5 Content Creation Tips for High Performing Content

In the .com era we are living in, every business needs to have a good website. And not just a well-designed website, but a website with content that is so well-crafted, it drives your bottom line up.

So how do you do just that?

5 Tips for Crafting Content that Pushes Your Business Forward

Whether you create the content yourself or outsource to a content creator, here are the hallmarks of great content:

1. Content Creation Starts with Audience Research

To create great content, you’ll always have to start with understanding your audience. Let’s face it, as much as you may want the whole world to be your customer, that’s impossible. And that’s exactly why you need to know how to target the right audience. And this is where many businesses miss it – they focus on every other type of research but neglect audience research.

Without audience research, content creation is useless.

When you create content for your website, create it for your visitors, not yourself. Don’t talk about your business and achievements. While they are good for building credibility, you should discuss them in the light of what you can do for your prospects. Here are a few tips on how to conduct audience research:

Create a survey. Surveys are a great way to know how your audience thinks and what they need. Used wisely, they’ll give you enough feedback to fill your content calendar for a year.

• Spy on your audience. No, you don’t have to be James Bond. However, you can check out your target audience on social media. What are their pain points? What questions are they asking?
• Use your current customer database. Your customer database is one of the best places to research your audience. Find the defining characteristics that connect them and boom, you know exactly (well, almost) what your next customer is like. More importantly, it will help you know what kind of content they are looking for.

Simply put, your content should address your audience’s needs. And to do that, you need to know your audience well.

2. Do Your Keyword Research

The internet is the biggest publishing platform the world has ever known. To put that in perspective, consider that over 4 million blog posts are published in a day. That means if your content is to be found in that digital haystack, you’ll have to be strategic about your content creation.

To get your content to be found by the right audience, conduct keyword research.

Keyword research simply means researching the phrases your audiences use when inputting a query in search engines. Knowing and using these in your content lets the search engines know that your content is relevant to serve up to searchers. So how do you do keyword research:

• Start with your audience research. This lets you know the kind of language your prospects use when researching solutions to their pain points. It also helps you get an idea of user intent.
• Use a tool. Keyword research tools help you find keywords that your audiences use the most. These are keywords that have lots of traffic. Examples of great keyword research tools you can use included Semrush (paid) and Ubersuggest (free).
• Target long-tail keywords. Competition for short phrase keywords has become stiff. Instead, go for long-tail keywords.
• Use the keywords strategically. Sprinkle the keywords strategically in your content. Don’t stuff keywords, rather, aim for a keyword density of 3% or less.

Keyword research is something every content creator needs to pay attention to. Especially if your website is to drive traffic and generate revenue.

3. Craft an Irresistible Headline

While it may seem like the smallest part of your content, your headline actually plays a big role. It’s kinda like a ship’s rudder – small, but determines the direction in which everything goes.

A good headline will encourage people to check out what your content is all about. Conversely, a poor headline will result in your content being ignored. So what makes for a good headline?

• The mini skirt effect. A great headline is short enough to attract attention but long enough to make readers want more.
• Give a promise. Another hallmark of effective headlines is that they promise a reader something they need or would be interested in knowing.
• Clear as day. Don’t try to come up with clever headlines just so that you can impress readers. If anything, you’ll confuse some and lose many.

Your headline is the hook you use to capture attention. Crafted well, it will help make your content stand out.

4. Create Content with a Purpose

Many businesses create content for one reason – to create content. But content for the sake of content just won’t cut it in this competitive world.

In order for your content to have an impact and be effective in helping you achieve your business goals. Content with a purpose:

• Informs consumers. The main purpose of creating content is so as to provide your audience with answers to their burning questions.
• Inspires readers to take action. Besides informing, your content should also inspire your readers to take specific steps on your website.
• Encourages relationships. Your content should also have some entertainment value so as to make it enjoyable to consume. This also has the more important effect of bringing your audience back for more.

Never ever create content just because your competitors are doing it. Sit down and set goals for your content. This will also help you track and see whether your content marketing is effective or not.

5. Promote Your Content

Content marketing is just what the name says – marketing your content. Creating content is simply half of the battle. The other half involves promoting the content. Without content promotion, the chances of people seeing your content become slim.

For your content to reach its intended audience, you have to invest time and resources into content promotion.

Some easy ways to do just that include:

• Social media. Social media (both paid and organic) is a powerful tool that you can use to drive traffic to your content.
• Content syndication. This is simply republishing your content on other websites. These websites need a lot of content and they trade you your content for exposure.
• Email. Of course, to promote your content via email, you’ll first have to grow your email list. Email is an especially good content promotion platform as people who opt into your list are already interested in what you have to say.
• Communities and forums. Sharing your content within forums and communities is a great way to extend your reach. Of course, make sure your content adds value to the community and is not just self-promotional.

So, once your next piece of content goes live, don’t just cross your fingers in the hopes it will go viral. Virality is planned for.

Content Creation – It’s More than Just Creating Good Content

Content marketing is way more than just creating content. It’s more about planning the type of content you’re going to create and the platforms you’ll publish it on. Moreover, it’s about knowing who exactly you’re creating it for and how to ensure they see it.

So, next time you create a piece of content, make sure you follow this formula.

Read more: 8 Interesting Content Co-Creation Campaigns