In a search and content based world, the need for good writing has never been greater. Indeed, good writing matters more than ever because expectations are at an all time high. People are growing tired of garbage sites, garbage emails, and hollow promises. This wasn’t the case a few years ago when the Internet really was like the Wild West and just about anything and everything passed the test. Thankfully, those days are long gone. Quality is the new quantity, and it will only become more so in the coming years.

Good Writing Is Sustainable

The Internet is still relatively young, but it has grown up quickly in a short span of time. With its maturity comes a new set of responsibilities, including contributing good stuff to the mammoth stores of digitized data. I can remember early online adopters teaching people to put anything up online as fast as possible because it really didn’t matter what it was as long as it was something about using the Internet to make more money.

“Don’t worry about grammar-spelling-paragraph structure or any other rules of writing conventions!” was their mantra. “Just get something up there and watch your cash register begin to ring!”

While this tune may have been catchy for awhile, it quickly played itself out as a short-lived model with zero thought toward sustainability. Sadly, I own more than my fair share of poorly written “ebooks,” “white papers,” and “reports” I opted in to receive for free. In the early days, there weren’t many choices and if I wanted specific information about how to do something online, I had to move past the mediocre presentation and filter out the content I came to get in the first place.

I learned some things, but because of their sub-par quality, these pieces of content caused me to discontinue a relationship with the person who gave away said ebook, white paper, or free report. If they didn’t care enough to present something done well from the get go, I could only imagine what the rest of their stuff would be like.

Reputation and Good Writing Go Hand in Hand

Another reason good writing matters more than ever is because it (and the person who created it) will be judged by its quality. Anyone wanting to expand into the very public online space needs to be as conscious of how your writing looks, sounds, and reads as you would be about getting ready for a first date with your dream guy or gal. You’ve got only one chance to make a first impression. Blow it, and you won’t be getting a second date.

Finally, good writing matters more than ever these days because it’s good for search. As Google’s algorithms become more sophisticated with how content is rewarded and ranked, putting your best stuff out there for search to find only makes sense. I have immense respect for the folks who write these algorithms. Somehow they know how to set things up so that the cream of the content crop rises to top. For anyone who is serious about a long-term, sustainable online business, rising to the top is far more appealing than any other options.

In what ways are you making good writing a part of your long-term business strategy?