It’s no secret that one of the keys to a successful website is that you need to create highly engaging content.
If your visitors don’t stick around to consume your content, then any monetization method is a wasted effort.
That’s why you’ll want to check out these five easy steps for creating content that will hook your readers and keep them coming back for more.
Here’s a quick overview:
- Step 1: Profile
- Step 2: Pinpoint
- Step 3: Pull
- Step 4: Push
- Step 5: Package
Step 1: PROFILE
The first step in creating great content is to profile your audience. This means learning as much as you can about your audience as possible. Because the more you know, the better able you’ll be to create content that really resonates with them.
Here’s how to profile your audience…
- Become a part of your target market. In other words, do exactly what your audience does. So, if you have a bodybuilding audience that goes to a gym to workout five times per week, then you should do the same thing. That way, you better understand their viewpoints and problems.
- “Eavesdrop” on your audience. A good place to do this is on online forums and groups. For example, if you want to know more about poodle owners, then search for “poodle” on Facebook and join relevant groups. Then spend time reading the archived discussions to get a feel for how your niche audience thinks.
- Talk to your audience. While you’re in those groups, you can ask questions. Or you can be more formal and have your audience take surveys so that you can better understand their problems and desires.
- Do some research. It’s a good idea to understand the demographics of your audience, such as where they live, there age, whether they’re married or not, if they have kids, their highest education level, and so on. You can often find these demographics by running a Google search, which will show you data that others have collected (such as Pew Research data, data from universities or government organizations, and similar).
- Find out what content is already popular with your niche. This involves checking the bestselling books and other information products on sites like Amazon and ClickBank, seeing what’s popular on social media, and discovering what sort of content is popular on your competitors’ blogs.
Once you’ve done all this research, then sit down and write out everything you know about your audience. This includes:
- Age
- Gender
- Location
- Rent or own
- Education level
- Income level
- Hobbies
- Biggest problems
- What types of solutions they use
- What types of products they’re buying
- What they want in general (e.g., what type of content? What type of features in products?)
- What motivates them
- What scares them
- What sort of jargon they use (if any)
… And anything else you know about your audience.
Next…
Step 2: PINPOINT
Now that you know who your audience is and what they want, your next step is to create targeted content for them. You do this on two levels:
- Create content that’s directly targeted to their needs and wants.
- Insert references that resonate with them.
Let’s look at these two issues separately…
Create content that’s directly targeted to their needs and wants. You did your research to determine what your audience wants (which is what they’re already consuming). Now you can create something similar yet better.
For example, if your weight-loss audience is buying and reading a lot of content on low-carb dieting, then that tells you it’s a good topic for you to write about too. You know it’s in demand, so they’ll want to read your take on the topic too.
But here’s the key…
Don’t just create a “me too” piece of content. Don’t rehash what everyone else is saying. Instead, create something unique. Share tips, strategies and examples that people can’t find anywhere else. Give your own unique take on a topic based on your experiences.
Want to make your content even more useful? Then share tools to help people take action. For example, if you’re writing about low carb dieting, then share meals plans, grocery lists and recipes, all of which makes it easier for people to take action on what you’re teaching.
The point is to create content that people really want. Now the second issue…
Insert references that resonate with them. You’ve studied your market and understand your readers. This means you can now insert references and language that really resonates with them (while avoiding irrelevant references).
For example, let’s suppose your audience consists of single, 20-something year old guys who want to lose weight. If you start talking about creating recipes that “the whole family will love,” you’re going to lose your readers. They’re going to click away. That’s because young, single men don’t need to worry about cooking for anyone else except themselves.
Now let’s suppose you’re writing to an audience of moms. In that case, yes – talk about recipes that even the children will love, and your words will really resonate with your audience.
So, the bottom line here is to use what you learned in the research phase to create content that you know your audience will really want and like. Then move onto the next step…
Step 3: PULL
Here’s where we’re at: you now have awesome content that you’re sure your blog audience will love, because you’ve done your research to find out what they want. Here’s what you need to do next:
Pull them in with a great title.
Yes, your title is important. Really important. Because if your title doesn’t grab your readers’ attention, then the rest of your content may as well not even exist. Simply put, most people are going to decide whether to read your content or not just based on the title – so you need to be sure it’s a good one!
