Creating high-quality content for your website is essential. Whether you’re a small business owner, a blogger or you represent a business, the content your website posts will be the make or break to whether your website will succeed or not. With poor quality content, you’ll see low engagement rates, low website traffic and a low SEO ranking. Instead, follow the guide below for the complete opposite.

Be Original

One of the most important parts of writing content is the uniqueness of it. If you’re simply copying content that’s gone viral in the hopes of gaining the same sort of engagement, you’re approaching the subject all wrong. If a post has gone viral, then it’s already been seen by a tonne of users, and when they see your similar post, they’ll simply think ‘huh, I’ve already seen that’ and they’ll dismiss it.

That doesn’t mean that you can’t write about the same topic as the viral post, but you’ll need to add a new spin to it to entice those readers in. While on the subject of being original, ensure you don’t plagiarise anybody else’s work. Not only will this harm your SEO ranking, but also your business’s credibility.

Start at the Top

When creating content posts, start with the basics and work your way through it step by step to ensure it’s the best quality it can be. This means starting with the headline. Firstly, define what your post is going to be about.

For example, if you’re running a travel blog, what topic are you going to be covering? Let’s say you’re going to be writing a top-ten destination list, instead of writing ’10 best places in the world’, why not try some along the lines of ‘Check out these ten destinations that you won’t believe are real!’. As you can see, there’s so much more emphasis in the second headline, and you’re much more likely to draw people in.

Write for Your Audience

Before you start writing, you need to define who your target audience is. If you’re writing a research project, it’s probably going to be okay to use long technical language that your readers will understand. However, if you’re writing the same topic post for 16-20-year olds, you’re going to want to simplify your language, so they understand. Always define who your readers are going to be before you start writing.

Research Your Topics

It’s all well and good writing about ideas that pop into your head, but it’s not necessarily what people want to read. For example, if you’re writing about businesses, it would be a good idea to check out a website such as Entrepreneur, an online magazine with trending new articles on happenings in the business world. This way, you can see what topics are trending and what sort of posts your readers will want to read.

Practice, Practice, Practice

You’re not going to gain the ability to write high-quality content overnight; it’s simply impossible. It can take months, even years to refine your technique but you shouldn’t be put off with you right a poor piece of content that doesn’t really take off. Michael Jordan wasn’t able to net basket after basket overnight, it took years of practice to perfect his skill, and it’s the same for you.

If needed, seek online guidance to enhance your methods and techniques. For example, State of Writing has lists of up to date and current guidelines as well as expert advice on how to write comprehensively.

Practice: Part Two

I cannot stress the importance of practising enough. You may be put off by the idea of practising, especially when you’re eager to get content out to your readers. Obviously, consistency is a very important part to play in drawing in your readers. However, if you simply don’t have time to post, seek assistance when you need it. Website services, such as Top Canadian Writers, provides you with access to a range of expert writers who can create high-quality content on your behalf while you practice.

Provide Your Readers with Value

Apply this consideration to every piece of content that you write. When a reader gets to the end of reading your content, has your content provided them with a new piece of information or lesson that will benefit their life? If not, you’ll need to edit your text, so it does. Content without purpose is poor quality content that needs to be avoided and rectified as soon as possible. As a rule of thumb, if you’ve asked a question in your headline, make sure that question is answered.

Embed Images & Visuals

Whether you want to use photos, infographics, live presentations or any kind of visual media, make sure that you do use it. Include relevant images in your content will boost your views and engagement rates by as much as 50%, so it’s important that you don’t overlook this crucial point.