Four key criteria for crafting lively content
Creating content isn’t just about playing a box-ticking exercise with keywords. You need to draw up a strategy that prioritises capturing the attention of your readers and inspiring them to listen to what you have to say. Keeping your audiences engaged is the real art of copywriting, so we’ve drawn up four key points you should always consider when crafting your next piece of on-page content.
Make relevancy your priority
We’re leading with the big one, so breathe it in. Relevancy is without doubt the most important element to consider when tackling any copy brief, and the one thing that can make or break your on-page content. If nothing else, crafting relevant content is THE principle to subscribe to.
Put simply, you can spend hours writing something that, in your mind, is nothing short of masterful, but if it doesn’t touch on your readers’ concerns, they’ll less-than-likely enjoy it.
There are two schools of thought when it comes to relevancy, and we need to focus on both: 1) ensuring your copy doesn’t stray from the point and 2) keeping your content fresh.
Never stray from the point
Meandering copy is an immediate red flag – this isn’t the time to talk in tangents. Remember, your readers don’t owe you anything, so give them a reason to stay on your page by finding out what they’re asking and providing a straightforward answer to their questions.
You can have all the poetic prose you like, but if you’re dancing around the subject instead of offering a helpful solution, you’re always running the risk of losing your audience to frustration.
Keep your content fresh
In essence, keeping your content fresh means appealing to your readers’ leaning to the latest topics and talking points. Achieve this by considering ways you can weave current trends into your offering, for a more satisfying read.
Whatever the subject of your on-page content, there’s sure to be a fresh angle you can take or theme you can discuss.
Don’t be afraid to discover your voice
While it’s true that maintaining relevancy is crucial, it’s just the platform for creating lively content. It’s a necessary ingredient, but a basic one, nonetheless. Once you’ve established that core structure, though, you can begin to have fun with your writing. Liveliness, in its purest sense, after all, demands energy. This is a two-pronged attack:
- Consider the ways you can inject vibrant personality into your content. People respond to conversation so remind them there’s a human behind the words on their screen. Write colloquially and in your natural voice.
- Don’t be afraid to get animated. Your content is a representation of your brand, or the brand you represent, so get excited by it! Readers will take your lead, so make sure you’re feeding them the right signals. Do you want them to latch onto energetic enthusiasm or laboured boredom?
Place value on powerful subheadings
Page titles and subheadings are your first chance to impress, so make sure you’re engaging from the off with a captivating hook that combines creativity with clear explanation.
Now we’ve covered the whistle-stop tour of what makes a good subheading, it’s time to consider how you can implement them to improve the dynamism of your on-page content…
As engaging as your copy may be, a reader will naturally encounter feelings of burnout if they’re faced with a never-ending stream of unbroken text. By incorporating regular subheadings, however, you can more easily dictate the tempo of your piece.
Take care in avoiding the falsehood of thinking that long, flowing paragraphs automatically make for a smoother, livelier read, and that subheadings only detract from the fluency of your work – we’re not in the business of creative writing, so save it for the novelists. Instead, we’re here to create content that performs as a helpful resource for consumers, which includes signposting sections with subheadings to enhance the overall experience.
Open with your key points
It doesn’t take much, little more than a short sentence, in fact, but a summary of the key takeaways in your opening paragraph offers priceless insight into what you’re covering and whether it’s right for your readers. In knowing exactly what your content covers, they’ll be in a much better position to enjoy and appreciate your copy, which inevitably makes for a livelier, more engaging reading experience.
Importantly, your opening exchange speaks for the rest of your content and sets the tone for what’s to come:
- Don’t deviate from the point.
- Don’t forget that this is just the hook. It shouldn’t be doing any of the heavy lifting or else you risk getting bogged down in the details before you’ve even begun.
We all want to create livelier, more engaging copy for our audiences, and, hopefully, by following these four key elements, you’ll always have an actionable plan moving forward. If you’re looking for more expert advice around crafting compelling on-page content, don’t hesitate to get in touch or follow us on twitter.
