Content. Traffic. Revenue.
These are the 3 things that truly matter. Every other metric is secondary.
The good news is that they’re all intertwined: the more useful content you have on your site, the more likely you are to increase your traffic and revenue.
For this reason, both B2B and B2C companies are creating more content. According to State of Inbound, 41% of content marketers say that their content is generating a return on that investment.
I’m always surprised by what I learn while writing.
I write to help my readers improve their SEO and content marketing
knowledge. I write to help them generate organic traffic, acquire leads, and increase revenue.
But many times, I walk away with many insights I can put to work to make my content more interesting, more helpful, and more engaging.
I’ve found that the right content will drive traffic, engagement, and conversion. When I apply each insight to my content creation and see a significant result, I quickly turn it into a replicable strategy.
Today, you’ll learn 9 strategies that’ll help you create highly engaging content that’ll draw your target audience in.
To create a richer experience for your audience, your content needs to impact their lives and answer their questions. It also needs to be strategically planned. Don’t be like the 70% of marketers who lack a consistent or integrated content strategy.
Do you write content to acquire more organic traffic? Then follow these 6 content writing strategies.
Let’s take a look at the 6 content writing strategies that’ll help you acquire more organic traffic:
1. Align your tone to your target audience.
I like to describe “tone” as a quality of writing that adds strength to your content. Your tone can be formal, informal, intimate, solemn, ironic, playful, etc.
An understanding of voice and tone in writing will give you an edge over the competition. Too many writers ignore these elements, but they’re the ingredients that add flavor to your writing.
One of the reasons why people struggle to captivate readers is because they’re not paying attention to their tone. So people click on their titles, and leave.
According to Wheaton College, “the overall tone, or attitude, of a piece of writing should be appropriate to the audience and purpose. One way to achieve proper tone is to imagine a situation in which to say the words being written.”
Even if your writing overall isn’t bad, the way you deliver or present your value matters. The purpose of writing is to give your audience a wake-up call — to inspire them.
Don’t try to show how clever or knowledgeable you are. Do you know why there aren’t that many university professors who are bestselling authors? One reason is because academic writing can be dry and complex.
Bestselling novels and nonfiction books can’t sound like academic works – and neither should your content. Use common English words. Instead of writing the word “famished,” use “hungry.” Forget “ubiquitous” – just use “everywhere.”
Write the way you talk. Write blog posts as if you’re conversing with a single reader. Let your tone and vision draw the target audience closer to you.
Don’t be afraid to get a little creative. For example, Ramsay Taplin, founder of BlogTyrants.com, calls his readers “Tyrants.” That’s the essence of blogging – you have to be “you” and do your own thing.
And Steve Kamb, founder of Nerdfitness.com, refers to his tribe as “Rebels.” It’s an informal tone, coupled with humor and creativity, that draws his readers in.
Pay attention to how you answer your users’ questions and engage with them, on your site and on social sites like Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, etc.
Every Tuesday, Marie Forleo answers a question from one of her readers. She refers to that as the “Question & Answer session,” which has a friendly, personal tone. Marie also publishes hilarious videos to help people create a business and life they love.
As a general rule, don’t use a professional or formal tone in your blog posts. You may get a few people to follow you, especially those who value professionalism over relevance, but sooner or later, you’ll struggle to attract new readers.
People don’t read blogs or web content in order to appear clever. They want real answers and solutions to their problems. Welcome them with fresh and entertaining content.
Stick to relevant topics, find and use the right tone, and you’ll build an audience that trusts you.
Help people by being interesting and useful. Even if you’re writing about rocket science, you can break the complicated aspects into a step-by-step guide.
Michael Hyatt understands that writing should be broken down into learnable pieces. Even though he’s the former chairman and CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishers, the seventh largest book publishing company in the US, his writing tone is fun and you’ll be excited to read his posts.
2. Leverage third-party data and expand on it.
Third-party data is the kind of data that you find on industry blogs, online publications, videos, online courses, ebooks, etc. The data doesn’t primarily come from you, so you’ve got to be careful how you use it.
For years, content writers and bloggers have looked for a simple solution that lets them create content that converts. 56% of marketers struggle to find good content for their audiences. That’s why they curate content.
But instead of just curating content, there’s a better way.
Why do you think writers read a lot of books, even ones unrelated to their niches or interests? They want to increase their knowledge because they know it helps their writing. They read in order to collect ideas from other authors.
It’s not just writers who do this. In response to a question about how to get smarter, Warren Buffett said, “I just sit in my office and read all day.” He estimated that he spends 80% of his working day reading and thinking
That said, reading alone can’t help you create the content that your target audience craves. You have to go further and showcase results from experiments, research studies, projects, etc.
In “Stephen King’s 20 tips for becoming a frighteningly good writer,” Jon Morrow gives a formula for writing popular blog posts.
The part that piqued my interest is that you should “jot down a list of blog posts that you could write about, and circle the ones at least 80% of your readers would find irresistible.”
There are thousands of pages just full of data out there. How do you pick the right data to leverage and expand on?
Take Jon’s advice and make sure that 80% of your readers would find it irresistible. This is crucial because if the data or research study doesn’t resonate with them, you won’t get people to act.
If you write about internet marketing topics, then HubSpot’s marketing statistics post is the first place you should look for third-party data to expand on. Remember to look for data and statistics that’ll interest your audience.
Say you want to create a social media marketing article. In that case, you need some social media statistics. Follow these simple steps:
i). First step: Go to HubSpot’s Marketing Statistics page. Click the “social media” link, and you’ll be taken to the appropriate section.
ii). Second step: Find some compelling statistics that are relevant to your topic.
