Whatever the purpose of your writing is, the main aim is to get people reading it. There is no point taking the time to spill your thoughts onto a page if it is just going to fill the void and nothing else; so making it really stand out is a must.
Content writing is a key part of the role of an SEO or public relations professional and with Google’s algorithm changes giving more weight to articles that are shared a lot on social media sites, there is more focus than ever on getting your writing seen by as many people as possible. When carrying out SEO, we often pay attention to optimising what we write for the search engine robots and forget about making it more accessible for human eyes.
With that in mind, here are five simple ways to make sure your content is doing more than floating around in cyber space.
Catchy Titles – You may have been told at school to never judge a book by its cover but when it comes to online content, that’s exactly what people do. If your title doesn’t entice people in then they aren’t going to want to read it.
It may only take the click of a mouse but if it doesn’t seem worth their time, internet users aren’t likely to go through the trouble of clicking.
Titles with alliteration, rhyme and humour often work well and once you’ve caught there eye, you’re halfway there.
Include Pictures And Videos – If you open an article and immediately the screen is completely filled with words then straight away you assess whether you can be bothered to wade through all that content.
Statistics have shown that users are 4 times likely to read the whole of a page if there is a picture attached and up to 7 times more likely to if there is a video. This is largely because looking at images uses a different part of the brain and helps to give us a ‘break’ from all that reading.
You can also use pictures to help direct your readers to where you want them to look. Studies have shown that a picture of a person looking to the left is likely to make people focus more on the text immediately to the left of the picture; and vice versa.
Use Short Paragraphs – This works on the same principle as the point above in the way that smaller paragraphs help to break up the content and mean that it is easier to read. Users are more likely to continue reading if the page is broken up into manageable chunks and therefore are more likely to share the content as a result.
It also helps to use subheadings throughout the page so that if somebody is looking for something in particular they can easily locate it. It also helps by giving the general piece a better structure.
Put The Sharing Buttons At The Bottom – Many times I click onto a blog and immediately I’m greeted by the icons of different social media sites begging me to share something that I haven’t even read yet.
You are far more likely to get people sharing your content if you place these buttons at the bottom of the piece. This way people will have just got to the bottom of the page, realised that they enjoyed what they have just read and the sharing buttons will be there, right where they need them.
Don’t Be Afraid To Use Humour – When writing on behalf of a professional company or an important business client, there is the temptation to keep everything serious so as to make sure it fits in with the business nature of the industry you are writing about.
However, even the most serious of business people doesn’t want to read serious blogs all the time and so if you feel you have a humorous turn of phrase that works with what you are writing about, then why not include it. The people that are looking for your content will be looking for pieces that either interest them or make them laugh; so if you can do both then you’ve just double your audience.
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- License: Creative Commons image source
This article is written by Chris Mayhew on behalf of Bristol internet marketing agency Marketing By Web. They provide a friendly, professional service aimed at improving the online presence of your business. Visit their website today to see what this UK SEO company can do for you.