Following simple steps to writing great website content can turn a menacing mountain into a manageable molehill.
Have you been tasked with writing an article for your company website? Are you wrangling over where to start with your next blog post? Whatever online content writing puzzle you are struggling with, having a process to follow will keep you on track.
Over the coming months, I’ll share ideas on writing content with a process in mind. A simple strategy to stay focused and keep the words flowing. The result? Helpful content that people want to read.
There’ll be lots more detail on each of the steps in future posts, but for now, let’s look at a bird’s eye view of the 8 step process to writing great content for your website.
8 Steps to Writing Great Content
Great content is useful content. It’s content on your website that offers help, provides inspiration, or entertains your readers. They might be blog posts, articles, advice pages, FAQ pages or journal notes.
Whilst they can shine a light on your expertise or help people to understand more about you and your business, they aren’t your sales or service pages. And with this in mind, the focus should always be (in this order)
- To write content that people want to read (helpful content for them)
- To write what you want to say as a business (linked to your goals as a business)
With the primary focus on writing content that people want to read, here is the outline for a simple set of steps that ensure your content is relevant, engaging and easy to read.
Step 1 – Choose a good topic
You need a healthy seed of an idea that can grow into a piece of content that people want to read. You’ll need to do your homework on valuable topics for your readers that also align with your values and goals. From speaking to our customers to online tools, there are plenty of ways to develop a host of perfect topics.
Step 2 – Know your audience
The focus of your content should always be to write with your audience in mind. You want to know the burning questions you can answer for them, and you need to explore the language they use. This step is easy to skip, but it can quickly turn reader-focused content into brand-focused sales pitches.
Step 3 – Research your facts
The 3rd step of the research jigsaw is knowing your facts. Do you have stats, examples or testimonials that can add power to your content? Are there links you want to include to validate your ideas? These could be internal links to other pages on your site or external links to well-regarded or partnership websites.
Step 4 – Get a structure in place
Having a structure in place will make writing the meat of your content much more manageable. With a few key ingredients such as a magnetic headline, killer first line and a call to action, a structure will keep you focused and your readers engaged.
Step 5 – The rough draft
A wise person once said, ‘write without fear, edit without mercy’. When writing the rough draft, it’s time to get fearless and keep going. Don’t be tempted to edit as you go along; it results in time wasting, procrastination and a loss of focus.
Step 6 – Edit without mercy
Jargon, unnecessary words, repetition and over-justification can all turn readers away. Be ruthless, and remember to edit with your readers in mind. And with the micro attention span of online readers, keep your sentences short.
Step 7 – Lock, load and decorate
It’s time to lock in your content, load it to your website and give it the beauty treatment. Why do your words need to look pretty? Well, how many times have you seen a big block of text and read every word?
White space, bullet points, engaging images and short paragraphs with enticing headings all play their part in a compelling piece of content. And a few little checks and tweaks when loading your content can increase its appeal to search engines.
Step 8 – Share your content with the world
A beautiful piece of well-written copy won’t just land in your ideal audience’s lap. In today’s digital stratosphere, there are numerous ways to entice people to come and read what you have to say. And don’t be afraid to keep using the same pieces of content, regularly tweaking and updating them to keep them relevant.
Let’s Keep Going
So there we have it, a quick introduction to 8 simple steps to writing great content. For more on all these topics, join me on Instagram, connect with me on LinkedIn and stay tuned for lots of tips, tricks and ideas behind the 8 steps.