THE FIVE TOP TIPS OF CONTENT WRITING
The number one piece of advice I can offer if you want some great content written is to give me a call. But – now that you’ve stitched your sides back together – what are the most important rules to follow if you want to make your words work as hard for you as you need?
I could sit here all day and throw ideas big and small at you. To save time, I’ve narrowed it down to a top five. Some of these might appear fairly obvious in isolation. Some may not. But add them all together and you will not go far wrong.
Know your audience. It’s the first question I always ask when a client asks for some copy. Who is going to read it? If it’s a B2C piece aimed at the general public, the language will be very different from that of an article directed at an expert B2B market. Tone of voice is key and if you find the right level of jargon and assumed foreknowledge, it will carry you a long way.
Write your piece with that audience’s point of view in mind. Don’t go on at length about how good you are, how desirable your products and services are. Make it clear what question you are answering, what box you are ticking, what switch you are flicking for the people who are reading your words.
Keep it simple. Yes, this again. I think some people confuse verbosity with value and think that the more words they throw at a subject, the more will stick. Now, opinion is not entirely united on this subject. Many experts in the field will tell you that, for SEO purposes, you should make a blog (for instance) as long as possible. I’m focusing here on pieces of content that are aimed at people rather than search spiders, so in this case I believe your audience will thank you for saying in 500 words what other writers might stretch to 1,500.
Spell it right. Yes, this again too. People really, really do notice – and mentally mark you down – if your grammar and spelling creak. If you are not confident, ask someone who is. You can call me a grammar ninja, you can call me a grammar Nazi, but you can always call me to solve a writing dilemma.
Read it out loud. This sounds a little off the wall, but it really works. Your lips may not move when you read a piece of content, but in your head you are subconsciously “hearing” the words. If what you create sounds fluid and melodious, even musical, then it is working well and, subliminally, helping to get your message across. If you come to a sentence where you trip over the words or have to read it twice to make sense of it, write it again.
That’s my top five. I know as soon as I post this I will think of at least another five. Let me know if you agree, disagree or have other tips that should be near the top of the tree.