10 Tips for Creating Amazing Content That Delights Your Audience

Exceptional online content doesn’t just speak to the reader, it also helps you get noticed by search engines. Google, in particular, rates sites based on the quality of their content and the keyword choices.

Therefore, if you want to attract inbound links and improve the ranking of your site on search engines, content creation is definitely something worth considering. That way, your current customers will have less trouble finding you online, and it is also a great way for attracting new customers, whatever the line of business you are in. Without good quality content, Google is likely to think the site is nothing but a link farm, and sandbox it into oblivion.

However, though vital for your business, producing quality content on a regular basis may be time-consuming and nerve-wracking. To engage your readers and wow your audience, as well as Google, here are 10 tips to get you started.

1. Know Your Audience

First of all, know what your audience likes, as well as what demographic your content attracts the most. For example, you can analyze your traffic with Google Analytics or an amazing new product called KYA.* To figure out who your biggest fans and followers are, you can use Facebook Insights or check out LinkedIn Groups. That way, you should be able to spot your most ardent fans and followers who share your content freely. You can also find out if they are influential by visiting their profiles or checking them out on Klout.com.

2. Devise Great Ideas

When you know who your target audience is and what their needs are, you can adapt the ideas to create good content accordingly. For example, content that solves your audience’s problems and provides them with a solution, preferably regarding a product or service you sell, is one that not only encourages people to visit your site, but also spurs sales. You can also provide your audience with industry news, reviews, or past successes and failures.

Always use easy-to-read formats that people can skim on a busy day, like lists and quick tips. To figure out what makes for a good content idea, ask yourself the following questions: Does this meet my audience’s needs? Is it shareable? Will it boost my brand? If you’re stuck for ideas, check out the latest movies, books, traveling adventures, or even talk to a friend for inspiration. You can be interesting and merge two topics into one, like “What can Spiderman teach you about philosophy?”

3. Write Compelling Headlines

A compelling headline will stir curiosity and hook the reader. Since only 20 percent of the people who read your headline will go on to read the rest of your article, it pays to make it as engaging as possible. The same is true for subheadings. People may only skim the article by reading a headline and a few subheadings before they decide to read the rest of the article. Humor and controversy are two ways to pique interest. You can also add some facts and figures to make it more authoritative, or write a title in which you ask your readers a question that they’re just dying to know the answer to. Just remember to keep it brief and honest.

4. Employ Storytelling

Stories that bring out the benefits of your product or service are interesting and persuasive. One of the easiest ways to do this is to compare the life of someone who’s used your product or service against someone who hasn’t. Another way to tell a story is to narrate the birth of your brand. Help people to place the story through its setting via sensual cues, characters, and a problem or conflict that led to the development of your brand. Like any good story, follow the ideal of an introduction that leads to a problem/conflict and then climaxes in a solution with an appropriate conclusion.

An important thing to remember is that you trying to create content that will engage your customers, so they would keep coming back to your site. Therefore, always bear in mind that you are writing for them – not for yourself.

5. Surprise Your Readers

Give your readers content with an emotional impact. Once you stir their passions, either through controversy or with a delightful surprise, your content will have a higher potential of going viral. Try to provoke discussion and challenge your readers. Whether it is fear or joy, by targeting different emotions, the content becomes more likely to be discussed and shared widely.

6. Be Original and Creative

Originality and creativity go a long way, and it always pay off to have fresh ideas. However, it can be tough and time-consuming to think up new ideas for regular text posting or blogging. The good news is – you don’t always have to. You can repurpose old content by giving it a new angle. For example, you can turn a series of Facebook posts into a blog article. You can also take something that is already widely-known and use it to create offshoot topics relevant to your business.

For more information, check out this interesting video.

7. Use the Right Tone

Your tone should match the tone of your audience. For example, if your audience consists of teenagers, then you might want to include slang. If you are marketing to business people, a more formal style is needed. However, even with a formal style, you want a casual touch that helps to engender the idea that they are listening to a friend, not a professional marketer. Use keywords and phrases appropriate for the industry and the audience too.

8. Revise Your Text

Always proofread your content before releasing it. If you aren’t an editing genius, adopt some useful tools like Grammarly to check spelling and grammar. Make sure to check facts and provide sources wherever necessary to maintain a good reputation, even if you have to direct readers to other sites.

9. Pay Attention to the Format

How does your content look on a smartphone? How hard is it for a senior to read? Can people spot the links easily? Always keep these questions in mind when formatting your text. The format should be comprised of short paragraphs with subheadings and bolded text. You can use lists and bullet points to help break up the page and make your article less exhausting to read. Add colorful hyperlinks, but don’t make them some color that is hard to read, like yellow.

10. Add Visual Elements

Finally, add some pizzazz to your posts with images, diagrams, infographics, and videos. Not only can you say a lot more in a video in a shorter amount of time, which is appealing to time-sensitive consumers, but you also make the information easier to digest with pictures. People don’t have to read the entire article to get the basics, when you add visual elements to it. If you need help creating any of these, try one of these tools: Canva, Piktochart, Behappy (for images), YouTube Remixer, or eyespot (for videos). Additionally, you can hire someone on Fiverr.com who already has the tools they need to get you practically any snappy image you want, all starting at five bucks.

The Benefits of Highly Attractive Content

By following these simple tips, you can start publishing highly attractive content to generate views and sales. It can boost awareness of your brand and attract new customers to your business. Once you get the hang of it, your content may even go viral as it is shared more and more. This can lead to a massive stampede right to your website where your audience will find exactly what they need when they need it.

* Disclosure: KYA was founded by Jeff Weisbein the creator of BestTechie.