Creating content isn’t what it used to be 10 years ago.
Heck, it isn’t even the same as it was last year.
Consider this: Before COVID, Google search traffic was approximately 3.6 billion searches per day. That’s a lot, yes… but since March 2020, that number has been hovering around 6 billion searches per day.
The consumption of online content and the number of people relying on Google to find it has never been greater than it is right now.
This high demand is changing the content game, which was already competitive to begin with. 🎯 Many content creators are wondering, “How do I write compelling content that’s both indexed by Google and read by my target audience?”
If you’ve found yourself asking this very question, you should seriously consider adding news blog posts into your general content marketing plan.
Psst… If your content strategy is lacking or simply not performing the way you want it to, we can help! Our content strategy services start at $400 for a full content strategy plan and audit, or a la carte at per-topic pricing.
Why Should You Post News Content on Your Blog?
Hear me out – content is the most critical piece of the puzzle. It has been for a long time.
While you should be dedicated to creating evergreen content that remains relevant long after it’s been published, you also shouldn’t be afraid to supplement those posts with trending news happening in your industry.
News content shows your audience you’re relevant and up-to-date with what’s going on. It also provides a great source of value to your audience by demonstrating how industry and market changes are impacting them.
[bctt tweet=”Why create news content? 📰 It shows your audience you’re relevant and up-to-date with what’s going on. It also provides value by demonstrating how industry and market changes are impacting them. 💡” username=”ExpWriters”]
Interspersing trending news updates among your informative evergreen content, such as whitepapers, will give your blog a well-rounded feeling of authority and relevancy.
Need a high-quality whitepaper written for your business? Our done-for-you content services from expert-level writers include whitepapers, starting around $105/page.
How to Write a News Blog: 8 Tips to Make Your Content Stand Out
Breaking news is often a high-competition playing field, which means you need to bring your A-game if you want to rank in the search engines. These tips will help you create compelling, newsworthy content.
This is true for regular and news blogs alike because you want and need people to click on your link. Thus, when you write a headline, make sure it’s informative and lets your audience know what the blog will be about.
You should also make sure it has intrigue or even a bit of a cliffhanger so it piques interest and makes your audience want to read the story behind your crafty headline.
Two of the best ways to accomplish this:
Write your headline as a question (and be sure to answer said question in the article itself).
Use second person point of view (you/your) in the headline to directly engage with the reader.
When writing your headline, make sure it matches what your content will be about – don’t mislead readers with false promises!
2. Begin with the Facts
When you write a news piece for your blog, make sure you start with the facts first. Give readers the information they want at the beginning of your post and summarize the story in twenty to thirty words.
People will appreciate this upfront content organization because many simply want the facts before they get to the opinions or editorial version of the story. This isn’t a creative fiction piece, after all.
Once you’ve given the facts, you can break them down and discuss them while adding your opinion or explaining how this information will impact your readers.
3. Use Present (Active) Tense
News pieces are more powerful and compelling when told in present tense with an active voice.
This makes the story feel like it’s happening in real-time, which will have a bigger impact on your readers. It also takes a lot less time for a person to read the present tense version of a sentence than it does the past tense, not to mention it saves on word count when you can cut a majority of past participles such as “had.”
Remember: Active voice is always stronger than passive voice.
4. Keep Your Blog Jargon-Free
It’s easy to fall into the jargon trap when you’re writing about industry-specific topics. However, it’s a good idea to avoid using jargon in your posts.
This will make it easier for your audience to read and comprehend the content. Sure, some of them might know the jargon, but it’s always wise to ensure your content is readable for anyone who happens upon your website.
Keeping your posts jargon-free is not only a great idea for news pieces — it’s also a smart practice for all other blog posts you create in the future.
Need more inspiration for creating an amazing blog that brings in traffic and leads? Check out our FREE email course, 10 Days to a Better Blog.
5. Always Write Out Acronyms in the Beginning
It’s okay to use acronyms in your blog, but make sure you’re always clear and upfront about what they mean.
Even if you expect your target audience to be experts in a particular field and know industry-specific acronyms, it’s ALWAYS a good idea to eliminate any potential for confusion. Novices who find your article and want to learn more shouldn’t feel confused, frustrated, or left out when they read your post and don’t know what acronyms stand for or why they’re important.
