Hey Gang,
This week we're going to piggy-back a little on last week's Whiteboard Friday that discussed how to increase your blog's visibility. So you get readers to your site, now, how do you keep them there? Well the direct answer is great content. Create awesome material that keeps your readers interested and engaged and they'll keep coming back for more. Beyond that, they may even hit the "Koolaid Point" and become fans and evangelists for you, helping to grow your audience even wider.
So what are the four cornerstones of creating great content? Watch the video and Rand will discuss them in all of their glory. When you're done, scroll down and we'll briefly recap the main points for you.
As promised, let's quickly go over the main points covered in the video. There are four major areas to consider when you're generating content to attract and engage readers:
- Inspiring material--If you want bland content, then go ahead, write about paint drying. If you want awesome content, then write about the dangerous chemicals released as paint dries, or 13 ways to make paint dry faster, or the best paints for true one-coat coverage so you don't need to worry about drying time! If you can't picture the title as an exciting enticement on the cover of a magazine, it's probably dull and could stand a tweak of perspective to punch it up a bit.
- Timeliness--Trends come and go so fast online that if you blink, you can miss it. If you can position yourself at the head of the curve, just before a story/trend/topic explodes, you'll be a thought leader, reference source, and veritable black hole for links on the subject. Look at the trend curve below. That red 'X' is where you want to hit. Rand discusses this in more detail in the video.
- Quality of Content--This factor is multi-fold. The quality of your content depends on not only your writing skill, but having site/page design appropriate to the material you're presenting. One more time, allow us to plug "Don't Make Me Think," buy it, read it, pay attention to it. Your content also needs to be informed and well-researched, but most importantly, it needs to be well-written. In blog-reader surveys, quality writing is always the number one most important factor in blog readership, return rate and longevity.
- Emotional Appeal--In order to create passionate devotees, and long-term readers, you need to understand your users. You need to empathize with their needs, anticipate their desires, and craft content that appeals to them on both informational and emotional levels. The most influential sites speak to the reader in such a way that the user must keep reading to feel informed. Readers can identify so strongly with a site that they'll begin to feel that they don't know what to think about a topic without first consulting your blog.
If you're able to stick to these four cornerstones and allow them to guide your content creation efforts, you'll be well on your way to creating a devoted user base. If you've just read through this recap, I suggest you scroll up and watch the video. It's only seven minutes, but it covers these four areas in greater detail than what I've written here, plus it's kinda flashy this week!
quality writing is for buttpoops :)
very informative stuff, and I didn't mention it last week, but the video effects are great.
What do I need to get a decent submarine sandwich 'round here?
Great Content!
Sorry, I couldn't help myself.
I love how you make every post special and entertaining :)
PS I hit the wrong button this wasn't supposed to be an indented comment...
This gem was written by a new copywriter that joined our ranks this week.Thought you'd appreciate a writer's sentiments with regarsds to this posting....
The net abounds with all manner of useful hints, tips and tricks on how to write effective content to successfully market your website or blog.
More than in any other form this advice appears as articles written by webmasters and freelance content writers whose experience in the field has proven invaluable to those, like myself, who are constantly on the lookout for ways in which to improve and adapt their writing skills for online application. As is bound to happen, with all these experts giving their professional opinions, there are large discrepancies in information between one authority on the subject and the next.
The most frequently debated and discussed topic seems to be that of keyword-driven content writing (aimed at drawing search engine attention and popularity) versus pure quality writing, whose purpose is to provide web users with the enjoyable experience of reading high-caliber writing.
Personally, I am unable to perceive the necessity of debate on this subject. Web writers should, first and foremost, be writers. This is the most essential factor in online writing, often overlooked by those who press designers, developers and secretaries into the role.
But really, who but writers can fully comprehend the power of words to move people to action? Who, but writers, have the passion and zest for words needed to give those words the power to make a lasting impact on the reader? Finally, who, but writers, can really write?
I don't mean writing in the loosest and most basic sense of the word I mean writing to elicit an emotional reaction from the reader, which is, after all, what you want.
Think about it, anyone can pick up a paint brush and slap some colour on their wall, but it takes more than that basic skill to become a Francisco Goya or a Salvador Dalí. Painting your house is not painting.
Likewise there is more to writing than jotting down a string of words that manage to convey a basic point. Technically anyone can write, just as anyone can paint, but not just anyone can capture their audience and hold their attention through these mediums. That takes something more. Therein lies the art.
The debate, in SEO content writing circles, of quality vs quantity (low quality writing will always be quicker to produce in larger amounts than the 'real' thing) is redundant. If web content writers are real writers with any self-respect at all, the work they produce will, by definition be quality work, they will write to the best of their ability, relishing the challenge of working within the restraints of the websites design as well as that of fitting the right keywords into the piece without sacrificing the integrity of their art.
