Fresh content without the hard sell please

I'll probably get a lot of flak for writing this, and I hope I won't have to resort to the same in the future. . .

There's something that's really been irritating me now recently . . . and I guess I'm due a rant.

The online 'industry' is highly competitive, especially in South Africa where there is such a limited space within which to move. Consequently web agencies have to ensure that their brand becomes prominent and easily recognisable by potential clients. One of the most important tools for web agencies is to become "an online center of influence", that is, to write plenty of useful content and articles (simultaneously helping with SEO). As I am a verocious reader, aggregator sites are a huge time saver.

Every now and then, or I should say, more often than not, I come across an article title that hooks me, that is, the article seems like it will shed some interesting insights onto a familiar subject. So I read the first few paragraphs, and then skim to the end to see if it actually does provide any insights / solutions. It's at this point that I get annoyed, as while the article may have a great hook, it turns out to be nothing more than the same old content, recycled and redressed, written for the sole purpose of advertising XYZ's services. This is essentialy 2-3 minutes of my time wasted on reading an advertorial.

Don't get me wrong, I don't mind companies advertising their services, everyone has to, I'd just appreciate some forewarning. It's the illusion of the author imparting knowledge for the sake of imparting knowledge that annoys me. Perhaps my ability to sift through the rehashed content is what needs polishing.

So my new technique is to scroll down, check if its 'safe' then scroll to the top to begin reading the article.

Like I said before, I don't mind agencies advertising their services through submitted articles, but potential clients are becoming increasingly web-savvy and web agencies have to become more sophisticated in marketing their services.