For example, on the Write Blog, when we start a post about search engine optimization (SEO) or the search engine results page (SERP), we always make sure to write them all out first or provide a direct definition, as we did in these examples:
As you may have noticed in the second example, we put SERP in parenthesis. This is so readers will know that when I use that acronym later in the post, it means search engine results page. Be sure to follow this structure with any acronyms you plan to use for your news articles.
6. Do Thorough Research
When you’re writing a news article, you always want to make sure you cite the facts of the story.
However, you also need to go a step further with diligent research and fact-checking. This will help ensure you know everything about the topic, preventing you from making a rookie mistake and looking like you’re fabricating facts for your post.
Keeping your facts straight is important no matter what type of blog you are writing, but it’s especially important for news pieces. Consumer trust is already at an all-time low, according to the 2021 Edelman Trust Barometer. People are wary about misinformation.
In this age of uncertainty, if you don’t fact check, you’ll likely be greeted with troll comments pointing out errors in your post.
Even worse than the trolls – one bad article making false claims and/or linking back to questionable sources can destroy your brand’s credibility in the eyes of your consumers.
It can take months, even years to build up your brand trust. And all of that hard work can be undone in an instant if you publish a news article that wasn’t thoroughly researched and fact-checked with links back to credible sources.
[bctt tweet=”When writing news articles for your blog, always: 1️⃣ Cite the facts of the story. 2️⃣ Do diligent research and fact-checking. Otherwise, you risk losing pivotal trust with readers.” username=”ExpWriters”]
7. Follow the Four “C’s” of Captivating Content
When you write your news piece, don’t forget to follow the four “C’s”:
These will not only help you craft an engaging news piece, but they’ll also ensure that you’re writing a topic that will demonstrate your trustworthiness.
It’s important to be a trusted source when someone is reading your news piece. Clients are more likely to listen to your ideas, and they may even be encouraged to choose you and use your business for their needs.
8. ALWAYS Have Someone Proofread Your Work
Copy editors are great no matter what you’re writing because they can catch all of those pesky typos and mistakes that sneak through after you’ve proofread your work.
It’s not your fault – even the best writers rely on editors. Our brains know what we meant to say and are prone to skipping right over wrong or missing words as they automatically fill in the blanks.
When it comes to a news story, a copy editor can help you reword clumsy sentences or find issues that might compromise the integrity of your article and, more importantly, your credibility.
Give Your News Blog a Performance Boost
Creating a knowledgeable, trustworthy, easy-to-understand news blog takes both trial and error as well as skill
You’ll have to walk a fine line between being an expert authority within your industry while still writing on a simple enough level for anyone, not just a market-specific audience, to understand and appreciate the information you’re presenting.
When done correctly, you’ll find that writing and managing a news blog comes with phenomenal benefits. This type of blog provides immense value for your audience and clients while cementing your position as an industry leader and establishing credibility for your brand.
Pro tip: Be sure to post regularly. Once or twice a month is a healthy starting point as you learn what topics appeal to your audience and which tasks you can delegate to improve your efficiency.
The world of content and social media is buzzing with some of the latest news coming out of Facebook HQ. Facebook is planning to host various content pieces from a select number of websites for a new experimental feature that could bring about epic change to social media content.
The new feature is called Instant Articles and it aims to bring content directly to users in a quick, efficient manner. What is this new feature and what can you expect? Take a journey with me to find out.
What is the New Feature?
Instant Articles is a new feature Facebook is testing to see just how well it works for their users, as well as publishers. According to Tech Crunch, Instant Articles gives users access to the news and content they want without having to click and go to a publisher’s website, waiting for it to load. Sometimes, users experience too much load time with various sites, and Facebook wants to help them cut that time down and have quicker access to their favorite sources. The new feature is currently being tested by a few publishers to see how well it works for them and users alike. These publishers are Buzzfeed, The New York Times, National Geographic, and a few other well-known news sites. This is only available on mobile so you will not see Instant Articles within your browser.
Will Instant Articles Give Users More Control Over Their Newsfeeds?
Facebook has recently said that it plans to give users more control over what they see in their newsfeeds, which many are excited for. However, many experts are questioning just how this will play out with Facebook’s newest addition. No one can say for certain if people will get the control they desire over their newsfeeds, and it is likely everyone will need to wait for a bit to find out. However, one element of Instant Articles is to give users the ability to see content that is curated specifically for them. For example, according to the Tech Crunch article I shared above, if users like, comment, and/or share certain types more often, their newsfeeds might be tailored more to show more Instant Articles on topics they like. This isn’t truly control over one’s newsfeed, but it might be a step in a direction that helps Facebook users feel they are getting the content they want.
