Writing articles for websites and blogs can be easy and frustrating at the same time. If you do it as a hobby, you might not have much to worry about. However, if you aim to monetize your writing or sell content, writing good quality content can be most frustrating. Frequently, you might be unable to get good sources, find worthy arguments, find the right audience, the proper structure, and the right keywords to fashion your blog post.
That said, neat article writing is possible with experience and perhaps with the right amount of research. In this feature, you’ll be provided with eight excellent tips to ensure that you can create classy documents that sell, frequently too!
1 Personal Stories Resonate with Audiences
Your blog is not just an outlet to sell or vent. It is an extension of you, and you are directly connected to your readers as they read your content. This has great benefits for creating organic leads and building a solid and reliable customer base. Your stories don’t have to be over-the-top or faked. Instead, take authentic everyday life experiences that you go through and share them with your audience, who will connect.
2 Your Documents Have to Be Targeted
This reinforces the first point about sharing personal stories. Writing content for a niche market while sharing this content from a unique perspective is the surest way of keeping readers loyal. When your documents are targeted, you understand the demographic you are writing for and are creating to solve a specific need. When writing for a niche, personal stories or anecdotes are always encouraged, which makes your readers confident that the solutions you offer work for you as well.
Content targeting means keyword research and applying other SEO techniques to target your articles appropriately. For example, you can get samples of compelling, targeted articles by checking out Educibly – professional writing services.
3 Content And Experience Matter More Than Word Count
Indeed, Google’s algorithm appreciates long-form content as it deems it to be more comprehensive and satisfactory of user queries and search intent. No one likes to search for bits and pieces of information. Therefore, try to keep to the recommended word count of between 1400-1600 words. This isn’t to imply that short-form content, say articles of 750-words, cannot sell. If you’re writing a short story, the best way to make it as interesting for your readers as possible is by implementing Chekhov’s Gun. This literary principle encourages writers to carefully introduce elements early on in the narrative that will play a critical part in later acts. Also, elements that play no part in the story should not be introduced at all. You need to deliberately consider every single element in your story to decide if it’s important to the plot. If it’s not, then cut it, because it wastes the reader’s time. The keyword here is CONTENT and the experience you want the user to have.
Provided your article (even if short) satisfies user intent and is comprehensive, you should be just fine. At the same time, few people would want to read a 5000-word blog post unless it is something as specific as a “How-To” guide or a listicle.
4 Be Succinct and To the Point
Even if you target long-form content, keeping your writing clear and to the point is essential. You don’t need long paragraphs and long sentences, even if you have the gift of the garb, i.e., good language skills. Instead, keep it short and sweet if you can say it in 2 sentences instead of 5, the better for you.
5 Avoid Negativity in Your Writing Unless You Really Must
For personal stories and anecdotes, negativity might be one way to prove a point. However, people generally shy away from reading negative comments or thoughts. Instead, even when writing about bleak subjects, always keep a positive outlook. Your readers will feel and appreciate it.
6 Media-Rich Texts Matter More
If you can add an infographic or two, an animated image, or even an audio file, go for it but don’t make them overly complicated from a design perspective unless there’s a good reason to do so (in the scope of the article).
7 It Matters Little If There’s No Supporting Data
This is essential, especially for selling articles. Always do your best to prove what you’re writing about with data and research done entirely by yourself or others if you can provide these facts and references explicitly. It will make your opinion trustable and give confidence, especially when trying to sell.
8 Grab Attention with Classy Headlines, Sub-Headlines, And A Strong CTA
The first thing your reader sees even before clicking on your link in the headline; meta titles or titles. Once they click on your article, they will focus on the individual section headlines or CTAs at the end of the article. Crafting compelling CTAs and headers is an art form that must be learned.
Remember…
You might not be able to develop great content even after applying all these tips. Whether trying to create one superb article or ten showpieces that will take you to the next level in a week or month, sometimes sleeping on it and trying again is the best solution. Keep in mind that writing frequently and consistently is the best way to get noticed by search engines, organic leads, and internet crawlers.
