Drag Your Content from the Internet Abyss and have it Soar Above the Surface
If you produce content for the web on a regular basis then you will appreciate how tough it can be to come up with new ideas, new topics, and new content to keep your audience crying out for more. In some cases you may just be hoping that your content attracts a few views, and even one or two shares is an absolute bonus!
This post is not going to give you the blog ideas that will catapult your readership into the thousands, or get your email subscription rate increased by 10%, or make it so that every piece of content you produce is a sharing magnet. What it is going to do is give you a set of guidelines. Questions that you should ask yourself of your content when you are writing and before you post.
Searchable
You have spent hours and hours on creating a piece of content that you feel is absolutely brilliant. It answers commonly asked question, it points to other resources on the topic, in fact when you read it and re read it, it is possibly some of the best content you have ever produced! So why is no one else reading it?
It's quite simple really: you have made the content relevant for the user and this is key however you have not thought about the search engines and what they are looking for. If the search engines don't know that you are there then they can't inform searchers of your presence.
There are some things that you can do right away to make sure that your content is indexed in the right place: on page optimization using targeted keywords helps.
Remember, ultimately the reader is your audience not the search engine. If you are making changes to improve your searchability make sure the readability of your copy is not compromised.
Unique
In most niches there are a lot of people talking about the same thing. Find something unique to say, be the first to comment on something, give your honest and humble opinion. The majority of people don't want canned text; they want something with a bit of life, something that has been written by a walking, talking, living, breathing, human being.
Allow your voice to show through your content. Yes, some people will not like it but those that do will become fans, followers and advocates for your brand helping share your message far and wide.
Relevant
If the title of your post promises "How to Promote a Blog - 7 Super Strategies", then give the reader that. Don't let the reader land on a page that offers advice on Article marketing. Yes, some of the tactics maybe similar but it is not what was asked for.
Findable
Where does your idea reader spend their time? What blogs do they read? Which sites do they visit? Which social networks are they on?
You need to take the time to find the answer to these questions and then from the results you need to start making sure that your content can be found in these areas.
Knowing how to promote your content in the correct manner so it gets in front of the right people is vital to the success and longevity of your brand.
Being able to attract readers from search is one thing, but being found in other places that they frequent online will only increase your brand awareness and arouse the reader's curiosity to spend more time getting to know what you are about.
Actionable
What is the purpose of this piece of content? That should be a question that you ask yourself on every piece of content you produce.
- Is the piece of content to act as an incoming page from search engines?
- Is the content information only? Is the piece of content to act as link bait?
- Is the whole reason you have produced the content so it can get widely shared on social media?
You need to know the answer to these questions so that when you are finished you can judge whether or not you have answered that.Are there social sharing buttons on the page? Do they work? Do you have a comments section where people can add their own take on the piece? Is the comment system easy to use? Do you want people to sign up for your email newsletter if so you need to make it blindingly clear.
Compelling
Is the reader compelled to click on the title?
Does it answer a need of the reader? Does the content provide an educational take on point? Does the content enlighten the reader on an area or a topic that was unclear before? Does the content make the reader laugh, smile, shout out loud, curse the screen or curse at you?
Either way that is the point. Your copy needs to provoke a reaction! Without that reaction then your call to action will not get followed.
Being mundane, sitting on the fence, skimming the surface is not going to get you loyal readers. It will simply add to the people that have seen your content and left.
Experience
Ultimately, and this encapsulates everything covered so far, you have to give the reader the best possible experience, period. The reader needs to get to the end of the post and be in no uncertain term what they have to do next. They need to be hungry to learn more, they need to be satisfied that you have given the information they were looking for and be compelled to learn more about you, about your business and about your offering.
It is no good just giving enough to get by. To answer the questions and tick off all the boxes you have to give more! The search engines are looking to provide the best possible experience for their users and if your site does not give a good experience then the search engines will quite simply direct the traffic and their customers elsewhere. Your content will quite simply sink back to the internet abyss.
Leave your comments and tips below on how to make your content soar above the surface!
Image by: Sharkbait