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7 Tips for Writing Great Content
Posted by impauldotcom • 7/15/07 • Subscribe to this Discussion [RSS] • Report This Topic
Topics: article marketing, blog marketing, content guidelines, content seo, tips writing content, writing great content
Article Source -> www.impaul.com/?p=50
Plenty of rich content, full of valuable insights and how-to’s, will prove to be your best viral and search engine optimization (SEO) marketing in the long run. Content is King and should be the primary focus during all stages of your web empire whether a fledgling website or an experienced internet mogul. Below are 7 great guidelines to follow for writing quality content thus maximizing your traffic and subscriber potential.
1. Keywords - the first 25 words are critical. Your article, especially the introduction, should be rich with keywords. The introduction, approximately first 25 words, is many times pulled by search engines as the article’s description. Thus the first few sentences can play a very important role with your article’s page rank.
2. Clear Description - Get to the point! You want people to find your site then once they get there you want them to stay as long as possible. A good introduction will not only ensure success with the search engines but always explain to the reader what exactly your article is about and compel them to read more. Expand upon your introduction and stay on point.
3. Use Links - effective linking within the context of your content can add value, increase your search engine presence and cross market other portions of your site. Three quick examples in context: let’s say your ChipIn campaign is related to your article. You can link to the campaign within the article. You can also learn more about using ChipIn here.
4. Relevancy - Let’s pretend your website or blog is on real estate and you spend two weeks writing about fly fishing with day traders. Do not be surprised if your feedburner.com subscriber list bottoms out. Write valuable articles relevant to your intended audience. Some may view a blog as being different than a traditional website where it is somewhat understood that the blog author may write about personal life events. This view is subjective and may or may not be shared by your entire reading audience. The best practice is to spend the majority of content related to your blog’s purpose or mission statement.
5. Frequency - depending on your online and organizational goals - whether every day, x number of times a week or quarterly - you should always be providing fresh content for your audiences.
6. Formatting - while there is no MLA or APA guidelines for blogging there are a few best practices.
* Instead of paragraphs try to use lists
* Lists size - at least 2 but no more than 10; 7 is a good number (7 Tips for Writing Great Content).
* Use headings and sub headings
* KISS - Keep It Simple Stupid. Write short, concise sentences. People will read and remember more if you do.
7. PROOFREAD - proofread, proofread, proofread! Everyone has spell check. Misspellings and blatant grammatical errors stick out like a sore thumb. Worse, they can serve to discredit your article, authorship or website as a whole. Always proofread.
User Comments
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Nice post but for someone new you could explain things like MLA or APA -
I don't agree with the KISS principle when it comes to blog posts. Are blogs not for well I don't know.... hmm let me see- oh heck.... writing?-
I wonder--don't even know what I think about this yet, since it just popped into my head--whether the principles of "good" blogging are different depending upon whether you're blogging for content/community or money. I know there are some notable examples of content-rich blogs that are big money-makers, but it seems that maybe when a blog is created for no reason other than to make money, the posts are more marketing text (even if cleverly disguised) than content for its own sake. Maybe it's a different audience, and different principles apply. -
Even if you are blogging for money I believe in informative content.
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But do we really know what those users are looking for? Is there a difference in the demographics of users who are likely to click on AdSense or take advantage of an affiliate offer or whatever might make money for a blogger and those who are in it for the content?
I honestly don't think that I've ever clicked on an ad or followed an affiliate link on a blog in my life, so while my preference is also for substantial quality content, it may be that the blogger for money doesn't care in the least about my preference--he's not going to make any money from me. It would be very interesting to see whether they are two different target audiences altogether. -
Content is king. Ask any SEO expert.
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Indubitably! Heuristic evaluation and internalization of any unit in a communication network requires not only appreciation of the gestalt, but in addition demands painstaking attention to aesthetic aspects of the medium involved the aforementioned communication network.
In case anyone's still reading, I said, "Right! Understanding what someone says means that the reader or listener needs to understand the message as a whole - but also that the writer or speaker had better pay attention to the details that make something acceptable to read or listen to."
"Keep it Simple, Stupid" doesn't necessarily mean writing crudely. It means writing efficiently.
The KISS principle is important on the Web, where many seem to have the attention span of a hyperactive hummingbird.
As for artistic integrity, consider this: how impressive would O. Henry's "Gift Of The Magi" have been, had it been written with someone with Charles Dickens' gift of gab?
Hmmm - I've got a tendency to write at length. Maybe I should pay attention to KISS! -
Yes Norski you should! =)
=) Thanks for the article Paul. Very well written. I'm surely going to check out your blog now.
