GainTheImpossible
Banned by request of the account holder.
- May 29, 2020
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Your bounce rate is astronomically high, and not even friends and family like the articles on your blog? Then it's time to give some tips for good web copy!
The Web Text Basics
Before I dedicate my further articles to such illustrious topics as landing page texts, content marketing tools, or storytelling, it is good to start with the basics because even the best tools and questions are lost if the basics are not right, in this case, the classic web text for magazines, blogs, guidebooks, and perhaps one or two niche sites.
So we'll leave keywords and SEO mish-mash aside (at least for the next seven minutes you'll spend reading this text) and devote ourselves to simple text work.
The sense of it all? Sure, web readers continue to click on clickbait headlines, and even fake news can't complain about declining readership, but still: If you want to put your magazine or guidebook in the best light of your content marketing, you first need good texts. This is the only way to gain readers, traffic, and fans in all social networks in the long term
"Good content is good"
Before you start writing, you first have to think about what you want to write about. You should ask yourself the following three questions:
Meeting the target group.
So-called buyer personas help to define the target group of your content marketing more precisely. This is not only important for the general orientation of your blog or magazine but also individual contributions. Get a picture of your readers and use it to determine which information in your article could be relevant and useful and which not.
Value, relevance, and utility
Added value, utility, relevance - at first glance, all three terms have a positive effect, but be careful: they differ in orientation and results.
Added value
First and foremost is the added value, which classically offers the reader "more value." The topic should, therefore, not only be read and forgotten but should be positively remembered. However, an added value is not entirely without self-interest, as the article by blogger bc illustrates well. After all, the text should also bring value to the company behind it, put it in a good light through the version, and build trust thanks to competence.
Relevance
The relevance is somewhat more charitable. What is relevant for my target group? Which contents fit his or her life, and above all, are they packed in a proper way? Does my text be presented and distributed (the chosen medium) match what my readers consider relevant?
Value for money
Value for money goes entirely away from the author of the article and towards the readers. The critical question is: What benefit can the reader get from my text? This should, therefore, be the main focus. Put yourself in your reader's role and ask yourself what you can take away from the article.
It's the mixture
Ideally, your text should, therefore, offer your readers added value, relevance, and utility. Learn to speak your readers' language and offer them precisely what they need and find useful.
Style and Tonality
Interview, how-to article or rather a story? Topics can be packaged in the most diverse text forms. So think about the style of your article before you start writing it.
2. Long live the text
300 words or 3000? There is no exact rule of thumb for the length of your texts, but there is a trend forecast which says that the end of long articles is far from being in sight.
After 7 minutes, nobody pays attention anymore.
"Too long, didn't read" - apparently really a statement that readers often make. For example, the blogging platform Medium found that the ideal text should have a reading time of seven minutes. Because after the magic seven, the interest of the readers dwindles. At an average reading speed of 200 to 250 words per minute, we would, therefore, arrive at a length of 1,400 to 1,750 words.
Goes down well: 2500 words or more
But what about sharing articles about social media? Recent data from HubSpot or Moz indicated that longer items (2500 words or more) are shared more often. This could be because longer content is detailed about a topic, and it is considered essential to sharing useful content.
So better stop after 1,400 words or take "What is Code?" from Bloomberg with 38,000 words and immense success as a model? Of course, there is no clear answer to this question.
Good content can be long
But what emerges: Even if we think that the attention span of online readers decreases, longer articles are successful. But only if the length matches the content and the layout is right.
That means no swaggering, but delivering adequately researched facts and good storytelling. This is where it pays off to invest time, and it doesn't always have to be 38,000 words.
Well, this should be the beginning for you.
Author: Me
Date: 6/13/2020
The Web Text Basics
Before I dedicate my further articles to such illustrious topics as landing page texts, content marketing tools, or storytelling, it is good to start with the basics because even the best tools and questions are lost if the basics are not right, in this case, the classic web text for magazines, blogs, guidebooks, and perhaps one or two niche sites.
So we'll leave keywords and SEO mish-mash aside (at least for the next seven minutes you'll spend reading this text) and devote ourselves to simple text work.
The sense of it all? Sure, web readers continue to click on clickbait headlines, and even fake news can't complain about declining readership, but still: If you want to put your magazine or guidebook in the best light of your content marketing, you first need good texts. This is the only way to gain readers, traffic, and fans in all social networks in the long term
"Good content is good"
Before you start writing, you first have to think about what you want to write about. You should ask yourself the following three questions:
- What is my target group?
- What added value, utility, and relevance does my topic offer my target group?
- What style should my text have?
Meeting the target group.
So-called buyer personas help to define the target group of your content marketing more precisely. This is not only important for the general orientation of your blog or magazine but also individual contributions. Get a picture of your readers and use it to determine which information in your article could be relevant and useful and which not.
Value, relevance, and utility
Added value, utility, relevance - at first glance, all three terms have a positive effect, but be careful: they differ in orientation and results.
Added value
First and foremost is the added value, which classically offers the reader "more value." The topic should, therefore, not only be read and forgotten but should be positively remembered. However, an added value is not entirely without self-interest, as the article by blogger bc illustrates well. After all, the text should also bring value to the company behind it, put it in a good light through the version, and build trust thanks to competence.
Relevance
The relevance is somewhat more charitable. What is relevant for my target group? Which contents fit his or her life, and above all, are they packed in a proper way? Does my text be presented and distributed (the chosen medium) match what my readers consider relevant?
Value for money
Value for money goes entirely away from the author of the article and towards the readers. The critical question is: What benefit can the reader get from my text? This should, therefore, be the main focus. Put yourself in your reader's role and ask yourself what you can take away from the article.
It's the mixture
Ideally, your text should, therefore, offer your readers added value, relevance, and utility. Learn to speak your readers' language and offer them precisely what they need and find useful.
Style and Tonality
Interview, how-to article or rather a story? Topics can be packaged in the most diverse text forms. So think about the style of your article before you start writing it.
2. Long live the text
300 words or 3000? There is no exact rule of thumb for the length of your texts, but there is a trend forecast which says that the end of long articles is far from being in sight.
After 7 minutes, nobody pays attention anymore.
"Too long, didn't read" - apparently really a statement that readers often make. For example, the blogging platform Medium found that the ideal text should have a reading time of seven minutes. Because after the magic seven, the interest of the readers dwindles. At an average reading speed of 200 to 250 words per minute, we would, therefore, arrive at a length of 1,400 to 1,750 words.
Goes down well: 2500 words or more
But what about sharing articles about social media? Recent data from HubSpot or Moz indicated that longer items (2500 words or more) are shared more often. This could be because longer content is detailed about a topic, and it is considered essential to sharing useful content.
So better stop after 1,400 words or take "What is Code?" from Bloomberg with 38,000 words and immense success as a model? Of course, there is no clear answer to this question.
Good content can be long
But what emerges: Even if we think that the attention span of online readers decreases, longer articles are successful. But only if the length matches the content and the layout is right.
That means no swaggering, but delivering adequately researched facts and good storytelling. This is where it pays off to invest time, and it doesn't always have to be 38,000 words.
Well, this should be the beginning for you.
Author: Me
Date: 6/13/2020
