content writing guide - Express Writers

A Guide: 37 Ways To Write Content That Converts

June 19, 2024June 4, 2015 by Adam Oakley

Creating content that converts is something every single website and business owner wants. You want people to come to your site, read your content, and click links to buy services or products. However, you might find it difficult to create content that converts your visitors into leads. I want to share some excellent ways that you can ensure you get great content that will convert your readers into clients, as well as keeping them for the long-term. Let’s take a look at the various aspects of content and specific points within each that can help you craft expert content that helps to generate leads. I. Blogging Blogging is an important aspect of any online campaign because it can bring in visitors and convert them quickly. You need to make sure you add a blog to your website to help generate engagement with your client base, as well as creating something that directs people to the rest of your site. You can do a number of things with a blog, and I am going to look at some of the elements you need to consider when blogging. 1. Use WordPress Only for Blogging. WordPress is a great blogging tool that can help you get some powerful results. There are many reasons why I think this is the best to use for your blogging needs. Some of the reasons are that it is SEO friendly, you can have a great blog design, and WordPress has been around long enough to be a trusted blogging resource. I would suggest using WordPress only for your blogging purposes, but you can use it for your static website, as well. They have a great selection of SEO plugins that help you get the most out of your blog, and so much more. Take a look at their blog platform to see just how easy it is to use and which aspects will benefit your business’s site. 2. Optimize Every Single Post. When you use WordPress, make sure that you optimize every post. WordPress makes it easy for blogs to be optimized to their fullest potential, and you need to take advantage of that. In order to get great optimization, do keyword research and use your low competition keywords in your posts. Make sure you optimize any and every image you use and select a good link name to use for the blog. How can you optimize every single aspect of a blog post with WordPress? I am going to look at that in my next point. 3. Use SEO Plugins On WordPress. As I mentioned earlier, one of the best parts of WordPress is the ability to use SEO plugins to optimize your blog further. There are several great plugins out there, but you need to choose the ones that will benefit you the most. WP Beginner highlights some of the latest SEO plugins you can use such as WordPress SEO by Yoast, SEMRush, and Google Keyword Planner. Take a look at the others listed to find some that can help your blog! You can also choose other plugins that aren’t specifically for SEO; just choose wisely and only choose the ones that will help your site and blog. 4. Use Big, Awesome, Colorful Adjectives in Your Headers. Your headlines and headers are crucial to convincing people to click and read through your blogs. When you create headlines or headers, make sure that you use amazing adjectives that capture attention. As you can see, I used a few in this header, illustrating how powerful, excellent adjectives can make a header. If you are trying to come up with great headlines or headers, you can follow a few suggestions of some of the hottest headlines out there to get started. 5. Use Action Words in Your Headers. Action words in headers are just as important as colorful adjectives because they convince readers to do something as they read. You can use action words in all of your headers, or you can wait until you create your call to action. Whichever way you choose, just keep in mind that you need to convince people to do something more than just reading your post. You can also do a mix of action words in a few headers throughout your blog and at the end for your call to action, which can be quite powerful. 6. Do a Controversial Blog Every Now and Then. Get your readers to sign up for something or go to a page by sharing a similar hatred or anger for something. Humanity is interesting and weird, isn’t it? We tend to do more when we connect with something, and many times that can be something we all feel strongly about and stand against. For example, how many people were willing to do whatever it took to stop the process of major corporations being able to take over the Internet? Several people and it was something that made all Internet users quite angry. When something like Net Neutrality comes up, you can use that as a way to write a blog and get people to act, no matter what the item is. You can also utilize trends like #WheresNatasha or other trends that have people angry or upset about something. 7. Do an Occasional Blog that Revolves Around Humor. Along with focusing on a controversy, focusing on humor is another way to get people to open up their wallets and buy your product. People love to laugh, and if you can make them laugh they will be more willing to buy items or services from you. Always make sure you are following some basic guidelines for using humor in your blog to ensure you have an impactful piece. A few things to remember are to be respectful, know your audience, and stay true to your specific brand. Once you incorporate humor, you will start to see many of your visitors starting to turn into leads. 8. Write Fun, Exciting Blogs On Seasonal Topics. When you … Read more

Too Much Content: Could It Happen?

