The content is often referred as “the king of the web.” Content marketing is a sub-category of SEO (Search Engine Optimization), but in practicality it is probably the most important aspect of it. Google and other search engines are looking at the content we generate very closely, and they have a good reason – essentially, search engines are sources of information and as such, every engine wants to be the go-to spot for people who are looking for it. This is why, naturally, It is in the search engine’s best interest to promote web pages that provide reliable and high quality content. But this is not the only reason why content is important. In the end of the day, a website is an information hub. The more informative and precise we will be in providing our content – chances are we will get higher traffic and more responses. Similarly to general web development, creating good content is not easy, and can take a lot of effort and practice. When it comes to writing, The best phrase I heard is the following: “Writing is the art of taking a group of words and form them into sentences in order to deliver a message.” Many people encounter problems in the process and get what’s called a “writer’s block.” While it is perfectly natural, it is important to remember that good content is a very important component of a successful website. Therefore, if you’re experiencing difficulties, It might be a good idea to get the help of an SEO specialist and/or content marketer. In case you decide to do it yourself, here are some personal tips I use in my writing process:
Every good article starts with an extensive research on the topic. Even if you are writing about a subject which you are highly familiar with, you can always learn new things and stimulate your brain even further. Use research to get new ideas which you can later put into your own words. Oftentimes, a good research opens new streams of thought which help you to better structure your writing and create more powerful content. It is important to remember though, don’t copy blocks of texts from other websites. ‘Google’ and other engines have alghoritms which detect those practices, and you can end up being blacklisted, which means your website won’t show in search results.
when writing about any subject, it’s easy to lose yourself and start drifting away from the main idea. Remember – your goal is to appeal to the reader (who is on your website for a specific reason) and make them stay on your website as long as possible. If you are writing too general about a specific topic, you can lose your potential client in the first few minutes. A good technique I like to use is to break every topic into a problem-solution form, after giving a short introduction. Problem-solution is essentially “How to do X in Y steps?” – for example if you have a mattress business, a good idea will be to write an article with a title such as “5 things you should consider before buying a mattress.” The reason for that is that the human mind is very methodical and is always scanning for a clear structure. Therefore, once you break down the information this way, it will be much more appealing. With that being said, you should also try and be a tad more original than everyone else. There are many articles that use this technique, so we want to differentiate ourselves from the others. Try to be a little bit unpredictable in your headlines. For example, in the mattress case, a better heading might be “Avoid doing these 5 mistakes when buying a mattress.” Remember, when it comes to writing, a negative word has and equal ‘power’ of a positive word.
Try to build value and show the reader your uniqueness. The readers are not necessarily looking for another infomercial with generic sentences such as “100% satisfaction guaranteed”, or “leading the industry for 15 years.” Instead, try to give your product or service a real value. Don’t be afraid to use a little humor or reveal personal details about yourself. Try to be a problem solver and a source of information rather than an aggressive sales person.
You can always edit it. The important thing in the initial stage is to translate your stream of thought into words on paper. It doesn’t have to make sense or sound good at first. More often than not, you will see that the ideas will start to flow naturally during the process.
You created a few articles, your website has solid content and you’re happy. Should you stop? Nooo. Both google and our readers don’t like static websites and are expecting to see updates. Therefore, it’s important to constantly create new content. It doesn’t mean you need to write a new article every day, but make sure to ‘pump new blood to the vessel’ every once a while.
