Im just wondering what do you think makes good content? - That's a little bit of a broad question as it differs from site to site.
But I think creative, refreshing content is good. For me, especially in the SEO/SEM industry there must be bazillions of companies online offering pretty much the same service. Keyword research, competitive research, etc etc.
It can be hard to try and make yourself stand out and I think you have to write in such a way that makes you ask the question "Why should I use this company?".
Giving the user something different or coming from a different angle can make all the difference and if you can write on all levels, i.e. for the not so savvy visitor right up to the techno buff that knows what your talking about is also the key I have found.
The same rule applies to e-commerce stores. There are millions of site that sell children's clothing, why should your visitor buy your product?
How can you write decent content? - I don't know about others but I tend to evoke reactions. Appealing to peoples emotions works well because from a Psychology point of view, humans are all curious creatures.
Writing creatively can give you that edge. You wouldn't read a book if it never captivated you or kept you in suspense. The same can be said for copy writing on the web.
I'm no copy writer but I do know one of the best in the world and we were chatting once and he told me a simple trick that increased his clients direct mail response by 2000%....
"He puts it in his pocket" rather than "He put it in his pocket" The first one leads you to believe its in motion and the second one leads you to believe he put it in his pocket and that was it.
So it's just little things like that, that make a huge difference in conversion and keeping the "stickiness" of your site.
If you can inject a bit of humour too then that is a big plus
KP