Master the 4 Cs of Quality Content to Create Sparkling Results

Master the 4 Cs of Quality Content to Create Sparkling Results

Reader Comments (54)

  1. Hello Sonia,

    thank you for getting this very clear to the point! Awesome! 🙂
    One of the best “manuals” for blog-post-wrinting I read so far. Didn’t skip a single paragraph- so your concept really works! 🙂
    Greetings and lots of success for you!
    André

  2. Cut is so important. I do video and am amazed how often people take 30 seconds for opening credits on a 4 minute video. Or just ramble on.

    Focus people. Focus.

  3. Sonia, I’m always impressed by your posts on Copyblogger. I found this yet another one I’d like to refer back to often. I’m presently reading “Made to Stick” which touches on similar themes.

    One of the big tests of a quality post is how well the idea sticks in the readers mind…

    The qualities the authors list for memorable ideas are:

    1. Simplicity
    2. Unexpectedness
    3. Concreteness
    4. Credibility
    5. Emotional
    6. Storytelling

    Anyone who enjoys this post and others like will love Made to Stick too…

    My 10 cents
    Glen Crosier
    Brighton, UK

  4. I really like the comparison of great words to precious stones. I never thought of it, but you articulate it well. I’d add that, like diamonds, there is abundance, and those who control the stream, reap the most benefit.

  5. You always have great metaphors! Not to mention, great points. Sometimes I feel like I’m talking too much while I am trying to get my point across – I do like to talk.

  6. @Glen, I totally agree, I thought Made to Stick was brilliant. In fact, I need to re-read it.

    @Kevin, I love that you love it. 🙂 I thought EH was a good example of very clear, straightforward prose with very subtle ideas.

    @Janice, xoxox.

  7. Thank you for posting this, I was overcoming this obstacle in my writing. In school you are taught to elaborate and add a bunch of additional descriptive words, it was hard to break this habit, this is helping me out a great deal.

  8. Excellent advice. Bloggers can sharpen their feel for the four qualities by reading authors who apply them consistently. They’re the four reasons mystery writers Michael Connelly and Robert B. Parker have enjoyed huge success: clarity, color, cut, carats. Even in high tech, they account for a large portion of the success of blogs like Cool Tools and Practical Technology. Good writing is a treat.

  9. This is a great article and will go to my Delicious account – so you must have done something right.

    I’m a big believer in clarity. I don’t want my readers to have to read a sentence 3 times. I want the sentence to be so clear, it’s impossible to be confused. Yet I don’t want to dumb anything down either. This requires careful structuring and tactful simplicity.

  10. Great post – I have been reading this blog at work for weeks – my boss hates it! ‘Cos I keep telling him “Well Copyblogger says…”

  11. After 3-4 words, our content can begin to sound the same way Charlie Brown’s mother sounds to Snoopy. Keep it clean and focused. I enjoyed this article as usual.

  12. Very well put! There’s a reason no one reads those damn manuals, no clarity, needs cutting, and not carats worth pursuing. I was starting to think I was the only one who didn’t read those things…

  13. Excellent post! People blog for so many reasons, but if the ultimate goal of a blog is to add value to others, the blogger must take these principles to heart. Thanks for providing us with such a great tool to refer to as we write.

  14. In solidarity with my copywriting brethren, I must say that there are a few (not many, but a few) decent manuals being written, but they don’t get read either.

  15. Ok maybe I am going insane but didn’t you say 4 C’s? And wouldn’t “Collateral” make 5? I am tired so maybe I am just publicly making a fool of myself but …

    Anyway, excellent post Sonia!

  16. Seamus, you are insane.

    No, actually, yes, there are the traditional 4 Cs from diamonds, and then a bonus for ya. “Collateral” isn’t so much a quality of your copy as it is a way of thinking about it.

  17. I agree … simplicity when writing is so essential with online audiences because they can tune out pretty quickly.

    I also think that making sure your content is laid out properly with spacing, bullet points, highlights is also important.

    Thanks for a great reminder!

    Miss Gisele B.

  18. I found this Writing Sample Analyzer link very interesting. I write three blogs, and analyzed several sections from all three. I found them to be around 6.6-6.7, with variations between 4.5 and 10.

    Eileen
    Dedicated Elementary Teacher Overseas (in the Middle East)
    elementaryteacher.wordpress.com

  19. Another part about keeping it clear is clean code for search engines. Anyone like me who needs a good spell checker can write a post in word. However, copying and pasting from word can muddy the html. The solution is to copy from Word to Notepad, then from Notepad to the blog post.

  20. I like your emphasis on clarity and cutting out bloated content. Reminds me of the fashion advice to keep it simple. Jackie O was the artful master of simple elegance.

  21. Keeping it short and to the point is easier than it sounds. However, keeping it simple is by far the most useful advice. Knowing your topic helps. Don’t write about something you have no experience with.

  22. I can’t remember the author, I believe it was Hemingway, that said to cut out words that have no additional usage. He also said, if you can say something in three words, never use ten.

  23. Sonia – Been looking for ways to improve my writing skills! I think the key I got out of your article is to use the ‘delete’ key more! I think I have a tendancy to over kill my copy with too many words, trying to compensate for my lack of writing abilities. Thanks for the tips as this is something I’ll use starting tomorrow!

  24. Thank you so much! I read some articles about writing successful articles last days. And I thinks this is the best one.

    You should read every word!

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