How to write content that grabs your reader

byKettei

1.4K followers

Updated 6 years ago

Do you get stuck trying to write the next piece of content for your website?

It's frustrating, isn't it?

You're desperate for something to write but the ideas just won't come.

The WA Content Editor is helpful in that it gives you a template with handy holes to fill with content but if you don't have anything to shovel into those holes, you're still going to have an empty template.

As I didn't want my new niche site to become a backwater of bland content, I thought I'd do some digging (sorry... that shovel metaphor is still hanging on) and find some tips from the expert content writers on the Internet. What follows are some ideas that I found worth sharing.

Some different ways to write content

If you've picked yourself a restrictive niche, you're going to run out of ideas pretty quickly when it comes to content generation unless you start to expand your initial site concept to incorporate new content types.

This happened to me with my current niche site. I've written some great reviews and I'm getting traffic to the site but I quickly realized that if all I do is write reviews, my particular site is quickly going to look like a marketplace with very detailed reviews.

So, I had a good think while I ate a cookie and thought about what attracts me to the sort of site that I've created... apart from the reviews.

We write reviews because people want to be reassured that they're going to spend their money on a solid product and hopefully, they'll click on our affiliate link once we've reassured them.

Posts that list things

I hate those websites that just seem to be made up of lists. You know the ones I mean. They have titles like, "Ten things Elvis said in the bath" and other such nonsense.

But there are also those really good lists where the author has collated useful information about a subject, expanded upon each item and packaged them into an article that's a joy to read because of the layout / photography / witty writing style or whatever.

This will work for most niches. If you're selling dog beds, it might be something like, "Five natural ways to freshen your dog bed". If you're reviewing mobile phone covers you could try something like, "Fourteen phone covers that aren't made of plastic". I'm sure you get the idea.

Posts that teach your visitors

People also crave information. They'll even pay money for it. And that's when I realized that I could also write how-to guides. The beauty of a guide that teaches the reader how to do something is that you can then link them to your internal review pages. I don't truly understand the mechanics of it but apparently, internal links are good for SEO. It makes sense - you want people to stay on your website to get the information that they need.

Videos that show something to your visitors

People also love videos. Me, I'd rather read something in a minute than sit and watch a ten-minute video that tells me the same thing but apparently I'm in a minority. I'm going to create some videos showing people how to use the products that I'm reviewing and I'm going to provide a summary in text below the embedded video with internal links to the product reviews. Because the videos will be hosted on YouTube, that's also another source of traffic to my website.

Hint - you should always put the link to your website article in the first line of the video description on YouTube. Many people never expand the description for the video so the most essential information should always be first.

Downloads that help your visitors

The final post type that I saw recommended was the freebie type. I've been reluctant to consider this in the past because it sounds like too much work but I've looked into the freebies that many people are giving away (often in exchange for an email address) and you'd be amazed at some rubbish that people are excited to give up their email address for.

At first, I felt I couldn't take advantage of people like that just to build my subscriber list but then I realized - one man's trash was another man's treasure.

If your download genuinely helps somebody with a problem then you're not taking advantage of them. You're offering something of use so that they realize that the rest of your website is useful too.

Stalk your target audience

Your audience is all over the Internet, asking questions like these:

• "My dog bed stinks. How can I freshen it up without using harsh detergents?"
• "I hate plastic phone covers. Does anyone know if you can get wooden ones?"
• "I accidentally broke my MeeMaw's ancient vase. Any tips on fixing it?"
• "How can I get chewing gum out of a sweater?"
• "What's the best polish for the leather in my BMW?"

You need to find where they ask these questions so you can find out what problems your audience are struggling with. Join the forums that these people frequent and get used to contributing so they know you're not a spammer. Then, when you've written your post, they're more willing to click on your link when you happen to mention that you've written an article about polishing fine-grained upholstery in luxury cars.

Structure your articles like a story teller

We're social creatures and our roots are buried deep in the love of a good story. Why do you think people binge-watch entire seasons of a TV series on Netflix? They'll actually rob themselves of sleep just to find out where the story is going.

Your posts about their problems should be like a good story.

Get the reader hooked at the start

Start with the hook; that tantalizing bit of information that gets them to relate to what you've written so they need to find out how it ends.

Most of the time, this will be the description of the problem. I did it in this post - I described the problem I often have coming up with ideas of what to write.

Help the reader understand what causes their problem

Expand on the problem and talk about the various causes of the problem. This helps the reader to feel better about themselves because clearly it's not just their fault. There's a reason that they're having a problem and you're going to help them to solve it.

Introduce the solution

The solution is what the reader is there for. They know they've got a problem, they now know what causes it and they're hungry for the answer. Explain the solution to their problem. In this post's case, it was the section above about the different types of post you can create for your content.

Explain how to implement the solution

Oh, this is what your visitor is really here for. They know how to solve their problem but they're not quite sure how to go about doing so. Explain, in simple terms how they can solve their problem.

This is where they're excited about having finally found a way to complete the task that's been eluding them. This is also where you'll put your affiliate links to products that they can use to solve their problem. You're not taking advantage of their excitement. You're actually helping them to solve their problem, but only if you've sincerely explained how they can solve their problem in general terms in the previous step.

An example

Going back to the dog beds example, here's a summary of how you might write a post.

• Open with the description of how dog beds very quickly start to smell but you don't want to risk the health of your beloved pet with potentially toxic cleaners.
• Talk about how strong pet odors can put visitors off and explain the risks of some common household cleaners to your dog's health (e.g. accumulative liver toxicity, drying of the skin and so on)
  
• Introduce some pet-friendly ways to clean or deodorize the pet bed (e.g. spraying with dilute essential oils, sewing dried herbs inside the bed or whatever might work. I'm making these examples up as I don't know anything about deodorizing pet beds short of burning them).
• Talk about specific products formulated from natural ingredients that are safe for pets and that freshen their beds without harsh chemicals. Don't forget the affiliate links for each one. ;-)

Conclusion

This post has introduced you to several ways you can mix-up your content writing so your visitors don't get bored with a continual stream of the same format on your site.

It's also introduced the idea of using story-telling to draw your reader in and make them want to click on your affiliate link(s) at the end of the article.

I hope you found this useful - I'd love to hear what you think in the comments! :)