In today’s highly-competitive business environment, the need to develop quality marketing content should seem obvious. Tactics such as blogs, eblasts, and social media are essential to driving consistent traffic to a website. Content writing also provides an opportunity to display a company’s expertise in a field while building a connection between the brand and its target audience.
The content writing process isn’t, however, as easy as it’s often perceived. If you’re aspiring to improve your content writing skills, be sure to utilize the best practices listed below.
Identify Your Goals
Before you begin the writing process, determine the central message and goals of your project. What is the number one question you want your content to address? What is the purpose of this marketing? What action do you want your readers to take? Acknowledging these items will help you stay on point as you develop the content.
Keep the Layout Simple
Content should be structured in a way that’s straightforward and easy for readers to digest. Headers and subheaders, for example, will help readers skip to the information that answers their questions or is most relevant to them. Also, concluding the content with a clear call-to-action can significantly improve lead conversion rates.
Avoid Speaking in Generalities
High-level descriptions are limiting. Try your best to incorporate more examples and specific language to help readers better understand the information you’re presenting. Take, for example, these two descriptions:
“These are the most comfortable bed sheets you’ll ever purchase.”
OR
“Bead Head’s hypoallergenic sheet sets are crafted with ultra-plush microfiber for a buttery-soft touch and cool, breathable comfort.”
Which sentence provides your prospective customer with the better picture of the sheets? Offering details over generalities will help readers better visualize the focus of your content. Also, by getting more descriptive in your writing, you’ll boost your website’s SEO through more targeted, less generic keywords.
Bots Aren’t Your Target Audience
While browsing the web, you’ve probably stumbled across an article or two that reads awkwardly or unnaturally. Many blogs and web content are written by marketing “professionals” with a focus on pleasing search bots over humans. Incorporating a higher density of keywords is important to SEO, but ensuring prospective customers find the writing to be informative and engaging should always be the priority.
Add Links
Linking to other web pages within your content offers several advantages. If you’ve been blogging for months or years, it’s likely you’ve written content related to your current topic. Including links to past blogs or other pages on your website can help visitors better understand a topic and keep them on your site even longer. Also, linking to credible external sources demonstrates your content is well researched and fact-based.
In Conclusion
Quality writing is important when speaking to both a target audience and search engines. Readers seek out web content, follow social media pages and sign up for email updates to stay informed, learn something new or solve a problem. Search engines also reward websites that are consistently producing unique content.
Now that we’ve shared our tips for developing content, tell us yours on the Baer Performance Marketing Facebook Page!