Here's #7 of a 10-part series on the "The 10 Hallmarks of Great Web Content." Read the full white paper, or view all the blog posts in the series.

Hallmark of Great Web Content #7:
Great Web content is authoritative.

Great Web content puts your company’s best foot forward. It is original and demonstrates your company’s expertise, not lifted from outsiders or distilled from brochures. It is in-depth, targeted, believable information, not sales hype. Readers will judge your company’s credibility on the quality, depth and interest of your content.

Copyblogger.com makes this point in its “Content Marketing 101” column: “In contrast to traditional ‘interruption’ marketing such as advertising or direct mail, content marketing involves delivering information with independent value that creates trust, credibility, and authority for the business that provides the content.”

When content is credible and authoritative, it builds the reader’s (or listener’s) confidence in the seller. Confident visitors are converting visitors, copywriter Jeff Sexton states. “Make it easy for your customer to imagine taking the action you want her to take. Eliminate any unresolved concerns and replace them with mental images that inspire her confidence in doing business with you.”

For more hallmarks of great web content, read the white paper.

Labels: business to business (B2B), content marketing, ten hallmarks of great web content