As content starts becoming more important online, it’s important we find more ways to resonate with our readers. We all know that competition is widely available online, so as bloggers we have to stand out compared to others. However, many people still fail to find a fine line between their content and what readers are looking for. For example, in my 7 years blogging, I’ve discovered there is ONLY a few types of content which resonates with our readers. For example,
- Tutorials
- Complete guides
- Make money content
- Link building
- Traffic increase
Even though this type of content has been known to perform well online compared to others type, it’s what we add to the content which outperforms your competition. For example, no point in writing 3,500 words if it is NOT appealing to your readers right? With that said,
I’ll be exploring some of the best type of content available online and what your readers are looking for. However, to answer this question, I’ll be using examples why NO ONE is reader your content and a solution towards the end of each section.
You DON’T Answer Their Questions
You have to keep in mind many people are online searching for information. More so, they are looking for answers to common problems they are having. One of the biggest reasons why people leave right away is because they simply don’t find the information they are looking for. This means they arrive on your site, skim through and leave WITHOUT ever coming back because you didn’t deliver. This is why keyword research is very important since it’ll give you insight into what questions the readers have before you start writing your content.
Search engines are all about providing value to the reader and this value is resonated through your content. This is why it is even more important you answer important questions which otherwise would be very difficult to do so. If you can achieve this on a constant basis, then you’ll be better off compared to the rest of your competition. You do have to make sure you are answer the right questions which is where research plays an important role. For example,
Always do your keyword research so you know what’s trending and what people are looking for. Start with your target keyword and work your way down into smaller but related keywords. This will ensure you NOT only have many sub-headings when writing content, but will rank for several keywords at a time. It’s also a good idea to explore forms because people are posting in real-time. Skim through looking for common questions being asked because you know that is a common problem within your niche.
Lesson#1 – People won’t read your content if you are NOT answering a common problem within your niche. These people are searching for solutions through your content.
Capture Attention Right Away
Why do effective landing page’s work so well? It’s because they can capture the reader’s attention very quickly which increases the likelihood the visitor will remain on the page. With that said, it’s important you have the skills to do the same with your content. In the above point I mentioned the importance of conducting proper keyword research and how it can increase engagement. One main reason it helps is because people see specific triggers they are looking for. For example, when you arrive on a page and are looking for link building methods, it helps seeing that keyword embedded throughout the content, right? This is why it’s important you do the same when publishing content. Next,
By adding triggers, you are decreasing the likelihood of the visitors leaving right away and reading more content. The can lead to higher engagement on your page, website or even conversions. From my experience, it works well when you can add triggers in the following areas:
Title – This is seen when they arrive and within the search results. The trigger can lead to a higher click-through rate.
Sub-headings – I like to split each section up by adding specific keywords that I know visitors are looking for. With each section they know the information they need is within that section.
The Body – While reading it’s a good idea re-iterating the visitor will find what their looking for. I like to scatter the targeted keywords throughout the content so readers get that confidence they’ll find EXACTLY what they are looking for.
Lesson #2 – Make sure you add trigger keywords throughout your content. This will help keep focus and keep the reader engaged as they go through the content.
Simplicity
That’s another huge problem in our industry. We as bloggers try to make things very complicated and this back fires on us. Remember, people who are looking for information are usually illiterate on the topic so they need to be explained everything from top to bottom. However, we fail to understand this and write complex content NOT being able to create engagement. Next, writing simplistic content is actually much easier than going all complex so there is NO excuse why things sound so difficult. However, I believe people don’t take out the time write simple content because they don’t think about their readers enough. Here are some ways you can learn about your readers that will help you going forward.
Google Analytics – A great way to find out about your audience and their location, content preference, etc. This is a free tool which can be installed within minutes. Install the code and look over the data. For example, search location, landing pages, search queries, and more.
Alexa.com – Another great tool to understand where your audience is coming from. You can then cater content to people from different places in the world.
Forums – Use forums to see what type of questions people are asking. However, forums have hidden clues about your readers. For example, many of the people posting questions will tell you what they are trying to do i.e. setup a blog, code, marketing, etc. By knowing their experience, you can change content style to be more engaging.
Lesson #3 – Many times engagement will be slow on your content because it’s NOT simplistic enough. Write content for people who are 5th graders. This way it stays simple and resonates with everyone no matter the experience level.
Change is Good
There are so many resources available online so I encourage everyone to change things around. You don’t want your readers viewing the same thing over again. If they arrive on a competitor site, and then see the same thing on yours, the visitor will leave right away. However, in this day and age, you are in luck because things have changed enormously. For example, you now have so many different types of content which you can create to resonate with your readers. For example, here are just a few I have worked with in the past, and these have shown incredible results.
Text – This is good if you know your competition hasn’t written in-depth content before. Make sure you show value, and provide all the angles to your readers.
Video – A quick and easy way to provide tutorials. Visitors love this type of content because it’s easy to follow. Videos also get shared online which can generate enormous engagement for you.
Infographics – These are very easy to skim through which is why they are growing in popularity. However, you have to make sure you use the right layout to avoid clutter. Recently, they have become very cost effective.
General Images – This method is good when combined with content. For example, some text might be describing a point which is difficult, however adding an image will allow you to resonate the point more effectively.
Try to view the situation from your visitor’s point of view when writing content. They have been skimming through the web and have probably seen similar content everywhere. Changing it up will allow you to stand out and illustrate your point more effectively.
Lesson #4 – Change your content format to give your readers a new way to consume the value. Research your competitors then do the opposite of them to add uniqueness to your content.
Final Thoughts
There is NO point in writing content if it doesn’t resonate with your readers. You’re going to be putting so much effort writing content and it won’t be paying off the way you want it to. However, today I have outlined some cool strategies you can implement into your content going forward. I’ve learned, it’s all about creating content that your readers love because this helps your bottom line. With that said, let’s look at some of the factors I discussed today.
First, people are online to find answers to their problems. If they are unable to find what they are looking for then they’ll leave right away. You’re NOT going to be able to engage your readers if you don’t provide what they are looking for. Secondly, you can use clever ways to capture the attention of your readers, and I find many bloggers are NOT doing this. It’s important to add specific triggers within your content like target and related keywords. Third, make things simplistic because you’re going to have first time readers. They are looking for content which can easily be skimmed through and read. The content must be easy to understand no matter what your expert level. Finally, change things up because you want to stand out compared to everyone else. This means making sure you use different formats, and create something different compared to your competition.
Go through the list and look for ways to improve your overall content. You have to test through which ones are improving your overall strategy by collecting DATA. Use Google Analytics to track results, then eliminate the ones which are NOT producing results.