Have You Tried these SEO Content Writing Techniques?
While research and strong writing skills are integral to a content writing job, it helps to keep in mind that the ultimate goal of content marketing is to get more conversions for your business. Quality website content is about relevance and substance, but it also involves adopting key editorial strategies that help you stand out and lead to brisk conversions. If your content marketing efforts are failing to get you results, you could be making some simple yet critical errors. Read on to learn how you can easily fix these problems and amend your content strategy.
Content Writing Mistakes that Can Set You Back
How Can You Rectify Them?
Companies that pursue content marketing without up to date knowledge of the industry’s best editorial practices are unlikely to get the expected returns. Steer clear of these 5 critical mistakes and see your content soar to greater heights – let the conversions flow!
- Weak, Unappealing Headlines: Many online articles, blog posts, web pages, news releases, etc. don’t get the readership they deserve because of an uninspiring and boring headline. There’s a reason why skilled SEO copywriters are so valued. Words have the power to move and beguile a reader into taking action. Even if you are unable to come up with catchy and creative headlines each time, here are a few tips to make your headline come alive:
- Readers have a great liking for numbered lists. Odd numbers do better than even ones.
- Ending a headline with a question mark always works as it elicits curiosity.
- Colons and hyphens in a headline tend to perform well.
- How-to lists are highly effective.
- Dull Introduction: A clichéd, uninspiring introduction could be one reason why your content is not resonating with your audience. An introduction sets the tone and context of any online content, apart from conveying to readers why the article is important and how they can benefit from its contents. The introductory paragraph must not exceed 4-5 lines and should remain to the point.
- Lack of Visual Elements: Large chunks of text without visual relief can turn off the most determined reader. Using an original, high-resolution picture greatly enhances the value and credibility of your article. Charts, screenshots, videos and infographics help to simplify complex ideas and enable you to bring variety and colour to your piece.
- Clunky Format: No matter what founts of wisdom your article may contain, unless you create an easy-to-read format, it is not going to find an audience. No one reads word by word online; most people just scan a piece and read the parts that stand out. For this purpose, it is essential to make use of short paragraphs, bulleted lists, and highlight certain words in bold font to make reading easy. Always leave enough white space to make a page look clean and uncluttered.
- Unconvincing CTA: Letting your article end with a whimper is the last thing you want in content marketing! A credible and skillfully executed piece must end strongly with a compelling call-to-action (CTA) that contains the right information such as contact information, offers, benefits, etc. An effective CTA leaves no ambiguity and precisely tells readers what to do next.
To find out if your headline is effective, you can use a free tool like this one from Advance Marketing Institute that helps determine a headline’s Emotional Marketing Value (EMV) score, enabling you to improve the impact of your online content.
Make your content enjoyable and conversion-friendly with these 5 useful tips. If you are looking for a leading copywriting agency with expertise and experience in SEO content writing, call 1-888-646-8003 today or email us to learn about our range of content writing services in Canada.