It’s no secret that creating great content takes both time and skill. But even if you’re not a professional writer, there are things you can do to make sure your content appeals to the people you most want to engage.
1. Make it scannable
Remember learning about topic sentences in primary school? Starting each paragraph with a snappy sentence that reveals what the paragraph is about is a good way to help time-poor readers scan your words to find parts of the text they want to read closely. Web users read about 28% of the words on each page. In other words, scanning is the new reading – making your text easy to scan is vital.
2. Offer value
Whether it’s information that’s hot off the press, or a new way to tackle an old problem, make sure your content offers a “hook” that keeps your audience reading and makes them feel like they have learned something of value.
3. Ensure it’s digestible
The way we take in information is changing. Long slabs of text are out, and short chunks are in. As well as shorter paragraphs, try to incorporate sub headings and bulleted lists of key points – they’re super quick and easy to digest. If you’re trying to cover a complex topic, consider breaking it up into a few separate articles or posts.
4. Well researched and reputable
Nothing turns readers off like content without credibility, so make sure you research your topic and only quote or link to reputable sources.
5. Grammatically flawless
Before you ask, yes, good grammar still rocks in the age of tweets, texts, status updates and hashtags. To avoid gramatical, I mean gramattical, no, grammatical errors, you may want to seek professional help!