How to Create Effective Content?

Recently updated: January 5th, 2019

Somerset Maugham, the famous Playwright had once said “A good (writing) style should show no sign of effort. What is written should seem a happy accident”.

To get to the stage, where the content is effective & yet seems effortless, the writer actually needs to know his craft well. While writing content for different platforms requires a customized approach, here are some Golden rules of writing Effective Content, that will always stand the test of time.

Knowing your Target Audience- Even before one thinks of creating content, one must know exactly who the content is being written for. Preliminary effort in knowing the consumer, will go a long way in writing content that the user can identify with, see value in & hence be engaged with.

Effective Content Writing Strategy:

Originality– No matter what the form of writing, a Golden Rule of compelling Content is its Originality. The writing needs to have a character of its own & a certain point of view. A dash of humour, is likely to further endear itself with the readers. A good thumb rule in creating content is that one needs to write for the readers & not for Search Engines. Although, these are not mutually exclusive tasks. Google, especially with its latest Penguin & Panda updates, lays a lot of emphasis on original Content. The content needs to be relevant & engaging. Unnecessary Jargons & overstuffed Keywords do not make for a delightful read. On the other hand, engaging content that lends itself to shareability & likeability, gains further traction through the Social Media.

Call to Action– Almost all well written pieces have a powerful call to action. Good content always leaves the reader with a sense of how to apply the information. It does not necessarily preach to readers or speak to them from a pedestal. In fact its beauty is that it respects their intelligence & sparks a whole lot of ideas for them, to act on.

Structure– While writing for the web, one especially needs to account for the fact that the piece of writing should have easy scan-ability. To this end, it is preferable to use an Inverted Pyramid style of writing ie to get one’s point across early, in the text. Web writing should also lend itself to precision. Some of the tools to achieve it are the use of strong Headlines, concise Headers, Bullets & lists that enable ease of navigation for readers.
Consider these Headers:

Your comprehensive guide to ensuring creation of quality content for your target audience
Versus
How to create Effective Content?

Not only is the second header succinct, it sets the tone for actionable points to follow.

As a tail piece, it is worth remembering that People love stories. No matter which platform one writes for, a story woven in the narrative, is likely to engage readers. Storytelling is the bedrock of any content that finds an emotional connect with its audience. Whether the genre of writing is personal or business, there is a slim chance of one’s ever going wrong if one has a compelling story to tell. For after all, businesses are also people to people transactions.