5 Surprisingly Simple Secrets To More Compelling Content
Posted by Susan Davis on Wed, Apr 25, 2012
The role of a web content writer is to first and foremost, engage the reader. This can be best accomplished by using the methods that some of the most prolific web writers use regularly, including research, planning and structure.
1. Create a Content Development Strategy. Web content writers who have a plan and system can more fluidly develop the best web content. This is because a system helps greatly to keep distractions away, such as information that wanders or lacks cohesion. A system also serves to take out the guesswork as much as possible.
Start by constructing an outline for the content to be created. This can be done for everything from a comprehensive website content plan, to a simple article or serious of blogs. For example, you may find that creating an SEO Copywriting Checklist will make it possible to simply add a few useful concepts for paragraph sections in an article. Doing this not only allows you to stay focused, but writing will flow much easier.
2. Know the Target Audience. To develop the best web content, you should have an angle, or an idea of what you wish to convey and accomplish. To do that, it is essential to really understand the target audience thoroughly.
News and magazine writers know, for example, that they must understand the readership of the publication in order to write effectively for those markets. The same holds true for web content and perhaps more so. This is because when web surfers use search terms, they are looking for specific information, whereas, print readership may be a little less discerning.
The one commonality is that readerships expect to find a certain level of writing and information before committing to reading an entire piece. For this to happen, web content writers need to thoroughly understand their audience and what they are looking for.
You can ascertain what a readership wants by researching what they have responded to in past articles. Take a look at comments, for example. Often, there are other useful morsels there that can provide insight for what may have been missing that readers would like to see more of.
Make a list of the top most popular comments, blog tracks and shares on the website. Search for patterns in the commentary, such as similar topics in several posts. Usually, more than half of the top posts pertain to the same three topics. Since this is what people are responding to, use this data as a basis to construct new web content. Think of new ways to address the same issues, situations or consequences that can arise from the topics discussed.
Keep in mind that the goal is to distill what comment posters and the target audience wishes to read by finding out what kinds of information they have responded to well in the past.
3. Grab the Reader with a Hot Headline. Don't be afraid to use the tried and true types of headlines that have always worked in the past. For example, when you read a newspaper, whether online or off, think of the types of headlines that really attract your attention.
Most everyone responds to certain kinds of headlines in the same way. The goal is to pique interest. Use short, interesting titles that combine the topic with something current or that address something you've seen in the comments sections of the website you will be writing for or similar sites.
Consider the following when crafting a good headline. Use information that has worked the best as part of a pattern, that you found on the website you are writing for or a similar site. Then construct a headline that evokes interest by presenting:
4. Hook the Audience and Write Persuasively. Directly after the headline, the most important part of the writing is what will keep the reader interested. The next 4-6 sentences should provide just enough information to tell the audience what the piece is about, inspiring them to see what comes next. Rather than discuss an issue or problem in detail, describe an experience and then a possible solution to try.
5. Present the Solution and How to Implement it. Begin with sub-headings and then flesh out the rest of the section. Describe how the audience may easily construct their own similar scenarios into actionable tasks. Be as succinct and direct as possible, with linear, step-by-step instructions. Sprinkle in relevant examples with solutions, and even humor, if appropriate.