You've been pushing out articles on your website for a long time now. You've shared what you thought were interesting topics, you know that you're a decent writer, and you have a general idea about how to implement the best content marketing practices.
Yet, you're not getting the exposure you want.
Why not?
Let's take a closer look at what you might not be seeing, and how to improve your content so that it will draw more attention.
1) Your Content Writing Goals Aren't Fine-Tuned
In order to understand why your content isn't getting read, you need to think back to the beginning. Why did you begin publishing content in the first place? What were your goals? Was it to drive traffic to your website, provide some value for your leads in order to convert them into paying customers, or to simply entertain readers? Perhaps it was a combination of these factors.
What you can do: Whatever the case may be, you need to go back to that point and re-think your goals. If those goals aren't clear from the very beginning, then writing your content in a way that will help you achieve those goals, will be much harder.
2) Your Content Topics Aren't Stellar
If you're having trouble getting people to find your articles just as interesting as you find them to be, then there's something that might be off. Not to say you're not interesting! But, there's a good chance that the way you are presenting these topics isn't enough to invite the reader in.
This can be difficult, especially if you're in a business that's very niche-y. Sometimes, people work in industries that the rest of the world finds boring, and you need to find a way to make it interesting, as difficult as that may be.
What you can do: You don't need to delete ever article you've ever written, for starters. Go back through the archives and ask yourself, "Is this topic something I'd spend my time reading?" If you're too biased, then ask friends and family for their opinion, as well as people in your industry who can give you a different take.
It could just be that your article title that needs to be updated. Without creating click bait, try to change up the wording so it leaves the reader curious. Lastly, ask yourself whether or not this topic is something that they already know, or that they don't find necessary to read. Consider that, then make appropriate changes.
3) The Articles Aren't Aesthetically Pleasing
Humans are visual creatures, and it's becoming harder to get people to choose reading an article over watching a video. This is why it's more important than ever to make sure your content writing is aesthetically pleasing to the reader.
If it looks messy, if some paragraphs are much longer than other (or, you don't have paragraphs at all!), or, if it's simply too long or too short, it could be enough to make your reader look elsewhere. It's like judging a book by its cover. We say we don't, but most of us do.
What you can do: Take a look at writer style guides to see what others are doing. Follow those guides to the T. Use strategies like incorporating subheadings, bolding and italicizing parts of a sentence that are important, and creating lists with bullet points when appropriate.
4) There Are Some Inconsistencies
In addition to aesthetics, the readability of your article is important, too. People are less likely to take value from your article and share it with others if there are too many inconsistencies (or, rather, any at all). Inconsistencies can be anything from switching from first-person to third-person throughout your article, to changing suddenly from a serious voice to a silly one.
What you can do: Read your article out loud to yourself. This will make noticing inconsistencies easier. Check for things like POV, vocabulary, style, tone, and voice, and make sure you're not jumping around from one topic to the next.
"If you're having trouble getting people to find your articles just as interesting as you find them to be, then there's something that might be off. Not to say you're not interesting! But, there's a good chance that the way you are presenting these topics isn't enough to invite the reader in."
5) You Went About SEO the Wrong Way
SEO strategies are important when it comes to creating content that gets read. However, too many times, people take these SEO tips to heart, and end up diluting the value of their content. For instance, it's not uncommon for writers to sometimes use too many keywords and phrases, that you can literally pick them out of the text. This can turn people away faster than you can say "SEO."
What you can do: Read over best SEO practices and take them with a grain of salt. Incorporate them when you can, but don't stress about it.
If you're using a plug-in such as Yoast SEO, you might drive yourself crazy trying to get the "green light." There are other tools you can use to check factors like readability, which you can find online or even in a basic word processing tool.
6) You Didn't Spread the Word
It's a no-brainer that one of the reasons your content isn't getting read is because you're not sharing it! Social media has its pros and cons. But, that's where the attention is, and you need to utilize it to the best of your abilities. You should have a posting schedule, know who and what to tag, and continue to share the same articles more than once, as long as there is some space between.
What you can do: Get a feel of social media by reading up on some techniques, and paying attention to which posts you like on social media that capture your attention. If it's too difficult for you to keep up with posting, consider hiring a social media manager that can take over for you.
7) You Neglected Your Editing
You don't need to be an expert writer to create content for your business. However, if it's obvious to the reader that you probably didn't well in English class, then you should probably leave the writing to someone that did. Your articles shouldn't have grammar, punctuation, spelling or other similar errors. While typos do happen, it should be the kind of typos in which readers think, "Oh, that's a typo" and continue on reading without a second thought.
What you can do: Again, always read your writing to yourself out loud, or ask a friend or professional to proofread it for you. It's also a good idea to slow it down when it comes to writing. After all, the earth wasn't created in one day! (Depending on who you ask.) Every time you write something, you should walk away from it for a bit and come back with fresh eyes.
Writing content is no walk in the park. If you still need help with your content writing, get in touch with Hana LaRock Writing today!
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