It is our experience that most people are unsure of how to write blogs or articles that their users will read or value.
Not only that, but when it comes to writing in a way that satisfies good search engine optimization (SEO) practices, these weak articles are almost as bad as having no article at all.
All that wasted time. All that ongoing effort.
There has to be a better way, right?
Writing a Great Article
Here’s the good news. There is!
If you’ve been scratching your head, wondering how to write an article that people will want to read, you’ve come to the right place.
Because there’s a secret sauce that people use to write great blogs and articles. And, if they are using it, you can too.
Your days of endless toil and struggle only to get a few measly skim reads may be at an end. Yes, you and your business can write your way to success on the search engines.
In this article, we’re going to show you how to write an article. Read on if you’re ready to learn how to turn that dull article into an engaging masterpiece.
How to Write an Article for Your Site That Your Audience Will Read.
1) A Commitment to Quality Content
If you want to write an article that people will read, you will first have to understand that writing great content takes time and effort. However, it’s an essential strategy for building traffic and trust on your website. However, not all articles are created equal.
Why is this? It’s simple – the entire internet is competing for the attention of your user. If you want to win their attention, you need to be inside their head, anticipating what they are thinking, feeling, and doing. Ask yourself, “What are they looking for, and why are they looking for it.”
Limit Distractions
You also need to limit distractions such as poor grammar or spelling, wordy sentences, overly technical jargon, or irrelevant content. These distractions interrupt the user’s experience and flow. It can lead to them devaluing your expertise and rethinking how much they can trust you.
You don’t have to suddenly turn into Clive Cussler or J.K. Rowling to make your writing exceptional. You need to start by answering the following questions:
High-Quality Content Checklist
- Is this article super relevant to my customer? Am I answering the questions that my audience may have? Does it present my brand as the authority in this field?
- Is it loaded with incredible information and more?
- Am I providing incredible value in this article?
- Is this piece better than anything my competitors are producing?
- Is this article worthwhile? And worth the time of my audience?
2) The Bait is Only As Good As The Hook
Please excuse the following analogy.
To catch a fish, you first need bait; then, you need to get the fish on the hook before reeling them in. It is the same way with writing. Your blog is the bait, but you need to hook their attention at the start and reel them in with relevant, captivating content.
Here are some proven ways to captivate a reader’s attention:
- Ask an interesting question
- Begin with an anecdote (make it very short)
- State a startling fact
- Present a surprising statement
- Tease an interesting idea
- Crack a tasteful joke
- Begin with a quote
- Make it all about the reader – their needs, their problems, their wants
- Gently confront the reader with a situation
- Set up the problem (and by consequence, the desire for the solution)
Remember, you only have a matter of seconds to attract the attention of your reader.
3) Mix it Up
When you’re creating engaging content, you must keep in mind that not everyone digests information in the same way. Then, when you mix in our desire to be entertained constantly, the need to mix things up with visual content becomes very important.
Here are some effective tools that will complement your content:
- Entertaining videos
- Infographics
- Charts
- High-Quality pictures
- Interesting quotes
- Memes
- GIFs
- Screenshots
4) Address Your Potential Buyer’s Questions
In today’s digital marketing landscape, addressing potential buyers’ questions is a valuable strategy to engage your target audience and establish credibility. By understanding their concerns and providing informative answers, you can build trust and increase the likelihood of converting leads into customers.
Here are some of the concepts for answering potential buyers’ questions:
- Listen to Your Audience: Take the time to listen to your target audience actively. Pay attention to their inquiries, concerns, and pain points. Monitor customer interactions, conduct surveys, and engage with them on social media. Understanding their questions gives you valuable insights into their needs and desires.
- Identify Frequently Asked Questions: Through your listening efforts, identify the most common questions potential buyers ask. These questions serve as a treasure trove of content ideas. They provide a direct path to addressing your audience’s pain points and establishing yourself as an authoritative source in your industry.
- Prioritize Questions with the Highest Impact: Not all questions are created equal. Some may have a more significant impact on your potential buyer’s decision-making process. Prioritize the questions with the most significant potential to influence and guide your audience toward a purchase. These high-impact questions should take precedence in your content creation strategy.
- Provide Comprehensive and Valuable Answers: When answering potential buyers’ questions, aim to provide thorough and valuable responses. Consider incorporating real-world examples, case studies, and practical advice. By offering comprehensive answers, you position yourself as an expert who genuinely cares about helping your customers solve their problems.
- Address Objections and Concerns: Use the opportunity to address objections and concerns head-on. Anticipate the doubts that potential buyers may have and provide reassuring answers. By addressing their concerns upfront, you demonstrate transparency and build trust, which can be instrumental in facilitating the decision-making process.
5) Scanner and Reader-Friendly Phrases
Make your writing scannable and readable. The most natural way users digest information online is to first quickly scan the page to see if the content is worth their time.
The very last thing most people want to see when hunting for information is an unending flow of text. So, make your writing easy to digest. Go for bite-sized, digestible chunks, and don’t be afraid of white space.
- Use clear headlines that give content to sections of text
- Avoid lengthy paragraphs for 1-3 sentence chunks
- Choose images that help explain your copy
- Use storytelling to help simplify complicated information
6) Headlines
Just as you can use social marketing posts to improve SEO, you can turn a boring article into an effective SEO strategy by using the right type of headlines in your copy.
To do this effectively, create the headline before writing the body of your content. This strategy will keep your content focused and on message.
When choosing criteria to adopt for creating headlines, the following 3 are the most important:
- Keep it short. If you’ve gone past 15 – 20 words, you’ve gone too far
- Seek to grab attention. Make it impactful.
- Keep it focused on the intent of the audience and relevant
When you’re constructing an article, sometimes you can become so consumed with providing incredible content that the headlines become an afterthought.
Do not let this happen.
Connecting with your readers is vital. One of the quickest ways to do this is with your headlines.
And remember, even the best content will quickly get passed over if the title doesn’t draw the attention in.7. Stand for Something
7) Stand for Something
Standing for something is critical if you are going to become an authority in your field.
Why will this be effective in your blogs or articles?
If you want to understand how to write an article that people will read, you need to embrace a common psychological factor that applies to almost everyone.
At our core, human beings are wired for connection. Most of us routinely seek out the company of others, almost by default. This desire is part of what makes us human, and it’s a fundamental part of who we are.
We want to connect with others. We want to feel part of something greater than ourselves.
Creating that Connection
You can use your blog, articles, videos, or any other content to connect with your audience. You can talk about the things you all have in common and what inspires you.
And you can share your vision and mission with your audience, and in doing so, you can help them to feel part of a community.
In all of your blog posts, you can craft your article to embrace that community. You can encourage that community. And, more importantly, you can validate it.
8) Address Specific Topics In Your Article
Have you considered that every customer or potential customer is on a different level when it comes to information gathering?
For example, the closer people get to purchasing your product or service, the more specific their searches become. What does this mean for you and your writing?
It means that when you’re creating your article, the more targeted and precise the content is to where the customer is in their buyer’s journey, the more valuable your blog will be.
To do this effectively, narrow down your article topics to very specific content. Make sure that content is related to what your customers would naturally be searching for at each stage in the buying chain.
9) Final Thoughts and An Added Benefit.
If you include some or all of these tips in your writing, not only will more people want to read through to the end, but you’ll make search engines like Google, Yahoo, and Bing happy as well, which means they will be more likely to deliver your article over your competitions.
So, now that you know how to write an article, why not do what you know?
Got any questions or need any advice? Reach out and talk to us. We’re always happy to help.