January 1, 2021April 23, 2014 by Adam Oakley

Short answer: yes. Too much content can actually scare potential clients and readers away. If they have to wade through a pool of different content to get to the meat of your website, they will run away very fast. “When is content considered too much?” you ask. Let’s discuss this and how to avoid publishing or creating overwhelming amounts, and as a bonus give you some ideas on how to use your content to tease readers into wanting more. So, get your thinking caps on and get ready to learn about The Day of Too Much Content. How Do I Know I Have Too Much Content? If you start noticing that you are losing readers and visitors it is a very good indication that your content might be overwhelming. We know that you have spent countless hours preparing your content and we know that is pretty awesome, too. Just because the content is great and has had a lot of preparation does not mean that your customers will like it, though. Less really is more when it comes to content writing. Business2Community suggests self-examination when you start realizing your website is losing readers. We are going to unpack what this means in the following section. 1. It’s a Tough Crowd, Charlie Brown. Just ask any comedian – audiences are hard to please. When you are writing your content, you need to know your audience and what they expect from you. If you aren’t talking their “language” you are going to lose them quickly. If your audience is in the tech world, you shouldn’t write things that aren’t related to that field. If your audience doesn’t know much about tech, don’t write about tech. Simple as that. Too much of the wrong content will hurt your company. 2. Are You Living up to Your Expectations? You have expectations for your company; everyone does, but are you living up to them? If you aren’t, it is time to re-evaluate your content strategy and re-evaluate what you expect from it. You may think you’ll go viral if you post a ton of photos a day on your social media site but instead you realize that your page likes are going down. This means you need to stop sharing so much and start sharing small, impactful photos or updates. Don’t spam people’s newsfeeds. 3. Where is Your Audience Going? Are you sending them to your front page or to a specific landing page? If you’re sending them to your homepage, you should know that they will feel very overwhelmed. Most front pages are packed with information, photos, links, ads, etc. and that gets very confusing and overwhelming. Tweak your landing pages to bring in customers to a specific place. You can use a landing page to give a brief description of your company, encourage people to sign up for updates, and give links to your social media sites. A landing page is crucial to a successful website and company. Tease Audiences into Wanting More If you want to bring in more people, you have to tease them, not overwhelm them. Here are a few ways you can do this and start gaining back your readership. 1. Giveaways. People love getting free stuff and giveaways are a perfect opportunity to build relationships with clients. You can use giveaways to keep your existing clients but you can also use them to bring in more readers and promote your company more. Giving people the ability to get extra entries is one of the ways to do this. Tell people they get one entry simply by commenting but can get X amount more (chose how many entries you’d like to give) by sharing on social media sites and blogging about it. People will do whatever they can if there is a potential to win, so take advantage of that! 2. Spoilers. If you have a big announcement coming up, think about spending a few days/weeks prior by vague tweeting and updating. This will start garnering interest because curiosity is a major part of human consciousness. Occasionally let something “slip” to make people chortle at your “mistake” as they attempt to solve what the big news is. You can even implement giveaways into this and give a prize away if someone guesses the big news (just don’t tell them until you have announced your news!). 3. Ask for Input. Your clients and readers are the best resources to utilize to find out if you post too much content. Send out questionnaires and make a web poll for them to access. You could create an anonymous tip box where people can freely tell you what needs to change. Take their suggestions and start implementing them into your content creation and you will see tremendous growth in visits to your website. Creating client participation is very important to all businesses. Make Changes and Succeed Creating enough content that isn’t overwhelming will save your business and will bring in more clients. Stay away from making common mistakes with your content and begin to be more personal with your readers. This isn’t the time to feel bad that your site isn’t drawing in readers; it is time to take action and make changes!

