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The Internet is definitely a very busy place, especially when we talk about blogs. If you write content, just to write it, then maybe you will stop.
About how crowded? Well, according to the figures, there are currently over 1.2 billion sites active in this great world www.
Capturing visitors’ attention is, in this context, a real challenge, especially since 55% of them spend no more than 15 seconds on a web page.
(This post contains some affiliate links. Should you click an affiliate link and make a purchase I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.)
In addition, if you write really well you can have an extra income, even if we are only talking about a blog. We know, a good idea for a home-based business.
And that we mentioned about monetizing the blog, discover 11 ways to make money from articles you write.
How to write content that beats these numbers? Here are the essential steps.
How to write content – the guide in 4 steps
#1 Determine why you write content
Everything starts from here, from the purpose of your site.
Give yourself time and analyze what you want from your site. Is it a presentation site that shows the world who you are and what you do or a sales site that puts products or services first?
The content of your site will differ depending on the answer to these questions, both in terms of structure and addressability.
Moreover, is it a multi-page site, or one-pager? Or, you want to publish content in your language, English or maybe you want a bilingual site.
It is important to establish these things from the beginning. Otherwise, you may not get the results you want.
#2 For whom you write
Know your audience as yourself.
To know how to write, it is important to know who you are writing for. Before you put your first words down on paper, ask yourself these key questions: What is my main audience? But the second one and how exactly can the latter influence the main audience?
It is essential to create content always keeping in mind those to whom you are addressing. To make your life easier (and clearer) create the ideal customer profile. These are research-based descriptions (not assumptions) of your customers’ profile, meant to illustrate who they are, how they think, how, where, and when they buy.
By creating these profiles, you can create targeted and relevant content for your audiences. In fact, the role of your text is precisely to answer their questions and perplexities, directly addressing their needs and interests.
In addition, if you know your target audience, you will know what their needs and purchase intentions are. Of course, don’t forget, don’t address anyone or everyone, but potential customers/readers.
#3 What do you write
To know how to write relevant, concise, and persuasive content, you need to look at what you are going to write. Therefore:
Make a plan
Don’t go without your best friend: the plan.
Without it, you will fully experience the famous feeling that you do not know where to start and where to end, despite the fact that your mind is full of ideas.
Put your thoughts in order by structuring the information you want to convey. The basic idea is that each piece of content serves a specific purpose and targets a specific audience.
Keep in mind that users use the Internet primarily for information, so look at the content of your site as an opportunity to inform them about your company, its products, and its services.
Here are some of the essentials that your site should contain:
- Company information
- Information about products/services
- Case studies/testimonials
- Information about the people behind the company
- Process/technology information
- FAQ
- BLOGS
- Premium content (e-books, whitepapers, etc.)
- Videos (highlighting organizational culture, customer opinions, etc.)
Do some research
Before you actually start creating content, it is useful to keep an eye on the “neighbor’s yard”. Put yourself in a customer’s shoes and scan the competition’s sites. This exercise will help you better define your ideas, refresh them or refine them.
It’s also important to take a look at the Search Console and Google Analytics reports. From there you will learn more about user preferences and the performance of your site.
Don’t forget keyword research to increase the quality of the content according to what is really searched in the search engines.
#4 And how to write
When it comes to actually writting content that grabs users’ attention and keeps them interested, it’s a good idea to take a few tips.
Write after the inverted pyramid model
Today’s users are impatient, very impatient, and when they look at a site, they decide in just a few seconds if it contains the information they’re looking for. If I find them, I linger, if not, I move on and they don’t come back.
So structure your site content so that the most important information is visible at the top of the page. Then continue with the specific details and end with the tangential ones.
Let’s say, for example, that you need to create a web page related to organizing training. The most relevant details – such as theme, date, location – will be placed at the top of the page.
Specific details – such as speakers and seminar topics – will follow immediately.
The least important aspects – such as the training organizers, previous courses, or a list of additional resources – will appear at the bottom of the page.
How to write content, short and simple
Complex sentences, long sentences, and complicated words work well in book pages, not in web pages. So how do you write so that users stay on your page?
The need for today’s internet reader requires short sentences of 35 words or even less.
The paragraphs must also be short, a maximum of 4 sentences, and the words simple, familiar. Jargon words, pretentious or scientific, should be avoided.
The entire content should be so relevant and easy to read that, from a simple scan of it, anyone will be able to understand what it is about.
Studies have shown that only 16% of visitors read the web pages word for word, the rest only scan it. So, make your texts “scannable”!
If you need help, you can use the AIO SEO plug-in. It will analyze the published content and tell you if your sentences are too long. Depending on the recommendations, you will be able to optimize the text in the shortest possible time.
Use active diathesis
Active Diathesis helps you write short, easy-to-read sentences that are aimed directly at the person you are addressing.
For example, a sentence like “You can buy products from our site” is much more impactful than “Products can be bought from our site.”
Also, use the direct address and the pronoun “you”.
Write a call to action on each page
How do you write to make sure users quickly understand what it’s all about?
Don’t expect visitors to read your site in the same way as a book, from start to finish, from Home Page to Contact.
Moreover, remember the 4 most important pages that a site must-have. Without these pages, users may be reluctant to trust you.
They can hit any of your pages, so it’s important that each of them is easy to scan, eloquent for your site, allowing visitors to quickly understand what it’s about, and, most importantly, contain a call to action to tell them what to do next.
Be explicit
How to write well? Don’t just write generalities, be more specific in the descriptions. In this way, you will help readers understand and visualize the message.
Instead of saying “It’s the best product you can buy” come with a more detailed description, and at the same time more eloquent, like “This product is made of 100% organic cotton, resistant to repeated washing and how can not finer ”.
Add multimedia
Images, infographics, or videos are as much as 1000 words, even if they don’t seem to be about how to write for the web.
According to studies, 90% of the information transmitted to the human brain is visual, and people process this type of information 60,000 times faster than a text.
An infographic will make a complex subject easier to understand than a text. So is a video.
Also, images that “break” the text will make it easier to read.
Video content is also ideal if you want to quickly increase the sales of an online store. I explained why and how in a separate article.
Also, write for search engines
While a book is written for readers, a web text must be written not only for them but also for search engines. Identify and use in your text the keywords on which Google displays the results.
If you use WordPress we recommend reading the SEO optimization guide. You will learn from there how to bring your site and content among the first Google results.
Writes persuasively
Certainly, persuasive writing for the web is not an easy task, to be done in two steps and three words.
It is important not to treat your visitors like academics, lovers of complex and complicated texts. And not like detectives, ready to look for hidden meanings in words. Don’t write with flourishes and don’t use web text to display your vocabulary.
Don’t try to write everything for everyone, but focus on what you are and what you do.
Write as simply as possible. If your position is clear, it is much easier to stand out and be found online. If your message is clear, it’s much easier to create a persuasive web text.
How to write simple, concise, and convincing is perhaps more difficult than it seems at first glance. Hopefully, with these tips in mind, you know for sure that you are starting from the correct premises.
To be more effective in what you write, read the article: How do you keep the rate of publishing articles on the blog constant?
