What is UGC and Why It&##x27;s Important

What is UGC and Why It's Important

User generated content is any information created and supplied by the users or readers of a website or publication. In contrast, a site that creates its content has a staff of content creators; the writers, graphic artists, videographers or others who create and supply content for the publication or site. It's like the difference between an article written by a journalist on a paper's staff and a reader's letter to the editor. The reader is supplying user generated content.

Why it's important

Any website has to create its content for the site to have material to read or view, like an article or a video. To make things simpler, we'll call anyone who looks at a site a reader, even though they could be viewing video or listening to audio. When readers of the site add content, for example, a reader comments on a blog article, that content is published on the site and helps increase the available content for everyone.

Adding content to a website helps the site owner in several ways:

It helps SEO through increasing the total content for search engines to index
Contributions by readers can create a community
Reader contributions can add useful insights

Some examples of UGC

While a blog comment is one example of UGC, and others are abundant on the Internet. Wikipedia is a user collaboration that uses UGC to create and update an online encyclopedia, product reviews on Amazon or other shopping sites are UGC, and video gamers capture their game play and post it for others to view on gaming sites.

All UGC sites

While it may seem difficult to imagine a website or business that operates with 100% user generated content, you probably use one of them regularly. I've already mentioned Wikipedia, but most social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, and SnapChat provide the means for people to add and supply content, all for free. The sites themselves create only a fraction of the posts and stories on social media. Businesses and organizations can also supply content to promote themselves and attract followers, but all of the content they post qualifies as UGC since it's not created by Facebook, Twitter, etc..

YouTube is another example of a UGC site that offers a free service for anyone to publish and upload a video. YouTube has become one the most popular sites on the Internet and in addition to individually created videos, many organizations and brands create content to promote their goals.

While Wikipedia is a non-profit, social media and other sites utilize UGC to create a community of members that want to see what other members have created and published, then charge advertisers to reach their members. Yelp! is an example of a UGC business review site where Yelp relies on member reviews for the content creation.

How UGC has changed us

Marketing experts estimate that as many as 90% of all Internet users read customer reviews and ratings of products and services on the Internet, and about 60% trust these reviews when making a buying decision. You might have relied on a user review for a recent purchase online, booking a hotel on a travel site, or choosing a restaurant for a meal. Reviews by others are helping us make decisions and choices, and while one review might be overly positive or negative, several reviews that are consistent can sway our opinions. If you've purchased anything online, you've probably received a request to review your purchase, since reviews are important to any site for buyers.

News and journalism have changed as well. Whenever there's a breaking story, the TV news stations seem to always turn to the tweets to capture the earliest information. If you want to see what's happening yourself, you can utilize social media sites and find the same information that news channels and journalists are reading, directly from the source. Users can create news stories, but the quality is only as good as the user creating the content.

What did we do with our time before smartphones and social media? These sites have created a whole way to pass the day and keep up with friends, family, celebrities and brand names by perusing what every one publishes on their account. All of this is UGC.

A recent Deloitte report estimated that one out of every three consumers contributes to some online forum so while you may not be an active participant in creating content, chances are you know someone who is active. The ability for people expressing satisfaction and dissatisfaction and has given consumers more power with the capacity to impact a brand or businesses reputation.

To my way of thinking

UGC and the ease with which it can be created has given a greater voice to anyone with the ability and skill to publish on the Internet. Anyone can become a voice, and it's the user's choice what to say and where to say it, and even in what format. As a result, any individual can become well-known as a critic, writer, videographer by making contributions to other websites and online publications.

Reviewers are so important that there are now professional services that arrange for business and brands. Kirkus is a review service for publishers and authors, founded in 1933, and has an online fee-for-review service for self-publishers.

Yelp! Elite is an invitation-only group run by Yelp! for reviewers who regularly contribute well-written reviews. Elite members receive invitations to new business openings, movie previews, and other activities paid for by advertisers who want reviews by quality reviewers.

Amazon has an invitation-only program called Amazon Vine where they invite reviewers to post opinions about new and pre-release products that are supplied by brands who want to get their product reviewed.

As a reader, you can benefit from the wealth of UGC that people share online and learn from others experiences. As a contributor, you have more choices than ever to make yourself heard regardless of what it is you want to say.