If you want to make your content stand out online, you need to focus on making it useful. The Web is filled with information that’s generic, boring and not very helpful—and why is that? Because people don’t care about writing useful or helpful content anymore. They just want their work to be seen by as many people as possible so they can get some kind of reward whether its money or popularity.
The problem with this approach is that you’re not going to get engagement when you write without caring about what others might think of your work; in fact, there are plenty of examples of popular articles which have been lambasted by critics for being nothing more than self-promotion disguised as the helpful advice that doesn’t actually help anyone! So how do we fix this situation? Well….
Create a list of frequently asked questions.
Now that you know what the most popular questions are, it’s time to create a list of frequently asked questions.
You can use Google Trends and other tools that show what people are searching for on Google, Bing and other search engines. To find common questions across many sites, you can use BuzzSumo to search for keywords in your niche. BuzzSumo will also show which articles contain those keywords based on how many shares each article has gotten from social media sites like Facebook or Twitter. You can then see if any of these articles answer commonly asked questions about your industry or topic area—and if not, get started writing some articles yourself!
Keep your end goal in mind.
It’s a good idea to keep your end goal in mind as you write. That way, if you’re bogged down by writer’s block or distracted by Q&A from your editor or an email from your boss, you can pull yourself back into the zone.
- Write a blog post that is helpful to your readers.
- Write an article that will get people to subscribe to your newsletter.
- Write an article that will get people to buy your product
Answer the question in a conversational tone, as you would if you were face to face.
As you write your content, keep in mind that the tone and style of your writing should be similar to how you would speak in person. For example:
- Natural – This is where you just write like you talk because that’s how you are comfortable. You might use contractions or phrases commonly used in everyday conversation. An example would be, “My favorite thing about my job is…”
- Relaxed – This is similar to natural but with more variety of sentence structure and word choice. An example would be “I think my favorite thing about my job is…”
- Casual – In this case, the language felt less formal but still considered professional enough for business purposes (even though it isn’t as stiff as formal). An example might be “I think that my favorite thing about working here is…”
Write clearly and concisely, using language and formatting that’s easy for readers to understand.
- Write clearly and concisely, using language and formatting that’s easy for readers to understand.
- Use short sentences.
- Use short paragraphs.
The first step is to write your content so that it’s easy for you, the writer, to understand—and then make it easier for other people by editing out anything that isn’t vital. Here are some tips for making your writing as clear and concise as possible:
- Use bullet points or numbered lists instead of long blocks of text where possible (for example, when explaining a process).
- Break up text with headings/subheadings so readers can jump right into what they want without having to read through unnecessary paragraphs first; also make sure these headings/subheadings are descriptive enough so readers know what they’ll find when they click on them!
Use your company’s style guide and common sense to be consistent with capitalization and punctuation.
To be consistent, you’ll want to use your company’s style guide for capitalization and punctuation. This will help ensure that you’re writing in a way that’s familiar to readers, and it will also help maintain the integrity of your brand.
For example, if your company has rules around how to spell certain words (like “email” or “emphasize”) then follow them! If not, then consider common sense: Would people who are reading this article find it helpful if they saw the same word written differently depending on where they were in the text? If so, decide which form feels more natural and stick with that one throughout the rest of this article (and any other content you write).
Finally: When deciding whether or not something should be capitalized—like our own company name—it helps to ask yourself these questions: Is this word being used as part of someone’s name? Does it refer specifically to something else besides itself (e.g., The New York Times)? Or does it just seem like a regular noun being used as part of speech?
Link to where readers can find more information, including helpful information in other articles.
After you’ve written your content, the next step is to link to where readers can find more information. This includes:
- Linking to related articles on your site that could be helpful
- Linking to other resources your company has created (including apps or mobile optimized websites)
- Linking to external websites that are relevant and helpful for the topic at hand
Provide related, helpful links within the article itself that encourage exploration or continued learning.
Provide related, helpful links within the article itself that encourage exploration or continued learning.
For example:
- If you are writing about how to create an online store, you might include a link to other articles that explain what makes for a good product image and where to find free stock photos. You could also include a list of resources like this one that can help you figure out which graphic design programs are best suited for your needs (and even offer helpful tips on how to use them).
- For another example, if you’re writing about building a new home in an off-grid location with renewable energy sources, consider including links at the end of your article which lead readers directly into these topics as well as sites showing examples of homes like yours—as well as videos explaining how they were built.
Use keywords relevant to the topic that most people would use to search for it online.
When writing content, it’s important to use keywords that people would search for online. More specifically, these are keywords that are relevant to your topic and also specific to your company and the content you’re writing.
For example: if you run a website about cats, then someone searching for “cat food” would be more likely than someone searching for “pet supplies.” The former will have more companies available who can help them find exactly what they need—whereas the latter will have fewer options (and therefore may not get what they want).
This is why it’s so important for us as writers to know our audience! When we understand who our readers are and what their needs are, then we’ll know how best to address them in an engaging way.
Add headings and subheadings within the article so readers can skim and then dive into specific details easily.
Headings and subheadings or outlines are important for scanning an article. You can use them to help readers find the information they want, break up long sections of text, and scan quickly through the article.
Headings are the most basic kind of headline—they’re larger than normal text, but smaller than titles—and they appear in all caps or upper case letters. They’re used to structure writing by dividing it into sections or paragraphs that have a similar purpose or theme.
Subheadings are smaller than headings and also appear in all caps or upper case letters (but without spaces between words). They’re often used to break up longer sections of content into shorter ones that are easier for readers to navigate through.
Break up longer blocks of text with bullets or numbered lists so it’s easier to scan quickly.
You can also break up longer blocks of text with bullets or numbered lists so it’s easier to scan quickly. This is especially useful on long pages like product pages, where you’ll want to make sure customers can see the key selling points without getting bogged down in too much detail.
Bullet points work best when you have a few things that are similar but not exactly the same; for example, if we were listing all of the features available in our iPhone app, “Works with Siri voice commands” would be an appropriate bullet point because it has a different focus than other features such as “Maps integration”.
You may also use headings and subheadings to make it easier to scan your content. Headings break up large amounts of information into bite-size chunks that people can quickly understand without having to read through everything at once (which could be overwhelming).
Subheadings further divide subjects into smaller segments by providing more details about each topic being addressed—this gives readers a way of “slicing” their way through large amounts of material if they’re looking for specific information rather than just skimming through everything at once (again: not everyone wants this experience!).
Think about how the content could be presented in multiple ways (for example, video or audio). When possible, include those additional formats.
Think about how the content could be presented in multiple ways (for example, video or audio). When possible, include those additional formats.
When you’re deciding what to write and create, don’t be afraid to try new things. It’s okay if some of them don’t work out. But there will probably be at least one that does—and when it does, it can become your most popular article ever.
You can create helpful content that provides answers people are looking for quickly and easily.
- Use a conversational tone.
- Write in language that’s easy to understand.
- Provide links to other articles that are relevant to the topic.
- Keep it short and sweet—the shorter your content, the more likely you’ll be able to keep people reading!
- Use keywords that are relevant to your topic, but don’t overdo it with keyword stuffing (and definitely don’t do it by including random words).
Conclusion
As you can see, helpful content isn’t just an idea that could work in theory. It’s a practical solution to a real problem. If you’re looking for an easy way to help your customers or clients, this is it!
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