How to write effective online content that engages your audience

Veteran writers would hate this blog post because it contradicts most of their writing methods. A specific word count, use of clever analogies and fancy vocabulary are becoming a thing of the past. These specifics might still work but in offline mediums. 

When it comes to writing online, things are different. There is tons of content being produced every minute. If you want to stand out in the crowd, follow these battle-tested online writing tips that will make your content stickier than honey and get you crazy engagement in no time.

 

1- Identify your target audience

Don’t write blindly. Assuming that you have decided on your niche, the next step is to find your target audience. Let’s say, you want to write about skincare. Make online research and find who could be interested to read about it. Women, teenage girls with problematic skin and perhaps even men. Learn what these people are talking about. Reddit and Facebook groups are ideal to learn public views. Learn their pain points and concerns.

 

2- Choose the right topics

Now that you are familiar with your potential audience and their pain points. It’s time to write content that revolves around it. 

For instance, you found out that teenage girls are concerned about finding mild yet effective acne treatments. 

You could write about:

• Mild and effective acne treatments
• Cheap yet effective products
• Home-made acne masks
• Products that shouldn’t be used by teens

See? Once you know who you are writing for, it gets easier to find ideas.

 

3- Write attention-grabbing headlines

Without a powerful headline, nobody’s going to click open your post. It’s the first step to stop the scroll and make your reader curious enough to click open and see what’s it all about. Your heading should be urgent, unique, useful and ultra-specific.

 

4- Use storytelling and visuals to engage your audience

Stories create curiosity and a sense of relevancy. Instead of writing plain facts, you should share a personal anecdote relevant to your audience. It will humanise your content, and build a connection with your reader. They would want to read more to satisfy their curiosity. When it comes to problems, they want to blend in and know they are not odd fish. 

 

5- Make your content easy to read and share

Tons of content just one scroll away makes it hard for the audience to concentrate. If you want the attention, make your point as quickly as you can. 

• Use simple language
• More value and less fluff
• Make your point in fewer words
• Write concise and short sentences
• Use more power words and less connective words

 

6- Optimise your content for search engines

It’s one skill to write great online content and another to make it searchable. Learn basic SEO to help your content rank. 

• Learn keyword searching
• Learn how and where to use keywords

7- Measure and Improve your content’s performance

Always track your content performance. Find out which piece did better than the others. Learn why it performed better and apply your findings to future content. 

 

With the increase in the saturation of the online content market, it’s getting harder to grab the attention of the audience. Don’t feel left behind, jump on the train and apply these basic steps to your online writing and stand out in the crowd.