Content is Queen, style is the Duchess of Cambridge...

Yesterday it occurred to me to wonder why we use the phrase 'content is king' when we don't have a king?  Why not 'content is queen'? I pondered. The nice alliterative 'cuh' still works, and we do have a pretty robust monarch to give the phrase the emphasis intended.

Clearly there's a whole power, gender, culture question that could be pursued here...at length...with much lamentation over the feminist cause etc. but to be honest, I don't think that would get us anywhere, so I'm not going to bother.

Instead I'm going to work with 'content is queen' and, never one to miss the opportunity for a good analogy, I'm going to see where it gets us if we consider our beloved (by some) royal family as a metaphor for the creation of 'good' stuff on the web. Whatever you think about the royal family (and I have to say I'm pretty ambivalent towards them - tourism/charity/morale impact = good, heredity and entitlement = bad; i.e. it's complicated), it's clear that they're on something of a roll at the moment.  Weddings, jubilees, sporting prowess and military heroism, it's all a far cry from a decade ago when the queen declared 1992 her 'annus horribilis'.

So, I'm going to guess that you're now wondering what on earth the monarchy has to do with web content?  Well, in literal terms of course they are the subject of a great deal of online communication/publication, but they also work quite well as a metaphor for what I believe to be the cornerstones of what makes for really good stuff on the web - content and style.  So, if you're sitting comfortably, I'll explain...

Content is Queen
OK, let's start with the queen.  She is, after all, the boss of the old firm, and for me, she represents the very core of what the royal family is about and what web content should be about - quality.  Credible, single-minded and clear sighted, she's the bedrock of our monarchy, just as really good quality content is what should underpin anything that you publish via the web. Do a good job, put in the effort, be creative, be original.  However, good content isn't enough, you also need to package it and get it out there.  That's where Kate comes in...

Style is the Duchess of Cambridge

I defy you to dislike her...*

Oh, they've backed the right horse here (to speak the royal lingo, and not, of course to imply any horse-like resemblance in Kate).  Kate Middleton is the perfect new royal - beautiful, stylish, and seemingly without airs. She's a natural, and provides a much-needed counterpoint to the queen and her daughter.  Appearing on her first tour as a member of the family in Canada, she has presented herself impeccably - right down to the choice of Canada's national colours in her dress, and it's all done with subtlety and charm. Forgive me if this seems gushing, I'm normally a raging cynic, but I really can't help but like her; in fact I defy you to try.  And, like it or not, style is important on the web.  The way you package up and present your content will determine whether it gets a second glance.  Even if you have the most insightful things to say, if it doesn't look inviting no one is going to read it.  (Yes, I am aware that I may be standing in a glass house throwing stones here - forgive me.)

So there you go, the royal dream team; but I do wonder if there is something missing from the equation - a communicator.  If you create great content, and make it look fantastic, you can post it on the web, but who will see it unless you get out there and shout about it?  Success on the social web is as much dependent on the sharing and distribution of content as it is on the content itself.  Maybe the royal family don't have to work too hard on this any more.  They have a brand everyone wants to know about and the media are happy to spread the message for them; but what about you and I?  Who's going to be our royal correspondent?  Well, unless we pay an agency to do the legwork for us (at the risk of a lack of authenticity) it's up to us to do our own. So, what do you have to do?  Simple. Just connect with people, comment on their content, tweet them, write on their wall, say hello.  Just the normal stuff people in a community, we commoners, do...

So, my analogy is broken, but it was good while it lasted.  Maybe I should have stuck with the gender thing...

Oh, and thanks to @lizardjones for inspiring this with a query that got my cogs turning.

* Photo by Niquinho on Flickr under Creative Commons license