmmaking; you will find trails of repetitions everywhere. So how do you produce original content?

Many clients often approach me with pre-existing content; they want me to rewrite it in my own style. since it is mostly rewriting, they expect me to charge less than my usual rate and which I think is fair enough. I don’t reject such work because even if I have to rewrite something existing I rewrite it in my own style, rendering my unique voice to it so it is as good as original content. Sometimes I even go beyond the material the client has sent me; I gather my own information and try to learn as much as possible about the subject and then write it according to my own understanding and the clients often love it. Although I’m being paid less for the same amount of work I do for “original” content I feel happy that my clients always get original content from me even when they are not very crazy about the idea of original content.

I think it is not as difficult as it seems. Agreed, practically every topic under the sun has been dissected over the Internet but still, if you apply your mind to it you

can always give your own take. People know that the same information exists on various websites and this is very much expected when they conduct a search on some search engine, in fact they may find thousands of pages more or less talking about the same thing and that is not the point. The point is whether you can present your own perspective or not.

But you may wonder that if the same sort of content exists on so many websites then what’s the big deal about going for original content? I’m talking from the perspective of a client who has to spend money to get content, and not from the perspective of a blogger who writes on his or her own.

Well, there is noise and then there is voice. You have to decide whether you want to become a voice that people would like to stand and listen to or you are satisfied being a noise — it doesn’t matter much whether it exists or not. The world  treats you the way you treat your content; just as you want people to take you as an individual who is quintessentially unique, the same applies to your content too. Original content lets people know that

• You take what you say on your website or blog very seriously.
• You have a point of view.
• You know what you’re talking about.
• You are alive to what’s going on around you.
• You have an in-depth knowledge of the service or the product your offering to your visitors.
• You take your business seriously enough to hire a professional content writer (this means that you are so confident about your business that you are ready to invest money in it without any inhibitions) or  spend enough time coming up with your own original content.