Many marketers will say that “content is King”. Even new marketers have heard that you must have great content that increases conversion rate, or your marketing campaign will not succeed.
Yet, even more, marketers believe that content is subjective. One person will find it engaging while another will not, and we should just throw our hands up and accept this. While there may be some truth, there is a better way to think about content.
Every piece of content should be created to turn a reader into a believer – a visitor into a customer.
Every piece must be written to engage the viewer, regardless of their personal preferences. When you write with these goals in mind, you create next-level content.
Still trying to figure out how to make this happen? No problem. Creating this type of content takes practice. Use the following eight tips to enhance every piece of content you create.
It has been ingrained into every marketing professional’s brain that they must “know their target audience.”
Yes. You need to know your potential customers to create content for them. But you cannot be complacent with this information.
You need to know the different segments of your target audience because different groups may want your product or service for different reasons.
Make content that approaches the needs of all these groups. You could, but you do not want to.
All-inclusive content is likely to be partially engaging to the reader. They will only care about what is relevant to them. However, content designed for each segment will attract and engage more people because they will stay focused for the entire article.
For example:
As a personal injury attorney, write content covering every type of personal injury claim you manage. A viewer is going to scan the page, see if there is anything that applies to them, and possibly stay and read more when they see their injury.
An attorney that creates content that states they are a workers’ compensation attorney and provides in-depth information about that area of personal injury law will engage the reader.
Creating information about each area, such as car accidents, medical malpractice, and wrongful death, will address the immediate needs of the reader and will generate more conversions.
In this example, injury attorneys should take this a step further and drill down to the next level.
Car accident victims need to know what to say (and what not to say) to the insurance companies, so a list of dos and don’ts after a car accident would engage the readers.
When you address the specific needs or goals of the readers, you have created a next-level experience.
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It is no joke that most content is written before the title is created. That is how important it is to have an eye-catching title that reflects the importance of the information contained in the content.
You want to spark curiosity with your reader – “Can Amusement Park Be Held Liable When Their Ride Injures A Visitor?”
But you don’t want to look like clickbait – “See Local Man Fall From Amusement Park Ride – Is The Park Responsible?”
To attract visitors, try creating titles that:
Different tools are available online to check your headlines to see if they are appealing, the right length, and relevant.
Most content is designed to promote a product or service, true, but keep the sales pitch to a minimum. Sales content turns people off. The walls come up. The readers feel manipulated.
Just stick with the facts, provide detailed information, and let them make their own decisions.
Write to educate, engage, and entertain.
GIVE them something of value. Help your readers gain a deeper understanding of the subject and you’ll gain some loyal customers.
Have you ever felt annoyed at the end of an article because you got nothing out of it? Did you feel like it was a waste of your time? That feeling comes from article fluff. Fluff is great to use when you are baking, not when you are creating content.
Make sure that your content has insight and purpose. Be concise, but not so concise, that you rush through the information. Take your time to educate and provide value.
Avoid fluff, trailing off to different subjects, or just getting lost in the subject.
Create an outline of the content you will create before you begin creating it. This will allow you to stay focused on the end goal of what your content is meant to achieve.
Do you want to catch the attention of your readers right away? Include data in your content. People love facts and figures.
Why?
Because real data gives credibility to your information, it backs up the facts. It makes you look like an authority.
You achieve the following when you include data in your content:
It is a mistake to think you must create something new to have engaging content.
Refresh your old content with new facts, updated graphs, charts, or newer information.
and Google likes it when you refresh old content.
If you had a content piece generating a lot of traffic and had stopped, look it over, refresh it, and get it out there again.
You can alter old pieces to become different types of content. Take a piece and create an infographic. Make a long piece into a whitepaper. Shorten a piece for quips on social media.
You worked hard to create that content. It may keep working for you.
Make sure that your content is optimized for easy reading.
Have you heard of the term TLTR?
TLTR, or Too Long To Read, is a real issue. Blocks of text without breaks and subheaders look daunting and ugly.
Keep your paragraphs short. Some can even be one-line sentences.
Add some white space between sections because it’s easy on the eyes.
Use bulleted lists to break up the content.
Add subtitles (h2 and h3 tags) so a reader can quickly scan the page looking for topics of interest.
It is all about making the content worth reading.
Everyone has seen the stock photos of a person sitting with the attorney at a desk: pen in hand, looking confident, clean white background…
You’ve seen the same picture on a hundred different websites.
Do you know what the reader thinks? Yuck, boring!
Want to engage your reader? Have real photos, videos, graphs, and charts relevant to your business on your site.
If you are an attorney, hire a real photographer, or a friend with a great camera, to get shots of you at your desk with a client or standing in front of the courthouse.
Get some high-quality shots of someone using your product.
You also want to ensure that your photos, graphs, and videos are placed appropriately in the content.
Your photos and graphs should complement the paragraph they just read or prepare them for the section they’re about to read.
People want to avoid continuing to scroll up and down to get the information.
Taking your content to the next level, yes, the 8th-grade level, will not only keep you from alienating a substantial number of internet users, but it will also help you rank.
Google bots to like and promote content that’s simple to read and easy to understand.
Don’t try to show off your amazing vocabulary. Keeping it simple goes a long way.
I understand. The content creation game is a tough one, and it can become overwhelming.
It’s easy to forget that your content has a purpose other than filling your site with text.
Take your time and create an outline for yourself. Set a goal you wish to achieve, and then create content that meets those goals.
Check your content for readability. Ensure you have relevant data and information in it, and always include some type of visual stimuli on the page.
Creating next-level content takes practice, but you can do it!
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