Too many people who talk about quality content don’t even know what it is, or how to write one.
In order to survive as a blogger, especially in this age of stiff competition, you need to write quality content.
I want to clearly explain to you what this type of content is and how to write it.
In fact, content marketing begins with the understanding of what good content is. Of course, you can’t be perfect 100%, but there is room for improvement.
You’ll need to work on your writing until writing becomes second nature to you. And one of the best ways to do that is to WRITE, WRITE and WRITE!
What is quality content?
It’s that type of blog post, press release, video, podcast, product review, interview or presentation that solves a definite problem for YOUR people. The word “content†goes beyond mere articles for your blog.
There are many ways to add value to people’s lives. You see, if what you’ve just published is a rehearsed form of another piece, the chances of helping someone in need is less than 1%.
Therefore, in order to write the best content for your target audience, there must be knowledge. As you read along, I’m going to throw more lights on this.
Your blog post needs to help someone with a need. No, it doesn’t have to help everyone. If you try to solve everyone’s problem – the “quality†status in that content would be gone.
Trust me; human beings behave and aspire differently. Find out how your readers behave. It can help in creating the best content, which is suitable for them.
They’re all looking for “exclusive content†that has a human touch. Why? Because they’re humans. If your content lacks “the†character, readers would assume that a robot actually wrote the content. They may not say it openly, but their attitude will show it.
Without much ado, here are the 5 simple tips to make your writing fun and rich:
1.      Study your target audience
This is for you. If you truly want to write quality content from henceforth, you need to study your audience. Keyword research falls into this category. Keywords reveal a lot about your prospects and how desperate they are in solving their problems.
Truth be told, if you don’t know who you’re serving, how on earth, are you going to serve the right meal?
Here’s a simple illustration: If you knew that your grandmother doesn’t like shopping during the Christmas period, there would be no need persuading her to come with you. It doesn’t matter what you want to write about, it could the the latest Kindle Paperwhite or the Canon Powershot Camera. Always make sure you understand your target audience first.
Whatever your target audience likes, is what you’d serve them. And that’s how your rankings in Google can improve. Hang out with prospects. If you sell a product on your blog/site, find out where potential customers post their questions.
I’m talking about discussion boards, answer sites like Quora, Yahoo and the rest. If you can understand the demographic (what age bracket, sex etc.), nothing would stop you from writing excellent piece that meets their needs. But there is more…
2.      Attract a select group of people
Remember, we’re talking about quality content and how to write it. You’ve to be conscious of a select group of people.
Isn’t it high time you send out a short survey to your email subscribers? When you do this, getting to know their demographic location would be easier.
I discovered a long time ago that Alexa is good enough to reveal your traffic data. More importantly, how visitors came through to your blog, if they understood your grammar. Also, the top search queries they’re using to reach you.
To attract the right people, you MUST write an attractive headline. As much as you want to sound professional, don’t forget to include figures on the headline. You can learn from these 100 headlines ideas – steal any one of them and run to Freetown. He he!
3.      Connect emotionally
Don’t be deceived, quality content would always connect emotionally. Aha, I got you right there – storytelling is the bedrock of any content that went viral, generated a lot of buzz and made the author rich.
If you desire to become a renowned blogger, you can’t afford NOT to tell stories.
Life is full of good, bad and ugly stories. Even a bad story can go viral if you’re a creative marketer. Thanks to SEO copywriting. Because it can help you place the right words where they should belong.
When you tell a story, the personal touch will become real and somewhat tangible to the reader. “Oh, I don’t have a good story to tell.†You say!
Don’t allow your mind to lie to you, because you do have the best stories in the world to tell. Right from your Elementary school, till now, you could blow your readers’ mind with the issues you’ve dealt with.
Just find a way to bridge the “DIVIDE†between your story and your subject. Did you know that when you quote an author, that you’re telling a story? I challenge you today with these 3 words – GO AND READ!
4.      Use simple and common words
And the fourth tip is very important. No matter the tertiary institution you graduated from, if your words and grammar aren’t simple for a 2-year old to grasp, you’re making a mockery of your writing genie as a blogger.
Don’t let formal education creep into your blogging and writing life. Well, I’m talking to those who wants to make money from their blogs.
Use simple words. There must be a synonym for THAT big word. You could look up the word at Thesaurus to find the best, simple option that means the same thing. A blog is not a novel with 100s of pages. Be brief but don’t hold back vital information.
There is no time to rant about, except you can bridge it creatively. Successful bloggers have mastered the art of simplicity. So, use (tiredness, weakness) in place of “fatigue.†Don’t use famish, use (hungry) instead.
5.      Call to action quietly
Do you tell readers what to do as they read in-between the lines of your content? If you fail to do that, it doesn’t matter how good the content is, it’d lack value.
Yes, it may be informative, helpful but since you didn’t include an instruction at the beginning, the middle or end, you’ve missed out on the benefit.
Why do we write quality content in the first place? Can I hear you say, “TO GET RESULTS?â€
Oh yes, without benefiting from your blog post, the purpose of research, writing a clickable headline and including facts (screenshots, video, images et al) are defeated. Call to action is vital because it proves that you’ve much more insights reserved somewhere.
Asking people to buy your product through an affiliate link or personal link is a great way, but not the only way.
You could ask people to subscribe to your email list, leave a comment, tweet, like, pin, digg or print the content out for a better study. Just do it!
Take this home
There you’ve it, the 5 simple tips to write better content for your audience. I’m confident that you now know what quality content is.
Don’t forget, knowing who would read your content in the first place is the ‘core’ aspect of effective content marketing.
It can grow your blogging business, generate leads and bring in sales in droves. That’s what I do for my clients – see my freelance blogging service.
If you’ve enjoyed this post, please leave a comment below. See you ahead!
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