A steady supply of fresh content is oxygen to your online marketing campaigns. Offering value,...
Is your message reaching the masses, or are you getting lost in the noise?
According to a survey by SEMRush, 97% of businesses use content marketing as an important part of their strategy—yet only 19% said those efforts were "very successful." Nearly half of respondents rated their success as moderate or poor.
With so much content flooding the web today, it's no surprise that it's hard to stand out—but that doesn't mean it's impossible. An informed approach and the patience to execute it can still produce excellent results. Let's explore five key tips for effective content writing that you can use right now to evaluate your approach today or shape your strategy for tomorrow.
1. Understand the Nature of Your Audience
Who's going to consume your content? That should be one of the first questions you seek to answer. If you aren't writing with a definitive audience in mind, the content that you produce will definitely lack focus and direction. Casting the widest net possible doesn't always mean that you get the most results. A focused and targeted campaign, enriched with SEO and aligned with what your audiences search, will give you better results.
According to Google research, 87% of users have a strong preference for content that feels personalized and relatable. Your content should speak strongly to the demographics and audience personas that you define. Digging into your own data and engaging in content A/B testing can help you nail down who benefits the most from your content.
2. Shape Your Content Around Reading Patterns
One of the most well-known phenomena on the web is the "F-shaped pattern," which refers to the way users scan web pages—and trust that they WILL be scanning your content, not deep-diving. Research by the Nielsen Norman Group shows that 79% of web users only scan the text on a newly-visited page.
That's why you should think about structuring and writing content that conforms to this pattern. What helps you accomplish that?
- Bulleted lists. Everyone loves a listicle. Condense big points to short lines for impact.
- Frequent subheadings. Break up your text with clear subheadings that keep users moving down the page.
- Action words and exciting language. Don't be passive—keep it moving. Boring, uptight language will turn users off and dial down your brand’s relatability and trust by putting your audience to sleep.
3. Write With Real Readers in Mind—Not Robots
SEO is critical, but when it's at its best, it's invisible to your readers. Remember that audience you worked so hard to define? Don't forget about them.
Incorporating best SEO practices into content should always be a consideration, but don't lose sight of the value (or lack of value) of what you’re writing. Longform content continues to grow in importance as users continue to respond more to in-depth writing. Think about what readers want to see—not just what search engines evaluate.
4. Engage Readers With Hard Facts
One of the best tips for effective content writing is also the simplest: tell readers the truth.
Whenever possible, offer readers actual facts that they can instantly understand. There's a good reason why statistics can make content better. By making verifiable claims backed up with sources, you instantly increase the trustworthiness of your content. Not only does content with more facts and less rampant guesswork offer real value to users, but it also marks your brand as a reliable source.
5. Don't Overthink Calls to Action
An effective, hard-hitting CTA is the linchpin of good content production, but you don't need to spend hours lost in thought over the exact right wording. HubSpot research shows that a personalized CTA has an immense effect on its own—an over 200% boost in conversions. Keep your CTA text simple, to the point, personalized, and encouraging.
Find Proven Professional Support—and Craft Better Content
A ton of work goes into the production of top-shelf content—and that work can put a serious strain on internal teams. If your business wants to produce effective content but faces challenges with volume and consistency, Klazema Communications has the solution.
With in-depth experience in SEO, SEM, and the detailed work that goes into smart content production, we can amp up your capabilities so that your teams can stop feeling inadequate every time they review content retention stats in Google Analytics.
Get even more tips for effective content writing and see exactly how more experience can make a difference to your content production when you chat with us today.