From the screenshot above, the social media statistics that drew me in are:
The majority of marketers (59%) are using social media for 6 hours or more each week.
As of January 2012, Pinterest accounted for 3.6% of referral traffic.
A call-to-action pin description sees an 80% increase in engagement.
iii). Third step: Create powerful titles. The title is where 73% of buying decision is made, according to Ted Nicholas, a well-known copywriting expert. If 8 out of 10 people read the title, you need to give it top priority.
Therefore, with the statistics above, let’s create some powerful and compelling headlines:
How to Spend 4 Hours on Social Media Networks and Drive More Blog Visitors
Case Study: How 59% of Marketers Spend Their 6 Hours Engaging on Social Media
Referral Traffic: The Ultimate Guide to Increasing Referral Traffic Through Pinterest
13 Pinterest Referral Traffic Strategies That Work
How to Increase Pinterest Referral Traffic to Your Site By 3.6%
How to Write a Call-to-Action That Increases Pinterest Engagement by 80%
The Simple Call-to-Action Pin Description That Increases Traffic
Once you get past the title, the rest of the article will flow easily. That’s why I recommend you write the title first, before the introduction and outline.
My personal experience is that each time I leverage third-party data, I tend to produce better blog content. Here’s an example:
In the post above, I simply leveraged the research results and insights from Buzzsumo’s experiment. Did I copy the data word for word? Of course not. That’s plagiarism.
Moreover, Google hates duplicate content. If Google sees the same content on my blog elsewhere, it’ll use the freshness factor to determine which site owns the content. Consequently, I’m at risk of penalty, because I stole the content.
But I was smarter. I simply learned from Buzzsumo’s experiment and used the insights to create a 4500+ word article that has since generated thousands of visitors to my blog.
Other smart marketers leverage third-party statistics in their content.
Ayaz Nanji, a regular contributor to the MarketingProfs.com authority site, reports statistics from other blogs. Recently, he used Media Insights data to create a useful blog post. Take a look:
Derek Halpern, founder of Socialtriggers.com, frequently uses third-party statistics, stories, and experiences in his blog posts.
Econsultancy also knows how to use data and results from other platforms to create better content.
If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you know that a few months ago, I crossed the finish line on my “100,000 visitors per month” goal. I was excited to share the data.
But I was expecting at least a few readers to leverage that data for themselves.
It’s not too late to do that! Some of the blog post titles that you could write are:
Case Study: How Neil Patel Generated 100,000 Blog Visitors This Month
13 Lessons I Learned From a 100,000 Blog Visitors Goal
7 Steps to 100,000 Blog Visitors In 6 Months [Infographic]
You could do a video, create a Slideshare presentation, record a podcast, write the article, and turn it into an ebook that you could use to build your email list. A lot of bloggers are doing this.
Here’s another one at Income Diary:
A case study is one of the 15 types of blog posts that drive traffic. It generates the most clients who’ll pay what you’re worth.
Instead of waiting until something spectacular happens in your business, I encourage you to leverage statistics, experiences, and results from other people.
Bloggers are conducting A/B split tests every minute. Don’t just read them — you’ll still be stuck where you are.
But if you create epic, unique content out of those tests and theri results, you’re paving way for massive blog growth, whether you’re a B2B or B2C company.
If you think you can’t create unique content without violating your ethics, then follow a different path: find, curate and share content. You’ll still acquire social media traffic. but original content drives organic traffic.
Always reference the exact web page where you got the data from. Promote the site as much as you can. I always link back to the site where I got my data from.
If you’re new to blogging, or you haven’t been able to grow your blog’s traffic yet, I think you should leverage third-party data more.
Because as it stands now, people have no reason to trust you, and it’s hard to convince them to trust you. But if they find a reputable name or brand with striking statistics as the focal point of your content, they’ll listen.
3. Visualize and write for a single person.
How do you read content online? Do you read a blog post when you’re by yourself, or do you call your friends to join you? Chances are, like the rest of us, you read alone.
By the same token, you need to visualize one person as the “targeted reader” for your content. That one person then stands in for the rest of your readers.
Writing to one person at a time is one quick way to find your voice. It’ll make your content more powerful, too.
Content written this way engages the audience better, since each person will read it and feel a personal connection.
You can impact lives with words and get paid to change the world, when you write to one person at a time.
Writing for the web requires creativity. You just can’t throw 500 words together and expect people to read it.
When it comes to blog writing, you need to integrate certain words that personalize the experience for readers. The words “you” and “because” are stronger than you think.
According to Jonathan Goodman, founder of ViralNomics, the word “because” is the most powerful word in the English language, while “you” is the most important word in blogging.
To successfully write to one person, and engage that person with your content, include “you” in the content.
This word is powerful because people are ultimately interested in fulfilling their own needs.
You may not believe this, but it’s true:your readers don’t care about you. They don’t really care how successful or how much of a failure you’ve been.
What matters to them is the value you provide.
Of course, when you start to deliver immense value, readers will start to care about you. From personal experience, I can tell you that it takes times before people can trust you.
By the time they begin to trust you, great things will automatically begin to happen. They’ll link to your content, share it on social media networks, recommend your products, and even refer their fans/family/friends to your site.
Shift your focus from yourself to your readers. I always tell people that if you start a blog, that blog is by you – but not for you. It belongs to the audience you’re serving.They make the rules. They set the pace. You just follow.
In your blog posts, videos, ebooks, etc., use the word “you” more. Reduce “me” and “I” — that way, readers will perceive that all you care about is them, not your own pocket.
You’ll be amazed at the results.
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