Well-crafted content isn’t just plucked from trees (though that would be cool) or magically conjured into existence from a witch’s kettle (this would be cool too). So, what makes good content?
There’s something of a formula to it. Not like math, rest assured.
The building of a perfect content piece comes down to employing some pretty straightforward tactics.
Make It Clear
This is major. You need to have a clarity of purpose to whatever content you’re creating. If your topic is the health benefits of peanut butter and you find yourself talking about jelly for 2 paragraphs, you’ve strayed. Which brings up analogies, metaphors and things of that nature. Don’t get so inventive that readers lose your key point.
Keep It Scannable
If you’re like us, you’re probably a skimmer. It’s tough to avoid nowadays which is why it’s important to play to that tendency and make your content scannable. What does that mean?
Look at the layout of this article.
Our tips/subheadings are all bold and underlined.
The paragraphs are short.
Keeping it scannable means the main points pop right out at your reader and grab their attention. Other tools for this are links, lists, font size and words in different colors.
Be Consistent
Content is king but consistency is queen.
Consistency applies to just about everything in your content and your business. In terms of content though, think of concepts like tone, organization and scheduling.
You want your tone to be the same throughout each piece of content and as a through-line connecting all your content. A unified voice for your brand.
Organization makes it easier to navigate your pieces and relates to the scannability factor.
Consistency in scheduling isn’t so much about how to craft the perfect 1-off piece of content but refers to consistently doing it and delivering to your audience regularly. They get used to that and appreciate it.
Encourage Action
Content that can be applied to people’s lives right away is infinitely more valuable than something more abstract. Play to that and create pieces that encourage folks to do something.
Additionally, and what you probably thought was going to come first in this section, the call to action is vitally important. When writing the phrase that pays, make sure to employ words that convert.
Deliver Value
Picking up from actionable information being more usable than something…not so actionable, the main takeaway is that you should be striving to deliver what’s valuable to your audience. If you’re looked at as a source of in-depth, researched, long-form content maybe focusing on action isn’t the right move for you.
Value is always the right move. Always keep in mind what your readers are reading you for and stay true to that.
Nail The Headline
To be honest, we could probably write an entire article just on headlines because so, so much goes into them. Well, at least that’s what should be happening. The headline has to be among the most interesting batch of words you craft for the piece. Scratch that, it should be the most interesting.
The headline is what gets someone to click through to discover the majesty of your now perfectly crafted content. If your headline isn’t driving the click, the article itself isn’t going to be read, the life-altering content created all for naught.
Look at our headline for example, numbers are a great call. We’re just naturally predisposed to them, we’re drawn in. Likely because we know what we’re gonna get. This article promised 6 tips and here we are concluding the 6th tip. Just as advertised.
Build Great Content With the Snow Agency
As much as we’d prefer to pick content off trees or contract a local witch to brew up the goods, we know that’s not how great content comes to life. If you’re struggling to find your stride in content creation, hit us up at The Snow Agency. We’ll take a look at what you’ve got and talk about how it can be improved because, believe it or not, there are more than 6 things that make the perfect piece of content 😉