In the current business landscape, having a strong active and social online presence is a must. While most organizations realize this fact and are quickly going digital, not all are reaping the benefits associated with it. This is because many business professionals underestimate the value of content, which is at the core of any digital marketing channel. When it comes to article-writing, for instance, many article writers believe that anything will work. In the end, their articles get lost in the billions of others on the web.
So how do you develop conversion-oriented content? Here are some factors that contribute to a well-written article:
Story-Telling
We’re in living in the content-oversaturated age of the internet, in which dry writing won’t generate you any leads or conversions. From the earliest of times, people love stories. We all respond to compelling stories, so if you want to capture the interest of your audience, bring your article to life by unfolding a plot or recounting an event that interests them.
Incorporating a story into an article doesn’t have to be difficult. You can open your article with a story or use on to illustrate a point elsewhere in the post. To be effective, stories need not be garish or excessive. Suppose you’re writing about a product or service you want to recommend to your audience. Your story can simply be about how you used that product or service and how was your experience. It will make your article human and encourage users to read till the end.
Right Length
There exist conflicting views on how long an article should be to communicate an idea in full, while also keeping readers engaged. Some believe that an article should be no longer than 500 words, while others consider 2000 words an ideal length for comprehensive guides.
Well, there’s no right or wrong length for an article. It should be as long as it needs to be. This means it should be as long as it takes for the writer to clearly and succinctly explain a concept or idea.
If you’re writing a step-by-step guide for a process, you might feel covering everything might be difficult with anything under 3000 words. Yet, if you think you can write a well-researched and complete article in 400 words, go for it. As long as your article delivers value and exhibits useful information in an engaging and readable manner, it should do well. But regardless of the article, avoid large chunks of text by breaking them down into short paragraphs.
Use of Facts and Stats
Another critical factor that significantly improves the value of an article is the inclusion of statistics and other factual data. It implies that the content piece is backed by a great deal of research. Users feel more connected to the ideas and information that are supported by stats and facts. However, consider obtaining factual data from credible sources only and be sure to link to that high-authority site to build credibility.
Visuals
If your articles consistently have a bounce rate of more than 70%, you probably need to revisit your content strategy. It clearly indicates that the majority of users are leaving your article webpages as soon as they arrive on them. An effective strategy to reduce the bounce rates of your articles is to enrich them with graphic content such as stock photos, videos, infographics, GIFs, charts, graphs, etc. This strategy works for several different types of content marketing such as blog posts, landing pages, eBooks, newsletters, white papers, and so on. To dig deeper into the different types of content marketing, study this guide titled 17 Types of Content Writing Vital in a High-Impact Marketing Strategy.
Leveraging visual content is also an effective way to keep readers engaged into long-form articles. They help break long chunks of text and prove more eye-catching, encouraging users to consume the entire content piece.
When you use visual elements, however, make sure that they strongly related to the topic or what you’re writing about. Any unrelated images will only confuse and interrupt the user like ads do. On top of that, to avoid getting into legal trouble, either use royalty-free images or your own high-quality images. If you want use videos, one great idea is to embed YouTube videos. Since many users use the platform as a search engine, it will make your video more searchable.
Conclusion
To sum it up, when you write on the internet, there’s a lot of noise to cut through. While anyone can write and post an article on the internet, there’s a linethat separates good articles from the bad. The factors discussed above can help you transition from bad to good in the content writing world. To work through these factors, you’ll need to hire one or more article writers who know exactly what it takes to impress your targeted users.
Guest article written by: Dave is a talented writer who has extensive experience offering article writing services to corporate clients.