The word "content" gets thrown around in the digital marketing world. In fact, you'd be hard-pressed to find a blog post or article on digital marketing that doesn't stress how important content production is.
But content can mean a lot of different things to a lot of different people, and it's even more unclear as to what exactly constitutes "good content."
If you're a digital marketing writer seeking guidance on how to make quality content, then you've come to the right place. This post will go over some of the basic stylistic and formatting elements that will have you wordsmithing like a pro in no time.
making quality content from scratch
Writing quality content is a lot like baking -- if you don't assemble the right ingredients first, then you won't be very successful. In this case, your "ingredients" are elements that have been shown to raise the quality of your writing.
Results may vary depending on your standards, but generally, every good piece of written content needs these elements:
research
When optimizing SEO performance, you must carefully consider which keywords to use. Try researching some of the most commonly searched words and phrases and finding creative ways to implement them in your blog posts or articles.
Originality
Once you've done your research, you can start formulating the case you'd like to present to the reader. There's an endless sea of content out there, so you want yours to stand out. Focus on the cohesion and clarity of your argument, but present it in a way that is unique to your writing style.
prompt action
The best way to convey your information is to lay it out in terms your audience can understand. To do this, you must infuse your writing with a sense of urgency that prompts the reader to take action.
comprehensive
Avoid leaving your readers with any unanswered questions by writing comprehensively about your topic. However, there is a delicate line between comprehensive and bloated writing. Only focus on the most important information to avoid wasting your audience's time.
creating a Research process
Now that you're familiar with the elements of great content, we can start looking at ways to integrate them into your writing.
Any good writer starts by asking themselves: "who am I writing for?" After all, you'll have difficulty making a compelling pitch if you don't know who you're pitching to.
Depending on the topic you're writing about, do some customer research so that you can better understand the audience you're addressing, and ask yourself:
What is my audience's interest?
What product/service am I providing?
How do they overlap?
Creating a better writing process
Everyone has their own writing process that works for them. That being said, there are a few simple ways to make your process more efficient while improving the quality of your content.
As I stated previously, researching common terms and phrases to boost SEO can help you to better understand your audience and stand out from your competition.
Here are some nifty keyword research tools to check out:
Google Keyword Planner (free)
Keywords Everywhere ($10 for every 100,000 keywords)
Moz Pro (starting at $79/month)
Ahrefs (starting at $99/month)
Semrush (starting at $119/month)
Conductor (contact for pricing)
Find an original angle
So much content online tends to blend together, and this is especially true for popular topics that you may be writing about. However, there's always a way to put a unique spin on even the most tired subjects.
Your job as a writer is to find that angle and deliver it in a voice that is wholly your own. The added benefit is that audiences respond better to content that addresses a niche or subtopic.
Pay attention to what other writers are putting out there, and make a conscious effort to avoid rehashing the same talking points.
Outlining
You can't build a house without a foundation, and the same could be said for writing without an outline. Planning the structure of your content is an invaluable step in the writing process that's just as important as the writing itself.
When outlining your work, be sure to include:
Intro
Body sections
Subpoints
Conclusion
Get writing
Finally, the only way to produce quality content is to get to it. You can always go back and polish up your work later, but to avoid writer's block, it's best to just put words on the page and not overthink it.
At the end of the day, experience is the greatest teacher of all.
Remember that writing quality content is a process, so come back to this post when you need a refresher.
Until then, good luck and happy writing!