It is my hope that you had fun as I did over the festive season. If by bad luck you didn’t have a great time, take heart; at least you made it to 2013. Quite a number never made this far, so count your blessings and appreciate the fact that you are still alive and kicking.
Today, I will be exploring five tips on creating effective content. As odd as this might sound to a few of you, this post was not in my editorial calendar, but I had to squeeze it in after someone searched ‘creating effective content tips’ on Google and this blog came first!
You can try it; search ‘creating effective content tips’ on Google, and this blog will rank first in the results. Am I thrilled? Yes, I am! Because I won’t be lying to clients if I said I can give them top ranking on Google, and because my SEO efforts are actually paying off! But that’s not the point here; the point here is all about creating results-oriented web content that is good value for your money and efforts.
Here, grab these tips and boost your website’s ranking on Google!
Tip 1: Forget SEO, Create Content by Letting Go!
I haven’t been around the world of SEO for a long time and that’s a fact. But I can tell you that creating effective SEO content demands letting go and just writing away. Not typing away, but writing away. There is a big difference.
Writing away is the secret ingredient that adds flavor to effective web content. For instance, I did not exactly ‘optimize’ the article that showed up against ‘creating effective content tips’. I just poured forth my soul to a content problem that I believe is facing many online entrepreneurs! The keywords in that article fell right in! That wouldn’t have been the case if I had focused on the keywords instead of writing.
So, write for humans, and if you know your subject well, the keywords will fall in naturally, which is by all means PERFECT SEO!
Tip 2: Discuss the problem, not your Oh-So Appealing Solutions!
Again, I will reference the ‘creating effective content tips’ article in question. As with every other article that is published on the web, that article served and still serves a purpose.
I wrote it to ‘entice’ people to sign up for a special Web Content Style Guide that I will be releasing in a matter of days. A few people have signed up, and I suggest you head over to that page and claim your FREE guide today!
But, I did not begin by explaining my ‘oh-so appealing’ solution, which is the Style Guide in this case. I began by explaining a problem – a pain – that faces many online entrepreneurs as far as creating effective content goes. My solution is only mentioned in the final few lines before I present the short sign up form. And BAM! that article came first on Google.
Tip 3: It is a blog, converse with your readers, not yourself
Head over to that article and sample the writing style. The article leans more on the conversation side of things than it does on the professional side of things, doesn’t it? Even though it is an article seeking to provide a professional solution, it does not feel like so. Instead, it is a ‘conversation’ between two persons, right? You are tempted to take action (as did the few who signed up).
To create effective web content, you must learn the art of conversing with your audience (even when you cannot see them). Talk to your prospective clients as you would in a one-on-one conversation – as if they were standing before you in a physical shop. Your online shop is a representation of your physical store. This is the case at least for a majority of online businesses.
Tip 4: Embrace Good Grammar, Not for SEO but for your Target Audience
This has nothing to do with ranking on Google, because Google spiders may be smart in ranking websites using keywords, but they are dumb as far as grammar goes. Good grammar is for your target audience, the real human beings who will read your content. Even if you get top ranking on Google and other search engines, no single bot will buy your stuff. You need actual human beings to buy from you.
For this very reason, Good grammar is a must! That means proofreading your content as well.
Tip 5: Call To Action, because We Humans Love Being Herded
It is in all of us, to lead and also to follow. It is hard-wired in our brains. It is something we cannot live without. We love being told what to do, because it relieves our brains of the ‘tiring’ process of thinking. We love it when we are shown where to go! We just can’t help it.
As such, never leave your article hanging. Yes, your goal with every article should be to inform or to entertain and inform. But why inform if you don’t wish to achieve anything at the end of it all. You’re better off on sites such as EzineArticles and Ehow. When it is your business blog or website, you need to append a Call To Action to your articles.
This is your only chance to let clients know what they have to do. Tell them they have to sign up to a guide. Tell them you’re open for hire. Tell them you will sleep better at night if they made contact. Whatever that is you wish to achieve, a Call To Action is your final chance to lure in the client.
A call to action is the summary of effective web content. So, do not leave things hanging; invite your clients in.
That will be all for today. If someone else goes up to Google with a different search term, you can be sure to see yet another impromptu article. But it is my hope that you will carry a few creating effective content tips from this post.
What else? Please check out this other post, and sign up for the forthcoming ULTIMATE Web Content Style Guide. If you publish content online, this guide is one FREE tool you can NEVER afford to miss!
See you around.
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