The online world is a beautiful, vibrant place. It’s also full of people who are eager to be entertained and informed on every topic imaginable. Unfortunately, some people don’t take the time to create engaging content for their readers because they’re either too busy or can’t think of anything to say. When you provide your audience with something worth reading, they will come back again and again. Consider the following tips for making your content stand out in a crowd and use them to update your website with fresh blog posts.
1. Structure Your Content in Easy-to-Read Slices
The Internet has trained us to read short chunks of information that are easily digested and quickly forgotten. It’s easy to understand why. We’re bombarded with information every second of our lives and only have so much room in our brains for data storage. That means if you assume your reader will only read one page of your post or web page, then it has to be interesting enough to deserve his attention over other potential distractions. It has to be focused and easy to follow.
2. Break Up the Monotony of Bullet Points
A list of short phrases or facts can quickly become monotonous to read. It’s your duty as a writer to break that up with bold phrases, action words. However, don’t make it too exciting; the point is to grab your reader’s attention for a moment and give him time to process what he just read. An excellent way to ensure this happens is by using power words. You can find these by doing a synonyms and antonyms search.
3. When in Doubt, Be Funny
Imagine if you had to read a 300-page manual full of details and rules that you’ll never use. It would be boring, and you’d probably fall asleep at least once while reading it. That’s why people love content that is funny, engaging, and easy to digest. If you’re having trouble grasping the basic concepts of humor, then let your imagination run wild and see what it comes up with. Still, it doesn’t have to be utterly ridiculous either. Even subtle humor can go a long way toward making readers feel like they were just hanging out with a friend.
4. Be Vague When Necessary to Avoid Repetition
In case you haven’t noticed, businesses can be really repetitive in their literature and online content. They’ll often repeat the same phrases over and over again because they want people to recognize them. Within limits certain limits, this is okay, but it quickly gets old and can make your business sound unprofessional.
5. Add Some Fringe to Your Content Pie
If you watch the news on CNN, FOX, or MSNBC, then you have probably noticed that ‘fringes’ of political parties have started to emerge and become more vocal in their opinions. While it is unlikely you will be involved in ideological street fights with your content, you can learn from this trend. You should always have one or two things in each post that are slightly off-topic or different from your main point. Why? Adding these fringe elements to your online communication forces the reader to stop to make sure they understand what you’re saying, which will make your main point even more memorable.
6. Don’t Be Afraid to Skip the Big Words
Hey, I’m as big a fan of SAT vocabulary words as anyone. But sometimes, not using them can help you out more in the long run. You may think that using “synchronous” in a sentence will impress people. Still, it could have a negative effect on your readers, even if they are familiar with the word. That’s because most people are more comfortable with and understand everyday lingo or the vernacular; that means using it in your writing will help you more in the long run than using big, unfamiliar words.
7. Ask People What They Want to See
If you want to make your content more appealing to a large segment of your target audience, get in touch with some of them and find out what they like. Don’t just ask friends or co-workers, actually approach people who come across your business online, on social networks, on blogs, or anywhere else where they might congregate. This will give you a much better idea of what you need to do to keep them coming back for more information and, hopefully, eventually lead them into your sales funnel.
8. Sell People on What’s in It for Them
Another suggestion that should be obvious, but you’d be surprised how often marketers fail to do it, is telling people what’s in it for them. When writing, you need to keep an eye on what you’re promising and make sure that it will somehow appeal to your target audience. Is it a benefit? Will it help them save money or get something they want? Whatever you do, don’t just tell them about how outstanding your services are without mentioning why you think they will want to use them. Failure to appeal to the actual customer needs will likely have them passing by your online content.
Online communication is a great way to get your message before your audience, but only if you know how to do it properly.
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