To that end, check out these tips for creating a title that will pull in your readers:
- Showcase your biggest benefit. What is the single biggest benefit (or two) your readers will receive from your blog post? Whatever it is, that’s what you need to put in your title.
E.G., “How to Drop a Quick 10 Pounds Before Your Wedding”
- Inspire curiosity. This isn’t appropriate for every topic, but if you can inspire curiosity in the title, then you can compel people to read the article.
E.G., “Here’s the #1 Secret for Rapid Weight Loss”
- Address your audience. Depending on what you’re writing about, you may find it beneficial to address your audience in your title.
E.G., “Here’s How Allergy Sufferers Can Get Rid of the Sniffles for Good!”
- Evoke social proof. This is where you suggest that others know how to use this information or these secrets, so your reader will naturally want to know them too.
E.G., “Who Else Wants to Know How to Get Rid of Hay Fever for Good?”
- Make it easy. People are looking for easy solutions. So, if you can present your solution as easy (and quick) in the title, people are sure to keep reading.
E.G., “Here’s a Quick and Easy Way to Generate an Extra $25,000 This Year”
- Brainstorm plenty of titles. You’re unlikely to hit on your very best title in your first attempt. That’s why you’ll want to brainstorm a dozen or so titles using the tips above, and then use the one that you think will attract the most attention and get the most clicks.
Now the next step…
Step 4: PUSH
Your title pulled your audience into your content and persuaded them to start reading. Now the rest of your content needs to push your readers forward, so that they keep reading right through to the end of your blog post.
Here’s how to “push” your readers and keep them engaged…
- Engage readers with a conversational tone. The best way to do this is to write using the same overall tone as you would if you were writing to a friend. This content you’re reading at this moment is an example of a light, conversational tone.
- Use simple language. Don’t try to impress readers or show off how smart you are by using big words – these big words will just create reading speed bumps that will make your content difficult to slog through.
- Employ active language. Whenever you see passive language (where there is no clear subject who is performing an action), rewrite it to become more active.
For example, here’s a passive sentence: The phone was answered.
Let’s rewrite it in an active voice: Tom answered the phone.
- Tell a story to emotionally engage readers. You’ll also want to immerse them in your writing by bringing in their senses. For example, if you’re writing about a recipe, describe the scents that fill the kitchen as the dish is baking.
- Arouse curiosity. Build anticipation (and curiosity) around what’s coming up in the article.
E.G., “You’re about to discover a simple fat-burning trick that will get your metabolism running as hot as an inferno!”
Here’s the key to all of this: edutain your readers. This means that you entertain them while you educate them. Tell stories, inject a little humor, and share useful information with a conversational tone. This will keep your readers reading right through to the end.
Step 5: PACKAGE
At this point, you’ve got yourself a good article (something your audience wants) with a good title. Now you need to take care of the little packaging details that will help make your article more palatable. Here’s how:
- Use short words, sentences and paragraphs. This creates plenty of white space, which makes your content easier to read.
For example, use bulleted lists (like this one) rather than presenting a list within a single paragraph.
- Provide visual aids. This includes photos, illustrations, charts, tables, infographics, and anything else to add value to the content and break up the text. You can also add multimedia, such as video clips.
- Format for easy readability. This includes the two points mentioned above. It also includes breaking up text with bolded headlines, which will help draw skimmers back into the text.
- Proof the article. Better yet, have someone else proof it. This may be a trusted, knowledgeable friend, or you may hire a professional to look over your work. Either way, just be sure the content is both fact-checked and checked for spelling and grammar errors.
TIP: During the proofing stage, read your article out loud (or have someone else read it out loud to you). This will alert you to any parts of your article that don’t flow smoothly.
In short, take a look at your article with a critical eye. Does it LOOK easy to read? If not, reformat it in a way to create more white space and content that’s easy to digest. When readers aren’t stumbling over poor formatting, grammar or even poor word choices, they’re likely to keep reading.
Conclusion
You just discovered the easy five-step process for creating engaging website content. Here’s a quick recap:
- Step 1: Profile. Here’s where you learn as much as possible about your audience so that you can create content that really connects with them.
- Step 2: Pinpoint. At this step you create targeted content that your audience is sure to love.
- Step 3: Pull. Here’s where you create a title to pull readers into your post.
- Step 4: Push. This step is all about creating engaging content that pushes people to keep reading.
- Step 5: Package. Here’s where you polish and package the content for easy readability.
