Online Marketing for Local Business
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5 Tips to Attract New Readers to Your Articles
13 years
by jhaynes
in Uncategorized
Attracting a new set of readers to your articles or other web content isn’t always an easy task.
Of course, you’re always looking to grow the size of your audience, but it can be tricky hard to pinpoint exactly what makes one article more interesting/exciting/entertaining than the next one.
Increasing the reach of your article writing requires a balance of focus on not only the quality of your content, but also your ability to promote articles after publication. And every step in the process is important, but today’s focus is on the first basic requirement – writing good content. Here are five steps you can use to create a good article:
1. Tell a Story – Create a central theme or hook for each of your articles. Craft a story that your audience can relate or connect to versus just plainly stating facts with little narrative. How you choose to present information to your audience can make a big difference. A well-written story will attract and influence more readers.
2. Speak to One Person – Write your article as if you are communicating directly to a single reader. Try to use “you” instead of “they”, “he”, “she”, etc. This creates a perception with the reader that you are speaking directly to them and not to just anyone out in cyberspace. And if it’s your first impression with a reader, it’s a great way to start building a future relationship with them.
3. Provide Original Information – Even though a portion of your information or data will undoubtedly come from other sources, present your story in a fresh and original way. Always put your own personal, unique insights and spin into everything that you write. Your originality is what will ultimately set you apart from other authors.
4. Draw Inspiration – Use business or personal experiences in your everyday life for your writing inspiration. Live in your niche, and try to write the ideas that come to you during personal experiences down right when they pop into your head. Then you’ll have them ready when it’s time to write.
5. Be Creative – Even if you discuss or share information on the same basic topic(s), tell a new story with every article you write. Get creative and break the mold. The more you incorporate your creativity into your articles, the more likely you’ll start to gain a wider and more engaged audience.
And remember, quality still matters, and having an original, interesting article is just one part of the equation. Your article needs to be built soundly with proper grammar and punctuation too.
Keep these quick tips in mind to attract new readers while writing your next set of quality, original articles or other web content.
“Voting” For Good Content
013 years
by jhaynes
in Uncategorized
If a movie is no good, it bombs at the box office. If a sitcom just isn’t very funny or entertaining, it gets canceled.
And if your content online isn’t any good, you may not realize directly but visitors begin to “vote” by not staying long or coming back to your website.
This applies even more to articles that are “spun” (articles that have interchangeable words within them, but often end up quite grammatically incorrect) or are written by folks in other parts of the world (cheaply) where English is not their first or even second language.
So what questions should you ask to make sure you are creating good online content? The first critical point is that the article or post, etc. be free of grammatical errors, misuse of words and typos. There are many techniques to do this.
In general you also need to make sure your audience cannot get this same exact information from another source. In other words, you need to add a unique take to what you as a content writer are creating. And the material must go beyond the “general knowledge” to be expected of most Internet users, unless your topic happens to be remedial and for the inexperienced. Your article must also add original thoughts or angles that extend the research you have done on the topic. What else?
1) Am I answering a question I’ve heard from everyday interactions or experience when writing my web content, and do I offer concrete or actionable advice, data or other info to my readers in my writing?
2) Was the title of the article or blog post misleading? In other words, did I stay on topic or get off track and write about things unrelated to the title of the article, press release or post?
3) Are the links within my Resource Box relevant to the topic, or does it lead the audience to something completely unrelated?
4) And finally (what I feel is) the most important question – “Am I proud to have my name, company’s or brand’s name associated with this web content?”
The answer to the last question is probably ‘NO’ to a large portion of the content out there.
So if you cannot respond to this last query with a yes, you may need help crafting your web content, or need to spend more of your own time and resources to ensure that your organization is always represented well online…the key to online conversions.
More On The Future Of Web Content
13 years
by jhaynes
in Uncategorized
Building upon our last post, I wanted to further expand the conversation re: the future of web content and the trends that will get us there.
I recently read that there will be 30 Billion smart devices in the year 2030. Yes, Billion with a “B”. This is a staggering number, which equates to an average of 7 devices per person. By then we will be living in what I (and others) have called the Age of Ubiquitous Internet – a time when individuals are constantly “plugged in” to the web via one device or another, no matter the situation, usually via multiple ones.
In fact, this is already becoming a reality for many. With iPads and other tablet computers, smart phones, Internet TV and gaming systems, and of course home computers and laptops, etc. there are lots of individuals who spend the vast majority of their day online. Ubiquitous Internet takes it one step further. Imagine an entire platform devices interconnected, all with access to the same data. At this stage, all data will be available to you in the “cloud”, making for seamless transition between one device and another. The cloud makes this all possible, since you don’t need much (or any) computing power within the device itself, other than some basic processor and memory to keep the device powered and connected, though stand-alone memory will probably still be an option.
The cloud will contain all the computing power that you will ever need, allowing devices to shrink even further in size. Think of having a large monitor on your desktop, with nothing else but the keyboard and mouse. Backup of your data and files will be automatic.
What does web content look like in this world? Probably different than it does now, though exactly how remains to be seen. One thing is sure – your website must be able to connect to all sorts of devices, with different functionality, sizes and operating systems. The content you share will almost exclusively be interactive and multi-media, much more so than now. Static content will be a thing of the past, replaced by personalized content, directed just at you. Updates to devices that relate to your current environment will be instantaneous. Use imagination again, and think of having all your preferences stored within your mobile devices. When walking down an aisle, a small device attached to the shelf automatically prints a coupon based on your previous purchase history, or shares relevant information that might help you make your purchase decision.
The vast majority of content in this world will probably be concise, allowing for the limitations of smaller screens and displays. Long form information or data would probably be available on an on-demand basis only, meaning that many of today’s websites will change, some drastically. This will actually increase the need for content creators as well, since as any professional writer will tell you – the shorter the piece, the better the content must be written, since every single word takes on added significance. And the fact that content will be individual or group specific will only increase the overall volume of content that must be produced, even when taking into account the shorter it will be. Which once again makes me happy in my chosen profession!
All of this means that business owners and marketers must be even more flexible and well versed in current trends and best practices.
What are your thoughts on the future of web content and the Internet itself?