One of the most important parts about running a blog or a website is actually creating content that people want to read and doing it on a consistent basis! I know a lot of people write a post with the hopes that it will go viral and put their sites on the map, but the truth is, that rarely happens. However, there are ways to write a post that does help it get more attention from readers, without breaking or even bending the rules of the web. So here are three ways to write an attention-getting post followed by three things not to do if you are trying to get attention for your writing online!
1. Write about what people care about
For the most part, people online are very self motivated. I don’t mean that in a bad way, just in a very literal way. People go online to find things that help them or something(one) else they are invested in. Whether they are looking for entertainment, information or inspiration, your post can be a popular destination for people if you are writing about what people care about. Now, of course, people care about a lot of things, so you really need to narrow this down to writing about what your ideal audience member cares about. Think about what you know and your expertise and how it can help your readers by entertaining, informing or inspiring them!
2. Use a clever and/or informative title
If your post is all about teaching your reader how to boil water, the obvious title of the post would be “How to Boil Water.” That is most likely the exact phrase your reader would use if they were searching the internet looking for a tutorial on boiling water. Of course, not everything is as easy as boiling water, so here are a few tips for creating a great title. First, try to keep the title short and sweet. Long titles end up getting glazed over, and keeping your title short also helps you keep it to the point. Next, try incorporating alliteration. I already explained how rhyming phrases are more persuasive than standard phrases, but alliteration also helps to create a pattern within your title that draws attention to it. Finally, use numbering and common phrasing as often as possible in your title. Five ways to Cook a Turkey, 3 Easy Baking Tips, 10 Songs for Summer, etc are all examples of using numbering to draw in your reader. People love lists after all, and breaking down your post into a numerical sequence can be a big crowd pleaser. Finally, use common phrases. Common phrasing is also important in titles because titles are seriously not the place to experiment with turn of phrase. Remember that “How to Boil Water” example? “How to” is a common phrase people use when searching. I doubt you’d draw a crowd with “The Ways in Which you can make Water Boil.” Seriously, stick to simple common phrases!
3. Use keywords
Keywords are like buzz words that you can use in the body of your post to help draw people in through SEO. I know we already discussed the finer points of SEO, but as a recap, it stands for search engine optimization and it’s basically the process by which you make your online content more searchable for sites like google, yahoo, and bing, so that your content shows up higher in search results. Keywords are a big part of SEO, and there isn’t anything magical about it, it really just comes down to actually using related terminology in your post. Going back to the “How to Boil Water” post, you want to make sure you actually use the words “boil” and “water” a few times throughout the body of your post. That way search engines understand that this post is really about boiling water!
Things Not to Do
1. Write a false headline
I think we have all experienced this as a reader at one time or another. A site puts up a wild headline, something crazy or fanatical that couldn’t possibly be true, and we click out of curiosity only to find that the actual post itself has nothing to do with the headline. This is often considered trolling on the internet, using a false headline to draw people in, and its generally a very bad way to garner views for your site. You may get more eyes on your post initially, but its like crying “wolf” and you will eventually see a negative downturn in views for doing this.
2. Take content from other sites without permission
You would think this one is a common sense rule, but some people have no clue the rules of online etiquette. If you are trying to get attention for your site, you should never outright take the content from another site and use it as your own without permission. Even if you link back to the original content, this is such bad form. Why? Because Search Engines like google know where content originated from, and if you take content from other sites, google will negatively affect your rankings, making it harder for people to find your post. If you like someone else’s content and want to share it with your readers, consider writing a review of their post, explaining why you like it and why you think your audience should read it, and then post a direct link to the original post. And of course, make sure you tell the author of the original post, it’s the classy thing to do and they may even link to your post as well, giving you more traffic!
3. Post infrequently
It really doesn’t take much to be a blogger. Anyone can sign up for a free blog through various sites like blogger.com or wordpress.com and voila, you can call yourself a blogger or a writer! But like anything in life, what actually defines you is the consistent habit. Habit is what defines you! If you really want to be a blogger and really want to get attention from hundreds and thousands of readers, you need to post more than once a month, and really, more like a few times a week! Without the consistent output to your site, you will eventually loose people’s interest, and once you do, it’s very hard to earn it back!
Well, now that you know some important do’s and don’ts of writing an attention-getting post, I can’t wait to see what awesome content you all come up with! If this post helped you learn a thing or two about creating better blog posts, please leave me a link below to a post you write after you read this! I’d love to see you putting my tips into action on your own blogs!
xoxo,
