Create Content with Purpose
As a surefire way to attract more readers, followers, subscribers, and, ultimately, customers, creating quality content is still key. The problem for most website owners and marketers, however, is that creating the type of killer content that keeps both the readers and the search engines happy is a lot harder than it sounds.
If you’re looking for ways that you can improve the excellence of the content on your website or your blog, never fear. There are a variety of things you can do right now to generate more of the kinds of content that your audience is interested in. Let’s get started:
Ask your readers/customers what they’d like to see.
It’s a simple idea. In order to attract more of types of readers that eventually convert into paying customers, pay attention to what they are interested in and write about that. You may, for instance, want to come up with a list of the most frequently asked questions your customers pose and create a piece of content like a blog post or short video that address each one of these topics in turn.
Write content that makes your readers’ lives better.
Some examples of the types of content that make readers’ lives better include how-to videos, funny images, recipes, and a new ways to use something old. Create content that is so useful to your readers that they’ll want to come back to it and share it with their family and friends.
Focus on one thing at a time.
The content that does the best in terms of link generation and social media shares tends to be content which is tightly focused on one topic in particular. Make this topic stand out to your readers by telling them exactly how or why it is interesting, and save the unrelated anecdotes for another post.
Write an insanely good headline.
Great content does no one any good unless your readers read it, and the way to get them to read it is by writing a great headline. Use the headlines your write to promise your readers life-changing information if they click, and then do your best to deliver on that promise when they do. Some examples of this type of headline include “10 Tips for (Some Topic)” and “How to (Be Successful in Some Area).” Another headline tip is writing one that makes a claim that is somewhat controversial, like “Why (Some Topic) Will Never Work” or “How (Your Product Does Something Unbelievable).”
Get organized.
You can build a regular readership by posting to your blog or website on regular schedule.
Employ SEO best practices.
The search engines are your friends when it comes to attracting new readers. Make your content easy to find by using good SEO web design techniques and content strategies. This does not mean over-stuffing your posts with keywords, but it does mean employing effective use of the title tags, meta data, and more.
Research, research, research.
Your search for new blog topics and content ideas will never end. Keep a list of topics that have potential, and refer to this list to get your juices flowing during periods of creative “drought.”
Keep it short.
Keep your readers engaged by sticking to the point.
Repurpose by digging deeper.
You can repurpose content that has already proven successful in one form of media for use in another—a blog post might make a series of videos, for example, or a PowerPoint presentation might turn into a white paper. When repurposing in this way, you can make the content fresh by going deeper into the topic than you did previously or by looking at it from another angle. Be innovative in jumping off what already works to create something that readers will find interesting.
Be relevant.
Keep up with current events. What topics are blowing up popular blogs? What are people chatting about around the water cooler? Keep your blog and your brand development up to date by referencing what’s going on right now.
Make it easy to read visually.
Reading on the web can be tiring, even for users who spend all day online. Make things easy on your readers by making effective use of white space, bullet points, sub-headlines, and paragraph breaks.
Proofread.
While your content does not necessarily have to use absolutely perfect grammar all the time, you can build more credibility on your website by using language correctly.
Consistently good content will attract more new and repeat visitors to your site. These content tips can have you producing high quality, highly sharable content on a regular basis. What type of content gets the most attention on your blog or website? What content techniques have you found to be successful?
Stewart Cook is passionate about web design and SEO and is currently employed by WebConcepts, a leading web development and design company based in West Jordan, Utah. In addition to providing SEO web design, WebConcepts also provides ecommerce website design, multimedia design and mobile application development.
