Can The Canned Content! (Because You Can…And Because It Sucks)
November 29, 2012 By Chad McComsey, aka TheChad
It’s hard to believe, but even with the recent major Google Penguin and Panda updates there are businesses relying on canned content for their websites. If you’re one of them, it’s really easy to fix the problem.
Stop It!
Yep…it’s that simple. But that admittedly is the easy part. The reason people look for cookie cutter solutions is because they either
- a) don’t have time to create original content,
- b) don’t want to pay anyone for good original content or
- c) all of the above.
Google hates duplicate content, and if you’re doing the “cookie cutter” thing you run tremendous risk of duplicate content.
No cookie-cutter solution will EVER set you apart. That’s an oxymoron if there ever was one.
Simon Sinek, an author and adjunct staff member of RAND Corporation, speaks often to business administrators and CEO’s and has a recurring quote in his videos that cuts to the very core of why canned content is a dismal way to represent your business:
“People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it. What you do simply proves what you believe.”
When you use canned content, you’re telling visitors to your site that you have no heart in your business and you only do what you do to make money. Think about it…most canned content is generic (usually poorly written) content that is supposed to make you look like you care and your business has heart.
Kinda sucks when a visitor to your site reads the same drivel and features/benefits crap on another site.
The only way to do it right is to put out the time and effort to create good original content that represents you and your business philosophy. Have you revisited your own mission statement lately? All too often, business owners and upper management lose track of their own mission statement and the true meaning and heart behind it.
Don’t fake it. Great content isn’t cheap, but canned content will cost you way more in the long run. Your website content represents who you are and why you do what you do. Take the time to make it a good representation, rather than making your business and your website both look like afterthoughts. Start with answering the question “Why do you do what you do?” Everything else will radiate from that starting point and show the heart behind your business…
…because that’s ultimately what makes someone want to do business with you.
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