How To Create Better Content That Engages Readers

You can have an aesthetically pleasing website but without quality content, you won’t attract readers and get any conversions. Quality content is what sets you apart from your competition. As the secret to a successful business website, the right content will place you in the hearts and minds of your prospects.

Online marketers in the past used to stuff their websites with nonsense content stuffed with keywords. That’s not the case now. People and search engines want something that makes sense, is worth sharing, grammatically correct, unique, and valuable.

To make a positive impact on your business through developing great content, below is a simple guide you can follow. Read on.

Make your written content scannable.

Good content marketers know that people online have short attention spans. They use methods to make their blog posts incredibly simple to read. These strategies include:

• Subheadings – Create subheadings so readers can immediately find the sub-topic they’re looking for without having to read everything in your article. Remember that your subheadings act as “mini titles.” Like your title, they should be interesting.
• Bulleted lists - Bulleted lists or bullet points help present a long blog post in a less intimidating way. They go easy on your readers' eyes and feature your most important ideas. Just avoid bulleted lists when you're writing an article that suggests a ranking (Top 10, Best 10, etc.)
• Images - It's no secret that humans are visual creatures. People are drawn to images. Make sure to place an interesting and relevant image to important sections of your blog posts so people get the chance to read them.

Use storytelling. 

If your blog posts haven't gotten any engagement despite your best efforts, perhaps it lacks the element of storytelling. Sharing your personal experiences and stories you've heard to convey an idea (especially a difficult one) better hooks your readers.

Stories allow your customers to place themselves in your shoes. Stories paint pictures in their minds and capture their emotions.

To effectively incorporate storytelling into your content marketing strategy, make sure that the story aligns with the values of your audience. Doing this helps them accept and trust your message more. Most of all, it'll compel them to take action.

If you don't feel like sharing a personal story, get creative by crafting your own. The internet can also be a great resource for finding interesting stories. Why not use a customer's story? That would be another great strategy.

Find out what your readers want to know. 

Be the go-to resource in your industry. Be someone your audience can learn a lot from. To get inside your readers' heads, find out what they want to know. Here are some tips that help:

• Visit a Q&A site like Quora - Quora is an excellent resource where you can find questions asked by millions of people every month. Start following topics within your niche. You can find different categories from home repair to literature.
• Conduct a survey - The most accurate way to improve your readers' experiences is to conduct a brief survey that's embedded on your site. There are popular survey services you can try for free like SurveyMonkey.
• Ask on social media - Posting a question on your business page is a practical and fast strategy to gather your audience's opinions. Go ahead and ask them what topics they would want you to write about. Asking also sends the message that you care about their needs.
• Check your blog comments - Your comment section is where a lot of interaction takes place. Jump in the conversation and ask your commenters some relevant topics they might be interested in. Sometimes, they leave questions. Use these to create a new blog post.

Create strong, attention-grabbing headlines. 

Do you know that only 20% of people who see your blog post titles read the rest of your content? Your headlines set the tone of your articles. Since they're the first thing that people see, they can either create a good or bad first impression.

Your headlines should convey the main benefit that customers want to get. Remember that people need to know what's in it for them before they decide to click your posts. Other strategies include adding numbers (such as in list posts) and asking a question.

When it comes to the ideal length of your headlines, HubSpot suggests keeping them under 70 characters so they don't get cut off in Google's results pages.

If you want some headline generators that'll get you interesting titles, they are Portent, Title Generator, and Tweak Your Biz.

Final Thoughts

Quality content is king. It should be a key priority in your overall marketing strategy. When constructed well, content gets your message across, builds trust, and leads to higher conversions.

Do you have more tips to add? Share them in the comments below!