Top 9 tips on how to create great content

Writing content isn’t an easy task – especially when you have to create content around an unfamiliar subject and have a deadline to meet. We have all been there and know how stressful it can be, in particular if you can’t find the motivation to be creative.

For this reason, we would like to share our secret on how we create great content with you, to help you avoid getting stressed about it.

Everyone in our team is an expert in content writing for anything related to marketing as it is a big part of what we do, but trust me when I tell you that we all have to write content for B2B and B2C customers from all sorts of industries (some of which we are not familiar with) on a weekly basis. How do we do it? We simply follow the below rules as if our life depended on it – and it works every single time! I can assure you that if you follow them too, you’ll become an expert content creator in no time.

1) Build your Foundation and research the topic

Start by brainstorming choosing a topic and writing down the main areas you want to cover within it, so you can use this as the foundation and starting point of your article. This will also help you to stay focused on the topic and guide your research to expand your knowledge about it.

2) Keyword research

Researching your keywords after you create your roadmap is extremely useful, as it will help you understand what words related to your topic people are searching for and it can also give you further ideas for your content in order to help them find those answers.

Read this Kissmetrics blogpost about how to do keyword research the smart way for great detailed tips!

3) Layout and length

• Length: People are busy. If they see an endless sea of words filling out a page, they will stop reading after a few lines even if they find the content useful. Avoid this by keeping it as short and attractive as you can.

• Title: Make sure your title is strong and attractive, so you get the reader’s attention.

• Layout: start with an introduction to explain what the article is about, and divide different areas with subtitles, using bullet points where appropriate, and add relevant images to keep it interesting and eye-catching.

4) Learn from authority

If you are faced with writing a piece of content on a subject you don’t know a lot about, make sure you visit the websites of the main companies or organisations that specialise in that area in order to do research and gain knowledge from them to start working on your roadmap.

5) Appeal to emotions

Emotions are a good way to get your reader’s attention, but make sure to stay on a positive note.

I have done this myself at the beginning of this post by using empathy – I wrote from a very honest and personal perspective, as this is something that I face frequently, so it is easy for me as a writer to empathise with other professionals going through the same struggle and it makes me want to help with tips I follow myself.

Taking the time to share your experience and offering help as a way to contribute and give something back in the form of knowledge to the community (in this case, your readers) will be greatly appreciated by them.

6) SEO

Use the keywords you researched to help you market your post. If you include them within your text, and ensure the phrases and content you use are created around them, you will always have an optimised article for the search engines, helping people find your post when they are searching for your chosen topic online.

7) Keep your personas in mind

Your personas should drive your content writing not only to keep it relevant to the reader, but also to target and focus your content. If you target your personas and clearly state what your article is about, you are setting the expectations from the beginning through the copy and titles, so there won’t be any disappointment. Learn more about personas and why use them for blogging in this interesting SkilledUp post.

8) State facts & sources

There’s a lot of information out there and it is hard to narrow it down and get rid of the noise.

• Sources: Making it easier for your readers to find other articles to expand their knowledge on a particular subject is extremely valuable. It is also a great way for you to recognise other authorities in the area and keep on empowering your community.

• Facts: Stating facts and showing the results of interesting and relevant investigations and surveys in the form of stats give extra value to your content as it shows you took time to research and it backs up the information you are giving them, bringing your authority to an even higher level.

You can even get creative and show this in an attractive visual way, such as an infographic – there’s no set format for it as long as you include it.

9) Share other views

Sharing content shows that you value other’s opinions. However, it is not just about copying and pasting links to a bulleted list, but about thinking of engaging ways of introducing those interesting articles in a way that complements your own piece as added value, and telling your readers what they will find on each link.