How to Determine Content Quality and Write Accordingly

A bright red cardinal sitting on a tree branch among small dark blue fruit. It's a probably evening as it's quite dark.

There seems to exist a broad consensus that “content is king“.

On the other hand Google requires quality content and as of 2025 even helpful content.

Ever since the so called Panda or high quality update Google made quality content the ultimate goal.

How to determine content quality though?

This is the second part of my series dealing with content strategy. Last time I defined what content actually is.

Here we will take a look at quality content below.

Content is not what you think it is

It was the number one mistake in my ten content strategy mistakes list:

many people mix up non-content filler material with actual content.

In a way this just reflects Google’s definition of content!

Shallow content that not fulfilling the user intent is doomed after Panda.

Until then content has been mass produced on so called content farms.

In the AI era of fluff flood the same issue applies to automated content – even when checked by human for accuracy.

Underpaid writers who often did not have a clue about what they write about churned out keyword-driven content at amazing rate.

Now they operate ChatGPT content farms with little oversight and lots of redundant summaries.

Google told us indirectly what quality content is.

They rather suggest a few questions we have to ask ourselves.

I have asked myself similar questions long before the high quality update!

That was also way before content marketing went mainstream.

This is what I’ve found out over the years and based on those. Read on!

Quality content has sources

Quality content has sources that is outgoing links.

There are not too many, just enough to prove your point without merely creating a link list.

A link list containing just of links isn’t really quality content.

An article has to cite sources, a few of them, maybe several.

It has also to offer links to more similar content for further reading.

Sources are ideally less opinionated and more scientific or objective.

Quality content is more than opinion

Quality content means things other people can look up and see for themselves.

When someone writes that “SEO is bullshit” or “ruins the Internet” and everybody claps – that’s still not quality content.

It’s just opinion. An article like “SEO is a thriving but controversial industry” would be probably of higher quality.

Blaming a whole group of people that has something in common – like an occupation is rather slander.

You have to state what everybody agrees on first or cite sources where the common sense approach to a topic is explained.

Google has consensus mechanisms to compare your article to those of others.

Also some numbers might be useful, statistics for example to back it up.

Just make sure the content is balanced not just a rant.

Quality content has an author

The author has to be a real individual or team, a trustworthy one – someone who has a name, not just a bot.

Otherwise you can never be sure what the motives were to write it, what bias led to the opinions expressed in it.

Even the most matter of fact or “objective” article reflects personal bias.

You take a lot of things for granted when you write while someone else might think they are weird.

In this case the reader can look up the author!

Based on the details like

name
gender
age
or work

s/he does you can deduce why s/he writes in that particular manner.

Also this way you can find out whether the individual writing is an actual expert on the topic covered.

Quality content is not just official babble

Just listen to politicians. You know who they are!

There is an author but they often manage to speak a lot without saying anything really.

They don’t risk ostracizing voters and thus try always to say what the mainstream electorate wants to hear.

Quality content on the contrary does not hide your opinion as something natural. It doesn’t try to cover it.

Opinion is not presented as self-evident, something we have to believe in without questioning.

Quality content thus stirs a debate – often by asking questions.

Many corporations use impersonal and bland sounding language!

Is it full of corporate newspeak that is merely meant to hide the truth?

Such babble is not quality content. That’s why most press releases do not show up on Google.

Quality content is focused

It doesn’t meander from one topic to another.

It’s not like small talk barely scratching the surface.

The quality is in the depth. The great writer uncovers hidden gems.

It’s not just stating the obvious either. It’s questioning stereotypes and rethinking old ideas. Sometimes it’s even contesting them.

Another article stating that “content is king”?

Or rather, in today’s words, that content marketing is the new must have?

No, sheer statements are not enough.

Quality content deals with the why, the how.

Quality content also deals with recipients

Quality content also deals with “the who”. Who is the content for?

The article is written with a specific audience in mind. It doesn’t have to be written though.

There is a typical audience for visual content like the one geared towards Pinterest as well.

You just have to know who you are writing for.

I write mostly for an American audience, or you might call it English-speaking audience.

I write mostly for men who are a bit geeky, maybe in their twenties to forties.

They have their own websites, they may even sell SEO services.

This is still a bit fuzzy though. In the best case you have an exact reader persona or a few of them you write for.

How do you determine content quality? Do you agree with my quality guidelines?

Or do you prefer to answer Google’s questions?

seo2.blog is not only about Google. The contrary has been always the case.

In SEO 2 you do the right thing for the reader and Google – ideally – rewards you.

I can’t always wait for Google to appreciate my writing and its quality.

Thus I write foremost for my readers and perform better on social media in the short term.

Keyword optimized articles are my second priority.

Google needs your content – they put ads around it

In case you want to rank high as in classic SEO content quality is not always the most important factor.

In other words Google needs your quality content but you don’t always need it.

Google makes money off your content.

By now a lot of third party content ends up being displayed on Google.com itself without proper credit in many cases.

Search users do not even click through anymore. They read AI Overviews right on Google!

Make sure you have the right content quality for your regular readers though or you lose them.

The quality aspects I mentioned above will help you determine content quality.

Then write accordingly or craft any other type of quality content.

More resources from around the Web on content quality plus its impact on search and rankings:

Content, Definitions, Google, Search, SEO, SEO 2.0

June 14, 2025