Is the content on your website making your readers come back for more time and time again? Are they tempted to make your site part of their daily browsing routine? Does Google Analytics say otherwise? If so, then cast your eyes over this article as we’ve put together some tips and hints that might inspire you to produce copy that will increase your readership.
What’s The Subject And Whom Are You Writing For?
Make sure the subject of your article is applicable to the site you are writing for. Make it relevant and interesting. Maybe take a hint from newspaper columnists and base it around a current news story or issue that affects your audience.
Grab Them With Your Headline
It doesn’t matter how interesting your article is, readers might not give it the time of day if the headline doesn’t grab their attention. Keep it short, snappy and engaging. Make sure it conveys the broad meaning of the article.
Do Your Homework Show Your Knowledge
If you are writing reviews make sure you do your research and write authoritatively. If you are writing an opinion piece, show that you are well informed on the subject and offer your own take on it. Readers will pick up on the fact that you’re an expert on a given subject and it is more likely that they will then seek out your opinion again and again.
Don’t Waffle
Imagine your article as a car journey. You want to get your chosen destination in good time, taking in a few sights along the route. In your articles, try to cover the subjects (the sights) you want to talk about in enough detail to get your point across. However, returning to the car journey analogy, you do not want to make a ten-mile detour! Don’t waffle on, as you’ll lose readers by always going off on a tangent!
Get Them Involved!
Encourage readers to comment on your work through comments on the page itself, or through social media. Why not follow up a previous article with one that reacts to the comments made about the original piece?
It’s Been Said Before But…Content Is King!
Invigorate your site with regularly updated fresh content that appeals to the people who visit. Fill it with reports, opinion pieces and equipment reviews. You could conduct interviews with important people in the industry/sport/band etc. you are covering and post them on the site. Readers will come back to your site if they know that every time they log on, there will be more great things to read about.
Offer Something Your Competitors Don’t
Find an angle on your content that others aren’t offering. Twitter and Facebook became successful because they offered a different take on social networking. In marketing they call it the USP (Unique Selling Point). For example, Linkedin’s USP is that they are a social network designed for making business contacts, as opposed to uploading photos of your cats/kids/drunk night out. So stand out from the crowd, find your USP and push a few boundaries.
About the Author: Robert Phillips writes a stimulating blog at Safe Options about boring but safe products.