A Guide On Killer SEO Content For Your Readers and Rankings

January 1, 2021December 14, 2013 by Adam Oakley

You’ve had it drilled into your head that you’re no longer writing for SEO when it comes to SEO content, and it’s all about the reader. Google’s Hummingbird was a wakeup call for those who snoozed through Panda and Penguin releases; the emphasis is all on high-quality content. So how do you write high-quality, awesome SEO content for search engines and readers alike? Before you sit down feeling frustrated and give up, let’s get one thing out of the way: Yes, you can rank high and gain new readers for your website! Doesn’t that make you feel better? To get high rankings and gain new readers it’s all about balancing between what search engines want and what readers need. Google has made it quite clear that they won’t tolerate fluff or irrelevant content in SEO writing and SEO content anymore. Hummingbird was their way of letting everyone know that. If you read through Google’s quality guidelines you will see what they’re looking for pages written for users, unique content, valuable content, and no more tricks, just to name a few. If you look closely, however, you’ll see the biggest thing Google wants of all: optimized content that is unique. That means you will need to differentiate your website from the rest of the Internet, offer real value and have a selling point that pops. To help you through it, here are several methods that generate killer content for your rank and your readers. Be Relevant, Not Random You might be tempted to write on a particular topic you’re passionate about, but if that topic isn’t relevant to your website, you need to skip it, according to About.com. People searching on the internet want something that is relevant to what they’re searching for. Readers and Google expects relevant content and when users don’t see what they are looking for they leave — and don’t come back. If you’re writing a blog or article, make sure it’s relevant to your brand, products or the purpose of your website. For example, if you are writing about wedding planning, you shouldn’t have information about birthday parties, because your site focuses on weddings. Be relevant above all else. Define Your Brand, Then Your Quality Goal Unfortunately quality is a subjective term. What you think is “quality” might be “poor quality” to a reader. So how do you write content that is quality to everyone? Simple, you can’t. But, you can write quality content that is considered “quality” to your brand. Consider your brand, target customer, and/or products you offer. Then ask yourself: what type of content would be considered quality to my target audience? Don’t copy other brands and the strategies they’re using — those strategies are what are considered “quality” to them, not you. Find something that works for you and is quality to your brand. Get to Know Your Readers Content should be customer-centric. Anything you write — blogs, reports, etc. — should attract and establish a relationship with your ideal customer. You can’t make a relationship with a stranger, so it’s imperative you first research who is reading your content before you write it. Find out what your typical customer is interested in, the types of questions or concerns that would bring them to your site, what might hinder them from buying, what a reader’s goal might be, etc. The more questions you can answer about your reader, the more in-tune your posts can be for them. Remember that Google wants to see SEO content that answers your readers’ concerns and questions and is relevant to your industry/brand. Using the wedding planner example, your target customer would be couples about to get married. What are engaged couples worried about? Getting married, the costs, where to start with planning, etc. Why would they come to you for assistance? You’re the solution to their problems and know how to plan a wedding. What would hold back a reader from hiring you? Cost perhaps. See the point? Use the Language Google’s keyword tool is no longer around, but that doesn’t mean you can’t find awesome keywords to drive your content — and boost your rank. Instead of looking through endless lists on Google, listen to the customers you have. What terms would your typical customer use to find your services? What phrases are common with your industry? Put yourself into the shoes of your target customer and pretend you’re searching the Internet for your type of service, website, etc. The words and phrases they’re using about your products/industry are the words you need to optimize in your content. By doing so you can easily optimize and keep your content natural. In return you’ll match search queries and increase your site’s traffic. Stop Selling, Even If You’re Selling If you have a blog it’s time to change up your strategy. Blogs aren’t landing pages and they certainly aren’t meant for sales advertisements. Always remember that. You should use your blogs and articles to generate brand awareness, answer questions and ease concerns — not stuff products and/or services down the throats of your readers. Sure, you can link to sales pages in case the reader wants more or wants to see a viable solution to their issue, but there is no reason to sell in the content right there. According to an article by Entrepreneur, good writing is conversational. Do you sell to your friends when you’re having a conversation? Probably not. So why do the same to your reader? Establish a relationship with your reader and write content that makes them trust your brand. By building up your credibility the sales naturally come. This is true of SEO content. In fact, 61 percent of consumers make a purchase based on a blog post according to Social Media Today. Be Predictable No, we’re not talking about your blog topics — we’re talking about how regularly you post. Consistently … Read more