How to Create Awesome Content

What is one of the most effective ways to keep visitors returning to your website? Fresh content. Yet, why is web so full of stale and outdated content? The main reason is the –mistaken- idea that producing awesome content requires some magical and unobtainable formula. Not so. You can create website marketing pieces that resonate with readers, and accomplishes your purpose, by understanding how the content marketing process works. Consider these steps to crafting first-rate content.

Know your reader

One imperative for content creation is making a composite customer, or “persona”. That persona will serve to remind you who you’re targeting, in a tangible way. You’ll learn what their interests are, about their buying cycle, and what motivates them. There are online templates available to assist in shaping a persona. By asking questions about who the targeted reader is, how they live, and what they desire in life, a persona is fashioned. Understanding their narrative helps you produce content that is appealing and meaningful to them. Remember that your persona represents your target customer.

Know yourself

What is your company’s brand, its personality? In order to create content in a voice that accurately represents the organization’s brand, you must have a clear understanding of it. What tone should the piece have? If the company wants to project a tech-y vibe, the piece should include some tech jargon. Perhaps the company’s image is solid and established. In that case, the content needs to have a straightforward, common sense style.

Keep the cart behind the horse

Write for your customers, with SEO in mind. Not the other way around. While content absolutely should be search engine optimized concentrating too much on keywords and not enough on readability can lead to copy that is stilted or confusing. The goal is to keep the reader interested so they get your message. Don’t construct nonsensical sentences, in the service of SEO and content marketing, so befuddling that the reader gives up and clicks away from the page.

Focus on the thread

Stay focused on the topic at hand, rather than straying off into tangents. The content should lead the reader through the article, from start to finish, like a story. The introduction piques their curiosity and draws them in, then the meat of the story keeps them hooked and interested, and the conclusion wraps it up so that they feel satisfied.

Say it with images

A picture can be worth a thousand words. If you can say it more concisely or engagingly through an image, use it. Sometimes a graphic combined with several words can get the point across more effectively than a 200-word treatise can. Images also break up reading and draw the eye to the content.

Edit once and edit again

Plan ahead so that you’re not finishing the content in a rush. Editing is an integral part of the process. Step away from the work for a few hours or a day, and return to edit with fresh eyes. What made perfect sense yesterday might be less than clear upon re-reading. Bringing in someone else to edit can be even more illuminating and result in a sharper finished product.

As you can see, once it’s broken down into components, there is really no mystery to constructing excellent and effective content. Keep these points in mind as you do, and your content marketing will be generating a high number of hits and leads on a regular basis.

Ultimately, think like a publisher, because what you want to do is just tell a good story, to keep your customers engaged and asking for more.

Image: ResumeOk.com

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