The purposes of online written content are so varied as to be almost infinite. Some write just to express their views or opinions on a specific subject, others write to promote a certain ideal or perhaps to market a service or product they're offering, but there is one common link, one element binding all these writers together. We all write to be read and to continue being read. Keyword-stuffed content might bring us readers through search engines, but it is quality writing that will build a loyal following of interested readers who will return to continue reading.
Nicely written :)
Thank you, will relay. Expect more from the lad...
I'm gonna go against the flow here and say I don't like all the new effects. I don't want to offend the editor (Great Scott! ?) but it reminds me of when people first discovered scrolling text in html or people using powerpoint for the first time. OK maybe it's more subtle than that but I liked the simple style of before. The last couple of WBFs I just watched the titles transition in and out without reading them properly - my tiny brain was busy trying to absorb and understand the message but got distracted by the...
..ooh look a there's a cat outside!
All of the people some of the time, or some of the people all of the time. Thanks for watching.
Sorry, I sound like a big moaner don't I? I should have also said that the quality of the productions has consistently improved and that increases the clarity of the message.
Anyway, I'd still watch these even if the words "IsRobot is a tool. Everyone thumb him DOWN!" continuously scrolled along the bottom of the screen.
Keep up the good work.
Thanks. Your opinion is welcome and valued and will be considered along with all of the other feedback I get...along with my own personal whims. Nonethless, I'm glad you watched it and I hope you found value even if the production wasn't exactly your cup of tea.
This is completely irrelevant, but don't those two guys have the exact same look on their faces as Smiling Bob the Enzyte guy?
This is a brilliant post and a great site! Will be back here for sure.
Amazing WBF!"Readers can identify so strongly with a site that they'll begin to feel that they don't know what to think about a topic without first consulting your blog."
This is a great tip, I think that passionate readers are the best link builders.
Great and useful content on this post. One of the points that was really interesting is the demand for specific information over time. Good timing can give you great opportunities on traffic.
Nice segment. The message reminds me of the book, "Made to Stick: why some Ideas Survive and Others Die" by Chip & Dan Heath.
Another great edition... I particularly enjoyed the "Love + Respect" diagram in the recap. So true and simple yet so often ignored (particularly by large companies).
Good indeed. I don't want to miss this opportunity. Thanks for such information.
Great Whiteboard Friday. Good stuff.
Not only did you talk about Quality Content, but you did it in your post. Great job. :)
Great post.
Oh..and thumbed up for ron paul ;)
Being a freelance writer myself I really Do understand how hard it is to grasp readers' attention and even harder to catch and hold their feeling and loyality. You know, when you want the world to listen to your words you have to make them clear and precise. I suppose english is the only language that can help you do that. And could you tell me what to do when you are not a native speaker? i understand that reading and writing gives you some kind of skill and knowledge, but if you don't live in language surroundfings (i mean a country where english is the first or the second language) you will be never able to write as skillfully as a native speaker. Do you think there is a way oou of this sitation? Could you recommend at least something?
The results of how people evaluate blog quality are derived from their own assessment...I would bet that people like to think of themselves as people who go for well written content, whereas the other factors (namely look and feel) probably have more of an effect than the self-evaluator thinks.
Awesome! I'm sending this to everyone in the company as we speak as a mandatory "must-watch".
good one. is that from the Stories of the Last Pre-Internet Generation?
and those sweet effects...i'm having flashbacks from the eighties. cool.
oh yeah and the content of this post is killer! :)
Hey Now Rand,
I relly liked how you explained the Timeliness' factor. It is so true.
Thx 4 the info,
Catto
Great post, but their are what I'd call anomolies to this hypothesis, for instance, not all of what gets to the top of social media sites can fit the "great content" definition, as described here.
Always enjoy the friday posts. I would probably take the survey stats with a grain of salt though, as is often the case, what people say they do and what they actually do may be entirely different.
Krug's book is a delightfully succinct read, and I'm sure he'd agree that if the site was truly well designed, the readers probably wouldn't even notice the design and so would attribute their liking of the blog primarily to the writing...
This is classic: "If you want awesome content, then write about the dangerous chemicals released as paint dries, or 13 ways to make paint dry faster"
Content is king. That's why we recently hired an English graduate rather than a techie to do our linkbuilding :-)
Techies have terrible writing skills and even worse grammar, more often than not.
creative writing and good content is a plus factor in terms of marketing/promotion. It never fails (i must say) in getting people's attention
Is there any optimal length for quality content?
It takes a lot of work/time to put together a nice piece of content. Got to invest it to reap the benefits. Good one!
Great video effects! It's getting better and better.
Thanks for the post. As a new ecommerce blog this information is invaluable for our troops!