Today, when people are suffering from an overload of advertisements and promotions, content marketing is the best way to not only attract more audience, but also form a trusting relationship with them. However, content marketing is different from other forms of writing. Here are a few guidelines to follow which will help you in the beginning stages of writing.
Research, research, research
You can’t possibly expect to know everything about the topic you have picked for your content marketing blog post.Your content pieces can, under no circumstances, be half-baked in providing information where editing plays a crucial role. Therefore, your research has to be extensive. You have to constantly keep checking for ways to make your article better than the others. The easiest way is to make your piece most informative.
Relevant ideas
Millions of blog posts are being published every day. Huffington Post alone publishes more than 2000 pieces a day. Therefore, it is important to make your content focus on what is trending at the moment, and design the material around it. However, it is also necessary to check out the pre-existing content on the topic. Not only does this give you an idea about how to go about it, but also about how you can do better than the others out there.
Write a compelling headline
Each headline should be aimed at fulfilling three purposes: grab the attention of your readers, represent your article’s main takeaway, and adequately meet the search guidelines. One of the most common trends is that short headlines, between 6 and 7 words, and those that start with “How to” tend to rank the highest in searches. There are loads of free headline analyser tools available online to help with headline construction.
Make it reader-friendly
Your marketing content is only as useful as the reader finds them. If your sentences are too long or filled with words that need a dictionary every two seconds, your reader will move to something less taxing. Instead write short paras of two or three sentences each. These make reading on smartphones much easier.
Another way to increase efficiency is to break your writing into parts and subparts with bolded subheadings to separate them. That way, it is easier for the reader to skim through and read the points they want to read.
Numbering lists or stories with bullet points are popular as they are easy to read. This way of writing is more organised and also helps Google to index it better.
Attention to keywords
If you write a useful article, it is your job to make sure that it reaches the right people too. One easy way is by using proper keywords. There are many great guides out there to help people of all skill levels to get started. Google interacts with keywords, and not only in content marketing, but also in any writing that you are planning to upload online.
Focus on the topic
While it is advisable to use keywords, it is also important to make your piece extensive enough that it covers all the points. Your content should provide every information that the audience is seeking. Too many keywords will make your content heavy. The reader may assume that the intention behind the writing was to increase the SEO. In such cases, the readers will move on to a more useful site.
Word count
Longer articles tend to get a higher search rank. Typically, for a content to have a good search rank, the blog post should have a minimum of 1000 words. However, contents with an average of 1890 words have been found to have the best ranking. It is not possible to write such long pieces when you’re just starting out. Therefore, content with 500-700 words should be enough to gather a positive search rank. Just remember that they must be authentic enough to merit a search recommendation. While longer and updated articles are search-engine friendly, remember that good content is king. Therefore, focus on your material and make it awesome.
Proof your content
There is nothing more unpleasant than finding grammatical mistakes in a piece of writing. Your reader should not have to mentally correct errors in your writing every two sentences. Your content represents your business online; the writing may even be your audience’s first impression of your brand. Poorly-written content has the potential of damaging your company’s impression.
Microsoft Word, Google Docs, and most other writing programs check spelling and other grammatical errors. However, they still cannot detect certain human errors. Therefore, it is more prudent to have someone else proofread your piece, as your proofing might suffer from oversight or writer’s blind spot. Grammarly is a tool that may be helpful in finding errors and also improving your writing style.
Provide examples
Readers need proof to understand and believe what you are saying through your writing. This can be achieved by giving examples. Showing them instances where a particular method proved successful works the best. How you choose the examples is also important. If you start by showing the examples of some big firms while the target audience for your article are start-ups, then the reader may not connect with it. Your examples should be relatable to your target group.
Practice, practice, practice
Just like any other form of writing, the easiest way to improve your content writing is by continuous practice. None of the above measures can help you if you write only rarely. Keep reading, researching, and writing. Only regular practice can make your writing shine and evolve. Good luck!
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