Content creation and promotion is the most integral part of online marketing.
Why?
In short, it’s because of its capability to offer value for your prospects. It confirms you as a credible thought leader.
But content marketing isn’t easy-peasy for everyone.
As an SEO consultant, when I talk with prospects and my existing clients, generating content consistently is challenging for them.
Publishing content systematically: week after week, month after month is difficult. I acknowledge this.
It isn’t possible without a lot of consistency, commitment, and resources. Whether you are writing content, designing landing pages, preparing explainer videos, podcasting, or some other activity, it all consumes a lot of time and energy. Sitting down to blog or arrange a video shoot or audio presentation can seem daunting to small business owners. Often it gets propelled to the side and is not finished at all.
Developing consistent quality content isn’t optional but a necessity for any digital marketing plan.
But the obvious roadblocks are:
- Time and resources are required. Jill Anderson, a WordPress web developer, has gone through the lack of blogging problems and had to hire someone for external help.
- You’ll have a grueling schedule if you write all the stuff, and it’s not easy to hand off this writing task to others as they lack the knowledge you possess.
- Your personal opinion and brand’s voice are vital to creating a long-lasting impact. And random publishing won’t do any good for your branding. Similar to any other mode of marketing demands, a consistent message is key in the content strategy.
Even though some people state that you need more visual aids, better ads, or a marketing strategy, unless you have high-quality content to offer your readers, your website will not get more subscriptions or higher revenue.
That is why I highly recommend you take a closer look at whatever you write on your blog and improve its quality for better results. If you do not know exactly how to improve content quality, then this article is for you.
Get Rid of Blogging Fear and Begin
I mean, keep it real.
Value-driven.
Before anything, ask yourself – when was the last time you saw an Ezine article in the top 5 Google results for a trending keyword?
Google’s algorithms are increasingly aligning to what people want to read, and as a result, unoriginal content is being pushed further in the rankings. Google algorithmic updates keep on penalizing content farms and keep on relegating duplicate and unoriginal content in search ranks. Don’t even attempt to be successful just by copying the ideas that are already gaining traction on the web.
Forget obsolete strategies such as:
- Using bots to scrape and piece together content from different sources,
- Paying pennies for content to an inexperienced and under-qualified writer,
- Re-writing what the authoritative bloggers have to say.
Instead, follow influencers, read and research their content and SEO ideas, connect the dots, and weave some original content. BuzzSumo, Ahrefs Content Explorer, and AllTops are some of the dependable content research platforms that should be on your bookmarks list.
Understand Elements that Enable Wide Readership
Here are some obvious but often ignored enablers of success for blog posts; remember to get these boxes ticked before you publish.
- Positive: Probably you’ve checked it already – Buzzfeed’s post titled “21 Pictures That Will Restore Your Faith in Humanity” became a rage the moment it went live. The reason – it promises and then delivers a dose of positive energy.
- Relevant to Masses: Pure mathematics here, no rocket science.
- Easy to Read: People will read to the end and won’t think twice before sharing it with their friends.
- Share-worthy: A list of hard-to-find resources, a well-placed ‘Share’ button, or pure wit and humor – keep improving and experimenting.
- Actionable: If it’s a walkthrough, tutorial, or guide, make it as actionable as possible.
Use Visuals
Canva.com is a great site where you can (for free) upload your image and spruce it up using many pre-made styles.
With little experiments, you can create a great blog post cover image or create fancy section separators.
This makes your post stand out immediately and shows the extra time that went into creating it.
The Lazy Quotes Method
The lazy option here is to take someone’s quote from their website and enclose it inside of your content with a link to the author, their name, and the quote itself.
Like the first point, it shows care to add extra detail – a bonus here is that if the author of the quote is popular on social media – he/she may share your content if you ask nicely (or if they actively listen for their mentions).
Don’t overdo it, though – too many quotes simply mean you’re curating content, and this way, Google may not give you any brownie points if most of your content is borrowed.
The Slightly Less Lazy Quotes Method – A slightly less lazy way is to do a bit of research and ask 2-3 experts in the field for short quotes exclusively for the article. This increases the chances of getting their attention post-launch. More importantly, it adds credibility to your new piece of content.
Research & Statistics
Many articles don’t include any credible sources of information, only someone’s thoughts or collated snippets of information.
When you include some real statistics and data, something magical happens in the brains of the readers – they trust the whole article a lot more.
Don’t Give the Hard Sell
For many of you, this point may sound obvious, but trust me, there are still those out there that try to sneak their sales agenda into every piece of content their brand publishes.
If you use “salesy language,” it instantly lowers your reputation and trust, and the chances of social shares and links diminish with every mention of buying my stuff.
Keep the language informative and focus on value to the reader, not on the features of your offering.
Don’t Go Text-Heavy
Use a lot of:
- bullet point lists
- short snippets of text
- punchy, straight to the point sentences
See how quick this was to digest?
Avoid the ‘walls of text’ when content is broken down into easy-to-read chunks. There are higher chances of someone even attempting to read it all.
Instead, do storytelling.
Some writers are great at this and relate their content to their personal life – John Doherty is quite good at this, and I find it encouraging. Whether it’s an infographic or an article, a natural flow and a storyline make consuming it better and increase the chances of it spreading via social shares.
Create a Catchy Title
It is essential to create titles that will stimulate readers’ interest and make them want to finish the whole piece. Some specialists say that there are particular smart words that, when inserted into the text, make the readers want to finish the whole article. Such words include “amazing,” “fantastic,” “devastating,” “volatile,” etc. You can find all of them online and add them to your title. They will make your article sound very smart and professional, and that is what you are aiming for.
Address Real Problems with Your Posts
People go online when looking for answers to questions they have. Thus, they will only read your blog if it is relevant to them and answers some important questions. Besides, a good blog can promote your product. Official data by Small Business shows that at least 81% of American consumers tend to trust whatever favorite blogs say. So, if you solve some issues with your writing, it will automatically increase the quality of your blog as well as customers’ loyalty.
Create Lists
For some reason, users love lists. They give them a feeling that huge chunks of information are presented in a logical and quite comprehensible way. So, if you craft lists and add them to the articles you write, it will improve the overall quality of your text.
Revise Your Post
When you think about content editing, you probably imagine this tedious procedure of going through the whole text and making sure that everything is in its place. However, thanks to state-of-the-art technologies, you can do it faster and better using affordable proofreading services. There is some free software available online you can subscribe to. It is your decision, but remember that proofreading and revision are essential if you want to produce high-quality content.
I hope you find these tips helpful and employ them in the future content you or your agency outputs. There are many other ways to improve content quality, but these are known to be the most important ones. So, check whether you use them when writing and if not, consider making them a part of your writing routine.
