Content is one of the main pillars of visibility. It’s the foundation of everything you publish on the web. And it can fulfill a variety of tasks:

  • Awareness-building
  • Establishing credibility
  • Ensuring organic rankings
  • Attracting traffic
  • Generating leads, etc.

Whether you’re a creator, professional, or business, you can’t do without a well-defined content writing strategy. It’s what can help you become visible to your audience and accomplish your goals. So, it doesn’t mean what you’re striving for. Good copy is always at the heart.

Or, better say, excellent copy is at the heart. Because just “good” isn’t enough anymore.

Why “Good” Doesn’t Cut It Anymore

If you’ve still been creating mediocre copy until now, it’s time to rethink your approach. There are three facts that should persuade you:

  • Fact #1: Whether you are a business or a blogger, there will always be someone bigger to compete with. Good copy won’t win the competition, but excellent and unique might. It will secure a positive user experience and make you memorable. This will pay off with traffic, recognition, clicks, and more.
  • Fact #2: When you want to get your message across, you first have to get noticed by the audience. SEO is a good way to do it. But good copy doesn’t rank anymore. The updated E-E-A-T guidelines require more than quality. It requires depth, expertise, and unique experience. It also requires a focus on the user rather than optimization.
  • Fact #3: The way people are finding information is changing. AI features in SERPs, chatbots, and full-fledged search engines built with artificial intelligence are overtaking traditional search. Being featured in these answers gives you visibility and awareness. And it also requires outstanding copy and user experience.

Drop Guessing – Understand What Your Readers Actually Care About

Successful content writing strategies have one thing in common. They revolve around people. Trying to guess what the audience craves is just a shot in the dark. It makes your path to visibility long and twisted. But data-driven insights reduce the curve. So, when you want to create copy that people love, learn who you are writing for first.

Break the research into four stages:

Detailing Your TA

Create a clear profile of your reader. Depending on the purpose behind your copy, it might be just a reader interested in exploring the topic you cover or a potential buyer you want to convert. You need to map their shared features and interests. Marketing research and media monitoring tools will help.

Finding the Pillars

Content pillars are the foundation of a content writing strategy. They are broad themes that you cover on your site. Detail them based on your niche and TA’s interests. Subsequently, you will attribute every new article topic to one of your pillars.

Assessing the Competition

Find top-performing SERP results in your niche. Audit their sites to see what kind of copy they create. And draw ideas from the audit. You can use it to detect working strategies and formats, knowledge gaps, and other strategy details that can help you outshine your competitors.

Researching for SEO

Even though you should strive for people-first content, this doesn’t rule out optimization completely. You still need SEO. It will get your copy in front of the TA. At the same time, it will help accumulate trust. Analyze your niche and competitors to see which keywords bring rankings. Automate this process with AI SEO software. It can make this process faster, more accurate, and far more comprehensive than manual analysis. It can also uncover search patterns, identify gaps, and prioritize keyword opportunities you might miss, allowing you to focus more time on crafting content rather than sifting through data.

How to Create People-First Content That Grabs Attention

When you’ve done research, move on to content creation. Follow your typical workflow if it’s effective. But enhance it with the following tips:

1. Use a Hook to Create a Compelling Opening

Modern users make snap judgments. If you fail to get them interested instantly, they are likely to bounce. So, every piece you write needs a powerful bait. And it should go in the opening.

Start your article with a hook. It can be anything that aligns with the topic and creates curiosity. An open question, expert opinion, statistics, and storytelling are some popular hooks you can try.

2. Write With Clarity, Simplicity, and Zero Fluff

In the process of content writing, prioritize simplicity. Mind that your readers can have different levels of topic knowledge. Your task is to make the information you provide easy to understand. Write in simple and natural language. And create a proper hierarchy using headings and media.

Don’t stuff too many keywords into one piece. And don’t add keywords just for SEO. Remember that every part of your copy should bring value.

3. Tell Stories That Make Your Copy Stick

Storytelling gives your copy an interesting angle. Since every story is unique, it also makes you memorable. And it builds a better connection with the audience. This is especially important if you’re a brand looking to acquire customers. No wonder it’s considered a powerful marketing tool.

To use it to your benefit, define the story arc behind your brand or persona. Make your copy reflect this story. And stay authentic for an emotional connection.

4. Give Insights They Can’t Find Anywhere Else

Expertise is now the key to SEO and content marketing. It’s one of the elements included in E-E-A-T. That is, your ranking depends on it. But that’s not all. When you demonstrate your experience on the topic, it engages the audience and makes them stick around. It also increases your trustworthiness. In the long run, this can translate into more traffic and better conversions.

Don’t go with superficial information. Instead, dig deeper and share your unique opinions and experiences to level up your copy.

5. Make the Content Actionable

Excellent copy can’t just be entertaining or informative. It has to be useful. And this means that you have to give your readers something they can actually act on.

Here’s how:

  • Provide factual data. Do deep research and share only valid insights that add value.
  • Keep it up-to-date. Regularly go back to your old articles and refresh them with new data.
  • Share actionable steps. Don’t just tell readers how they can solve a problem. Give them a detailed roadmap that can be used immediately.
  • Support with examples. Use personal experience and reliable cases/studies/reports to visualize how readers can achieve their goals.

6. Edit for Emotion and Rhythm

We can’t question the importance of editing in content creation. However, we can probably question the way most creators approach this process. Commonly, people edit their copy solely for grammar and punctuation. Sometimes, they may also check for SEO and structure. But even this isn’t enough.

To create truly stellar content, you need to edit for the “feel.” See your piece several times to understand how well it reads. Does it have a logical flow? Is there a right rhythm that maintains engagement? And does it evoke the right emotions at the right spots? Ask yourself these questions while proofreading, and create copy that people love.

7. Polish the Content to Enhance Experience

When people stay on the website longer, it’s a good indicator that they are satisfied. This builds your image. Also, this signals search engines about your relevancy and trustworthiness, improving your rankings. Ultimately, this makes you noticeable and memorable. And this level of satisfaction isn’t created with content alone.

User experience is another thing that matters. No matter how much you excel in content writing, it won’t make a difference if users stumble into slowly loading pages, poor responsiveness, a lack of accessibility, and other UX issues. These problems will make them bounce. And they will ruin your reputation. Which is why you have to mind UX when polishing your copy.

Assess the structure and formatting to boost experience. Here’s a checklist of what your articles need for the best UX:

  • Different-level headings
  • Short paragraphs
  • Clearly-structured sentences
  • Images with alt text
  • Proper typography
  • Lists
  • Whitespace
  • Bolding

Additionally, it’s important that your site has other UX design features. These include fast loading, mobile-friendliness, and others. These don’t just improve readers’ experiences. They also help you rank.

8. Wrap Up With Intent and Direction

The final content writing tip we want to give you is to finish your copy powerfully. Don’t go with superficial summaries. Of course, a conclusion needs to create closure and connect all the ideas together. But yours should also have a purpose! If it’s a conversion, make a call to action. Or leave your audience with something to think about if the goal is to inform. Find a purpose that works for you.

The Bottom Line

Good copy isn’t enough anymore. Modern users are looking for excellent copy that actually helps. Furthermore, only this kind of content earns the spotlight. And it doesn’t come out of guessing. It takes consistent effort and knowledge to craft.

If you’ve been wondering how to write content for a website or blog, now you have a detailed roadmap. Implement the tips we shared here to take your articles to the next level!