Will This Help or Hinder Businesses?
Since Instant Articles is in the experimental stage, it isn’t entirely sure just how much it can help or hinder a business. However, there will be an easy-to-access share button on all Instant Articles postings, which can help get content shared by more people on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. Remember, I said earlier that this was only available on mobile, which means that the share button for Facebook will help push the content from mobile availability to browser availability.
It will also be great for users because there won’t be a delay when they open web content. They will get to see their content right away without waiting, and possibly leaving the story before it loads. The feature will also support the ability to expand images and GIFs, giving publishers the ability to create trendy pieces that will resonate with a social media crowd.
The main way it can possibly hinder a business is if Facebook does do what I mentioned earlier in the article. If the social media giant starts to tailor a user’s newsfeed based off of what Instant Articles the user likes, comments on, or shares, this could mean other articles get lost. This can be a detriment to different companies, and it is a legitimate worry. Will this truly happen? We will just need to wait and see how Facebook uses this feature, and how it will impact the newsfeed. It is too soon to say if this will be the main hindrance or if there will be other hindrances to look out for in the future.
This is What Paper Was Supposed to Be
Do you remember when Facebook released a new app that incorporated the person’s Facebook account plus news content? If not, don’t feel too bad. Many people ignored this app, known as Paper, making it an epic failure for Facebook. That didn’t stop the social media company, however. In fact, this new feature is very similar to what Paper was supposed to be for the company. It features the ability to access curated news stories quickly, giving users the ability to read their content in the app. Now that Paper isn’t really being used for that purpose, Facebook has implemented Instant Articles, hoping it will prove to be successful. It might just be since it will be in the Facebook app as Paper could have failed simply due to needing to download yet another app.
Who Does This Really Benefit?
When Facebook implements a new feature, the natural question is who will it really benefit. Many times, people believe that the feature will only benefit Facebook, but the company is trying to make sure people know that is not the case with Instant Articles. First of all, it will benefit the users of Facebook because it provides them with a quicker load time by not making them leave the platform to read the article. It will also benefit publishers because Facebook has said they will receive 100 percent of revenue from Instant Articles ads. Another way publishers benefit is that Facebook is also planning on sharing analytics to help the publisher create perfectly tailored content.
Obviously, Facebook will see benefits such as making it a leading news source, which the company hopes will beat Twitter. If the company is set apart as the leading social channel for news, this means more publishers will work with Facebook, which will bring more viewers, and eventual revenue, to the company. This is all speculation, of course, as everyone waits to see just how Instant Articles will work and if it will be the success Facebook is hoping.
Content is, Yet Again, King With Instant Articles
Just a year or so ago, people were questioning if content was king, or if that statement was starting to be irrelevant. With the new Facebook feature, it is once again driving home just how important content is for websites. This means you need to focus on creating content in the form of web pages, blogs, and social media to help bring in and convert new clients. Express Writers can help you create this content with our web content and social media services. Take a look to see how we can help you by preparing your content for Instant Articles.
You might have heard of Facebook’s newest attempt at revamping the newsfeed, or maybe you saw it in the app store on iTunes and wondered exactly what it is. Paper is a standalone app launched by Facebook, their first app with Creative Labs, alongside the tenth anniversary for Facebook itself (according to Informationweek.com). It’s a new way of reading the news, as well as a new way of looking at your Facebook newsfeed.
The Content of the Future
As content writers and marketers, we find all kinds of (both weird and normal) tools online to help us create content—and Facebook’s Paper app may just be a new avenue for pulling great content ideas, if you can use news-based and centered topics as ideas in your content strategy. Let’s delve into how Facebook’s Paper works a bit further.
Just What Is It?
When you download this app, you’ll have your Facebook newsfeed on a new interface. You scroll side to side to go through items instead of up and down and each item is on its own screen. There’s a ton of new ways to look at things, including new multigestures you have to learn as with any new app you download. You can then add other news streams, like you would with other news aggregator apps. The only difference between them and Paper is that this app includes your personal Facebook newsfeed. You then add new streams by category (which looks like tiles). Each stream shows up as you scroll through it in your “queue.”
