9 Ways to Make Your Content More Engaging

This post originally appeared on tBL member Joshua Lyon’s blog Joshua Lyons Marketing Blog and is republished with permission. Find out how to syndicate your content with theBrokerList.

Standing out with your content has never been so challenging. While more and more brands invest in top-notch content creation, it’s a good idea to have a content marketing strategy, creativity, and high-end writing skills to make your content more engaging.

But let’s get started from simpler things, getting back to the content you already have and refreshing it to make your articles more engaging. The content in this blog post is dedicated to explaining how to do this. Let’s start by thinking about “intent.”

1. Reconsider Intent

Every content piece you create should match the user’s intent and the sales funnel stage. So, the first step toward making it more engaging and valuable for the user is by making sure the article meets to the user’s goal and expectations.

For example, when the user is searching for a “how-to” article, they expect to get step by step guidance, preferably with visuals, videos, or at least a clear explanation. When the users search for “buy [something],” their intent is even clearer. When the users ask Google “what is [something],” they would like to find out more about that thing.

So, look back at the content you have and check that each of them is tailored to the users’ intent. This step is equally important for both the value your content delivers, and the way the search engine ranks them. That’s why you should also add some relevant keywords to make your content not only more engaging, but easier to find.

2. Tell a Story

Storytelling is a powerful marketing concept. Telling a story is a good way to engage your readers right from the first few lines. Consider this approach for the articles that have room for it. Things like case studies or promotional articles that have user testimonials are smart places to incorporate stories. They let the user recognize themselves among the content.

So, look back at your articles and find those you can strengthen with the help of this tactic. What’s more, there is nothing complicated about story writing – being yourself is the best strategy to write sincerely and engagingly.

3. Make it Actionable

Modern users’ wants about the content they would like to see is growing. Most of them aren’t satisfied with suggestions only – they want a clear and easily doable piece of advice. This is especially true for how-to articles.

The next step is revising your how-to guides and tutorials. Look back to them and try to add more clarity, more guidance, and more explanations. As an option, consider adding screenshots, images, and videos to let the users solve their problem step by step, following your example.

As an even simpler tactic, add some bullet points and checklists. For example, if you tell your readers how to prepare for traveling during a pandemic, you can come up with something like:

• Check the entrance requirements on the government website of the country you plan to visit.
• Consider getting travel health insurance. For this, visit multiple sites and compare their insurance packages.
• Search for flights with additional health and safety measures.
• If not vaccinated, identify whether or not the attractions you wish to visit require vaccination.

And so on. Applying this simple tactic instantly makes your content more engaging and actionable than it previously was.

 

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4. Revise the Structure

For the next step, revise the structure of your content. Make sure there is no plain text but there are logical headings and subheadings instead. They make your article more scannable and engaging so visitors can quickly go to the section they are interested in and read it more attentively, thereby improving the “engagement rate” on your website.

When looking at headings and subheadings, consider also adding relevant keywords to them so that search engines can better understand the text and tailor it to the users’ needs.

5. Strive for Simplicity

As one more tactic to make your content more engaging, try to make it simple and easily understandable. But make sure to keep the wise balance and your target audience specifics in mind.

For example, if you write about artificial intelligence’s role in business but use 5th-grade school language for it, it doesn’t match well with the content.

So, revise your articles one more time and make sure there are no overly long and complex sentences. For example, you can use the Hemingway app to get rid of long and complex sentences, change passive voice into active, and generally make your text easier to read.

6. Add a Video

This is an evergreen piece of advice that quickly boosts engagement. Modern users love videos – they prefer watching and listening instead of reading. Use this feature to add value to your content and improve the behavioral factors on your website. However, make sure the video will strengthen the topic and help users with solving their problems. The best tactic, in this case, is to create a custom video dedicated to a specific topic and add it to your blog post. Depending on the topic and video idea, you can either create a video on your own following a DIY approach, or hire a professional video production studio.

7. Add Visuals

As an even simpler option to make your content more engaging, just add some visual elements. Custom images are always better than the ones downloaded from free collections, so consider creating visuals on your own. For example, with the help of Canva and Pictochart, you can easily create relevant images, banners, infographics, and other promo materials for your website.

8. Incorporate the “Related Posts” Section

Making your content engaging is important. Making your website engaging is even more so. Here is a simple tip – interlink the blog posts with each other, but make sure there is a clear link between the posts. You can either interlink the posts by placing the links in the text or add the Related Posts section with a reference to other articles that may be interesting for readers.

9. Add Recent Research Insights

The users like fresh, updated, and insightful content. It delivers more value and engages them better, giving them an opportunity to think and reflect. Make your content deeper and better researched by backing it with scientific data, statistical research, facts, and numbers.

If possible, come up with unique research on your own and share the results with your users. This is also a win-win option for generating more backlinks for your website.

Conclusion

Making your articles more engaging isn’t very difficult – just follow the best practices for content creation from the very beginning. Write clearly, follow structure and logic, add visuals, share actionable tips, and don’t make vague statements.

To learn more about content creation and development, contact our team here or through the form below.

The post 9 Ways to Make Your Content More Engaging appeared first on Joshua Lyons Marketing.