Are you a writer? Do you try really hard to write an article but still not get enough user response and feedback? You research for hours and...
Are you a writer? Do you try really hard to write an article
but still not get enough user response and feedback? You research for hours and
utilize your brain to its fullest and are still not able to produce an
effective piece of writing? What if I told you...you are not focusing on the
things that need to be focused on? Without knowing what qualitatively affects
your written content, how can you produce an effective one? Let me tell you a
few of the most important content writing tips you, as a content writer, should
know. These are also the various writing etiquettes and techniques used by the
professional bloggers which make their writing effective. So, instead of
blaming and underestimating yourself, focus on these 15 secrets to improve your
writing substantially:
1. Title
is what's getting you the Click!
Okay, let's say you wrote an amazing article. So, what among
that is gonna drive the readers to you? The content? The definitions/explanations
you gave? The multimedia? NO, it's the TITLE that gets you the click. And with
an unattractive and lame title, forget about getting user views but your own
ones. The title should be brief and direct, but should be attractive and
tempting, so that it pulls the viewer to your article.
2. Write
an interesting Lead:
After getting the viewer, it's the lead or the introductory
paragraph that will turn him from just being a viewer to a reader as well. The
intro has many purposes and you can effectively fulfill them by writing an
interesting one. Normally every viewer reads the intro part, but what's written
there determines whether he would read the article further or not. It should be
short but compelling. You should target the reader in a way to make him/her
read the whole article.
3. Write
informally, where possible!
Unless of course if you are writing something that is
defined to be formal, make your writing informal and casual. In this way, you
can not only convey your message but can also address the reader in a friendly
manner which is naturally easy to write and easy to read. Moreover, you cannot
clearly express your opinions and thoughts if you’re going formal, so choose
informal instead.
4.
Research, Research and Research...
If you're specifically an online weblog writer, research is
your key to an effective piece of writing. Instead of wasting your time on
Facebook and Twitter (or whichever you use), try to research about the latest
trends and advancements in your field of expertise (also your blog's niche
maybe). I'm talking about general research and not the research you do for some
specific post. This will help you in writing accurate and effective content and
will also increase your knowledge of the subject.
5. Take
breaks while writing:
You cannot(or rather should not) just sit in front of
your computer screen and keep on writing for like two hours and finish an
article. The brain that you got needs rest. Take breaks quite often while
writing so as to keep your brain open and fresh. This would make it focus more
on the context and help you write better...much better.
6. Take
good care of your 'emotions':
While writing, make damn sure that you feel relaxed and your
mind is open and free of any stress. If you are angry, sad or feeling anything
but normal, well do not write. Write when your brain is free of any pressures
as that is when it would be able to focus the most and produce some good
quality content. Also, you cannot clearly express your thoughts in the writing
if you’re feeling stressed, so think about it.
7. Be
precise and direct:
Never think that your reader has all the time in the world
to read your stuff. Write in a focused manner and do not deviate from the
subject. You might want to increase the word count by mentioning unnecessary
examples, but hey - no one's got time for that. Write short but accurate and do
not waste the reader's time in wondering what you wrote about.
8. Make
your writing 'Robot-friendly':
You might already know about the various SEO techniques that
get you more users. Well, they definitely work. Try adding various keywords (which
you can research on) that will make your article stand out among the others the
search engine processing robot has to process. Add keywords in the title, intro
and closing for maximum benefit of the trick.
9. Don't
focus only on the Robot:
I could have mentioned this one under the previous heading
but did not because this is somehow equally important and should be focused on
individually, hence you find it here. What lame bloggers do is they put enough
keywords to make their writing useless. Yes, keywords are important, but do not
forget that it's also the humans who read your article. It should be human-friendly
as well. Restrict keywords to title, intro and closing only and at the same
time, produce an effective piece of writing so as to be at peace with both the
viewers, the robots and the humans.
10. Be
honest!
Honesty is the best policy! Keep in mind that your article
would be read by many across the globe and the day people figure out that you
mislead them by writing something that's not right, you’re doomed. Write
accurately and be honest in what you write. You would know the feeling one gets
when he comes to know that all the hype that the writer created in the article
was fake. Make sure you are never the writer in such a story.
11.
Have your own unique style of writing:
Writing the way you speak the language makes it easier. And
yes, forget about the grammar and stuff unless if English is what you're
writing on. Copying other's style is lame and at the same time difficult. You
will need to put more effort on the style than the content. Like I mentioned
before, you should write informally and in your own tone so as to deliver the
message clearly.
12.
Approach the subject from a unique aspect:
There are various angles you can cover the topic from,
especially in technological reviews you can pick up one aspect of the subject
and then get detailed into it. But, make sure the aspect you choose is unique
and interesting. After choosing the angle, go detailed into it by staying
focused on only that aspect. If you are writing about the form-factor of a
smartphone, mentioning the pixel density is what's losing you the job.
13. The
Length to Depth ratio should be Unity:
Increasing the word count means increasing the details you
are providing. The depth should be directly related with the words you write.
Writing 1000 words just to give a brief overview of a device is a fail attempt
to write an effective content. Giving too much detail in a short post and
giving very less detail in a large post are two things you MUST avoid. You
should determine the depth you're going in, by the target word count.
14.
Proofread and Edit the document:
No one is such a genius to write an error-free document in
the first run. There are certain mistakes that you figure out only when you're
proofreading the document you wrote. Also, proofreading helps you in
determining if you missed something out and then you can add that up. Never
forget the quote by C. J. Cherryh, "It’s
perfectly okay to write garbage – as long as you edit brilliantly".
15. Focus
on the Outro too!
Once you're done explaining what you needed to, write a
proper closing paragraph which should either be directive or complimentary or
both. This is in fact where you can interact with the user and give him/her
your final thoughts and/or tell him what to do next. Make it a proper one since
most of the readers jump directly from the intro to the end to see what you
concluded there.
If in case you can't dedicate enough time to write your own content and yet you want seo optimized written content on your blog then you can buy professional content writing services where a team of qualified authors can do the job for you at a fairly reasonable cost. I personally often hire content writers from Web.ThePensters and the writers there are credible and they know SEO well.
Wish you the best of life and happy blogging! :)
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