It looks a little bit like the Windows 8 interface—if you’re a PC geek. And the idea of adding things by category will probably remind you a little bit of Pinterest. Facebook’s preview and information page at Facebook.com/paper can give you a better idea of the look and feel of the app, or you can download it and see for yourself.
Why Should I Download Paper?
According to Forbes.com, the Facebook Paper app is no different from any other newsreader. It looks nice, it gives you what you want, and it adds your Facebook newsfeed where you can also post updates, pictures, and links to Facebook. Forbes makes a good point though, “It turns out your friends are not terribly good photographers, headline writers or even spellers when forced to compete with the professionals.” When you look through your regular Facebook newsfeed on the computer, these things don’t seem to make a difference. The meme reposts and funny e-cards have always been a good distraction during your coffee breaks before, but in this new app these things can look “jarringly out of place.”
The Positives of Creating News Content Using Facebook’s Tool
If you’re a content marketer or involved in any way knee-deep in content strategizing, you might find Facebook’s Paper useful because of a personalized feel. Your Facebook newsfeed is right there in the queue with your other news.
The interface is beautiful. Tilting the screen to pan photos, better view for reading articles and blogs, all easily utilized to make sure that your content is what readers want to see.
You choose what you want to see. As a content marketer, you can streamline your own newsfeed and take this opportunity to gain more followers and put your page at the top of the list for Paper readers.
An opportunity to better learn what your readers want. Find out what posts are best liked with this new interface and create more content like it. Learn what your readers want to see when they use this app and you can come up with a killer content strategy.
And the Negatives
But could this be distracting, or a good thing, for your news-based content ideas? You might find another app that DOESN’T feature your friends’ activities for the day to be a little, well, less distracting.
Pointless content that looks bad and is just annoying. The constant posts from games, the quizzes, and various lists and cartoons could flood out your news-based content.
Pages for small business. You can utilize this app by posting coupons and other promotions but there is the chance your Facebook page could get lost in the other content floating around.
Your content may not work for this app. Perhaps the news-based content that you post relies on lists, surveys, and other text content besides articles and it won’t look right on its own screen the way that Papers shows it.
Limitations of Facebook’s Paper
The biggest limitation is that this app is only available on iPhone. The screen size is small and the market is limited since Android users are missing out. If you have a site or business that is mostly made up of Android users, this app will be of no use to you. Informationweek.com talks about five wishes they have for this app and some of them are definitely needed. One of these wishes is a content search for the entire app. Paper’s search function only searches your Facebook content, the same way as the Facebook app does when you type something in the search bar.
InformationWeek makes a good point that this limitation can be very frustrating. They also talk about Pinterest integration and customizable subtopics. These limitations are not as annoying as the search function only searching Facebook, but they could add a lot more to the app for future updates. The categories that are included work well for a news aggregator, so it’s not so bad, but for an app that says it wants to personalize – it could use some work.
So What Does The Bottom Line & Future Look Like for Paper?
Facebook’s Paper just came out. It might have some similar features to other apps, but it is something new. The interface looks really cool, and when you scroll through each item from side to side the way that it does, you feel much more like you’re reading a book or newspaper instead of a bunch of websites. Whether you’re sitting in bed on a Sunday morning with a cup of coffee or taking a break at the office, this app has a better look than the original Facebook app and more options for content.
You can post pictures and updates from Paper, but it’s not the same as the full Facebook app or the site on the computer. Aside from looking different, you can’t use it unless you have an iPhone, and if your newsfeed is cluttered with posts you never had the time to get rid of – your “Paper” won’t look very appealing at all. As said by the users at Forbes.com, you can push your Facebook newsfeed to the back of your queue and ignore it, but then Paper is just like every other newsreader app that’s already in your phone.
It doesn’t look like there is any news about updates to this app, since it just came out, and if you ask your friends how they like it there’s a good chance that they won’t know and haven’t even heard of it yet.
If you’re hoping for Facebook’s Paper to show up in the Google Play store or suddenly allow you to pin your favorite stories to Pinterest, it’s probably not happening soon. Anything can happen in a day, and developments could be hidden from the eyes of the Internet for now, but there doesn’t appear to be anything in the works. If you have an iPhone, check it out and take the opportunity to streamline your newsfeed and update your content now so that if and when this app does become more popular, you’ll be a pro and your news will look better than ever!
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