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i make the title marketing oriented but not the article self -
I will say generally (rather than as a response to Rose, since she's asked me not to speak to her) that "content is king" is definitely the buzz phrase of SEO, but that there is more to successful blogging than SEO. Getting traffic is critical, of course, but it's only the first step. And, of course "content" covers a lot of ground, and one of those things it covers is knowing your target audience and tailoring the content and its presentation to that audience. Thus, for some audiences, the KISS principle in the initial posting here might be appropriate and for others it might not.
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There is a such thing as private shout to shout. I guess you don't get that do you?
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Tiffany said, "And, of course "content" covers a lot of ground, and one of those things it covers is knowing your target audience and tailoring the content and its presentation to that audience. Thus, for some audiences, the KISS principle in the initial posting here might be appropriate and for others it might not."
That is certainly true for my aviation news blogs. My readers from within the aviation industry always have their antennae up, scanning for inaccuracies or bunk. One thing I do is keep track of FAA and NTSB reports about aircraft accidents and safety incidents. When official reports come out, I write synopses on the blogs -- sort of translating the official-ese and distilling the sometimes lengthy reports to the points that the crews themselves are interested in knowing about. It's definitely content that my target audience wants to read -- especially the pilots -- but it's often tricky to strike a balance between too dry (the official-ese) and too superficial. Applying the KISS rule to those kinds of posts is relative -- on the one hand I'm definitely "simplifying" what I found in the source material, but if it's too simplified, too much information is lost and it's of no value to my readers. -
Rose asked you not to speak to her? Interesting. She gave me a time out in the playroom. These disputes, I've been finding, have to do with two approaches to written communication, one of which involves nuance and the other shooting from the hip.
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OMG Mark my time out in the playroom was meant in humor in reply to your comment to me. Seesh some people!
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I think that the first two sentences are important. Keywords - good nor not have nothing to do with your content being good (worth reading). Many people now just load up their blogs with key words but the content of their posts are not good. I think they are reading too many how too blogs.
Too many links in a post for the most part destroy a post.
Anyway, "Lorelle on WordPress" has been writing suggestions forever as has Copywriter Blog and Pro Blogger. I think those are probably the best place to start. -
Okay, this is petty, but here goes: item 6: " . . . while there is no MLA or APA guidelines . . ." and item 7: "proofread, proofread, proofread!" Well, spellcheck could not have caught that.
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:-D
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Spell check does not catch everything. One should never rely solely on spell check.
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that's why the follow-on to spell-check is good old proofreading.
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bnsullivan proof reading and another set of eyes helps too.
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thanks
yes. proofread is a must. typos are likely to happen when you're writing at 3 AM in the morning and out of coffee
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Apropos proofreading, here are a couple tricks:
– Print out your drafts and proofread on paper.
– Read your draft aloud. Sometimes your ear will catch what your eye doesn't.
– Have your computer read your post aloud to you.-
Stoneman - I think that is good advise. -
Here's another trick. Proof one line at a time, working up from the bottom of the screen or page.
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I would never ever have the patience, but I see your point. It forces you to look at each word out of context so you are not seduced by the sweet sound of your own prose.
Still, most of my proofreading involves sentence and paragraph structure, where backwards might not do it.
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MadameX - No time out in the playroom. ...I mean the discussion forms. lol
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I can see the article generated some critical thinking which is important.
Just to answer the above question regarding APA and MLA. They are both guidelines for writing.
American Psychological Association style guide -> apastyle.apa.org/
Modern Language Association -> www.mla.org/ -
When we're talking about the idea of Keep It Simple Stupid, I think that can not necessarily mean, "Don't write an involved blog post." But it CAN mean, look at your wording and see how you can streamline it for readability.
Even in non-commercial blogs, it's important to use sentences which are not run-ons... Or are overly convoluted in their phrasing. It's one of those things you often can clean up when you walk away from your work and then come back with a fresher viewpoint.
Also, online, just because of the medium itself, it's recommended to use short paragraphs to communicate. It's just easier to read on-screen, where you can have paragraphs that are a bit chunkier (a la the aforementioned Mr. Dickens) when it's in a book.-
I am often mystified by how complicated freshman can make the prose in their papers. They, in turn, wonder why at college I want them to write in a concise fashion. Besides addressing the issue of convoluted sentence structures, I like to remind them that if a two-dollar word conveys their meaning accurately, they should use it, instead of turning to the thesaurus and looking for a twenty-dollar word.
The advice about shorter paragraphs online makes sense. I need to keep that in mind when writing. A new blog I'm working on, Clio and Me, could encourage me to fall into the trap that you warn against. Its subject matter will be more complex, and I might forget that I'm not producing a product on paper. Thanks for the tip. -
Well, I think that sort of unnecessary complication in writing is often a tactic used by newer writers-- Usually in academic settings to mimic what they feel SOUNDS intelligent and academic.
That way, perhaps, you won't look too closely at their actual points. :-)
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