The underrated art of content

Recently, it seems that a lot of the discussions in this section have been focused on whether writing can make you decent money, or where to find quality writers. While that’s all well and good, I thought we could shake things up a bit around here. Let’s get some conversations going about great content techniques and approaches and share some nuggets of wisdom.

Content is my jam. I love words and language and the power they have, so it can be a bit galling to hear people dismiss content. Yeah, you get the bozos spouting ‘Content is King’ without ever engaging their brains, but if you ask them how, or why, 90% won’t really know, or they’ll tell you that you have to engage your audience if you want to make a sale.

Duh. The juiciest backlinks in the world and the slickest technical set-up will be good for exactly bupkiss if your content sucks. You might get some clicks but your bounce rate would be shocking and I doubt you’d get much conversion. What this blanket statement misses, is that there’s so much more to content than engaging your audience.

So here are my top three underrated elements of content that are essential for any successful attempt at IM.

1. Tone of voice

We all want loyalty, right? Loyalty = repeat traffic and return customers. If you want to create any kind of audience loyalty, you need a distinctive voice. Being personally distinguishable from your competition creates a connection between your readers and what you write. You want to get to the point where your readers ‘hear’ you whenever they read something you’ve written, and find themselves thinking “I wonder what so-and-so has to say about this”.

This is easier said than done, but it’s not impossible to craft your own tone of voice. Write a lot and write regularly, even if it’s just for practice. You’ll start to find that you have little quirks - embrace them. They are what makes your content unique and what people will subconsciously latch onto and look out for. It also helps to read a lot - especially your competition. They are bound to do things that you do and don’t like. Pay attention to those things and keep them in mind when you write.

You also need a clear idea of your audience in order to hone your tone of voice. Who are you writing this for? Would they appreciate technical jargon or a more casual approach? As much as you want to let your personality shine in your tone of voice, make sure it’s a very specific facet of your personality, one which will engage your audience the most. Think about your ideal reader. Let’s say it’s Chad, the conscientious bodybuilder, who wants impressive gains but won’t sacrifice his vegan lifestyle to achieve them. Keep this ideal reader in the forefront of your mind whenever you write. If Chad won’t like it, you can’t publish it.

2. Meta data

I’m a real proponent of alt text, meta tags, meta descriptions and so on. For one thing, they are free opportunities to jam your keywords in everywhere. What’s not to love about that?

But also, there’s an accessibility angle that is often glossed over. Screen readers and assistive technologies rely heavily on meta data to navigate your site. The World Health Organisation estimates that one billion people are living with disabilities. Can you afford to alienate even the tiniest fraction of those one billion people by making your site hard to access? No, didn’t think so.

The same thing goes for anchored, contextual links. If there’s one thing I hate on a website, and I mean truly detest with every fibre of my being, it’s rampant usage of “Click here”. What a lazy, waste of a link. Everyone knows that links with contextual anchor text have better authority. Once again, it’s a chance to jam your keyword in there again and make life easier for users who need assistive tech, but more than that, you’re telling Google that you are an authority on your subject matter by connecting the destination URL with the topic you are discussing. No brainer.

3. Spelling and grammar

I know, I know, yawn - “Spelling and grammar is boring!” Well, first off, you’re wrong, but more importantly, you’ve just gotta suck it up. If you misspell a keyword, how do you expect to rank for it? This is especially true for long tail keywords and phrases where the margin for error increases exponentially (only a slight exaggeration).

Yes, some users misspell words and terms in their searches, but those blighters are for your meta tags, my friend. Don’t sully your beautiful content with that drivel.

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So those are my top three. What do you think is the most underrated benefit of content?

Words are powerful and will draw certain people to you.

I believe that the mistake people make (and I'm certainly guilty of it) is to want the whole world to notice you - whereas you only want people interested in what you do - to notice you. If you're really good - those people will attract other people and they will attract other people, but eventually the visitors will go elsewhere - just because we live in a fickle world - and you'll be left with your true loyalists.

So going back to words being powerful - they are!
And the ability to write something concise and relevant and emotionally on cue is difficult, so the question becomes, "how bad do you want it?"

When you want it bad enough, you will put everything you have into it and push yourself, because believe it or not, you have more depth and the capacity to cope with sh-t, than you realize. And when you're done pushing and you've hit ground zero and there's nothing else left to give, you will discover one thing;

The best way to make it online is to find a "a few good men" with your level of dedication, committed to the cause, and determined just like you to give everything; and then you will be strong enough to own real estate and authority on the internet.

Or - you could get a sugar daddy or mummy and have them buy it for you

j0hnam76 said:

I believe that the mistake people make (and I'm certainly guilty of it) is to want the whole world to notice you - whereas you only want people interested in what you do - to notice you.

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So true! You're never going to be able to please everyone, so get really good at pleasing the people that count - namely your niche audience! That's why having an ideal reader can be so helpful.

Yeah, it's definitely an art. After reading Mastery by Robert Greene, I realized that anything new you start will go over your head at one point. That's when people quit. Not you. You keep at it until you brain calibrates to this new skills. Same with writing content. It's a skill that needs to be worked on until your brain makes the connections. You're brain is more powerful than you think.

I totally agree -- the power of copywriting is king

Content writing is creativity
The author crafts his masterpiece in every sleek of writing

This is perfect an valuable info. There is a true art to writing and there is more need now than ever to really merge beautiful and interesting writing techniques. There is so much stuff and writing out there, whatever we can do to set ourselves apart the better. I love reading writing that makes tactile analogies, when the writing jumps out at you, so that you can feel it, hear it, smell it etc.