With an estimated two million blog posts added to the internet every day, how can you make your great piece of writing really stand out? Here are five tips to give your content greater impact:
1. Use images
Wealthsimple blog
Most articles are accompanied by an image these days – and for good reason. Content with images receives 94% more views than text without, according to the Content Marketing Institute. Images can bring life to your content, conveying complex messages with simplicity, encouraging engagement and helping to break up long pieces of text.
2. Use Video
The shirt on your back – The Guardian
Full screen videos are becoming more prevalent on websites. They can provide more information than still images and encourage visitors to spend longer on your site. An excellent example is this piece by the Guardian on the Bangladeshi garment industry. The video gives the story added depth, complementing the writing and involving the viewer on an emotional level.
3. Consider animation
PS4 review – Polygon
Subtle animation of images or illustrations can add interest too – even something as simple as fading in images as you scroll down the page. This piece on the gaming site Polygon about the PlayStation 4 is a great example. The animated lines of the images really make it stand out from a generic product review, bringing a sense of dynamism and excitement.
4. Make it interactive
Millennials coming of age – Goldman Sachs
Giving people the ability to interact with your piece can help to maintain interest and encourage them to spend more time looking at it. This example from Goldman Sachs, not only adds animation on scroll – making you feel like you’re on a journey, but gives you extra information when clicking on some of the points.
5. Use data/infographics
Africa in 100 years – The Telegraph
Adding data to your piece increases its authority, helps to reinforce the points you are making and can make it easier for readers to visualise what you are talking about. This piece on Africa in 100 years by the Telegraph, uses a number of charts, breaking up a long piece of text and helping to keep the reader’s attention.
All of these features can give your writing that extra something to make it memorable and encourage people to spend more time on the page – a key metric Google is using to rank sites, as we wrote about in this piece – and engaging with your brand.
We used a few of them in recently about the print and online readerships of the UK’s national newspapers. We’re working on a number of other projects for clients to build on the strong white paper content we produce – to help them squeeze more value from their thought leadership.
Contact Malcolm Jones to discuss what our editorial, data, design and digital specialists might do for you. Telephone: 0115 907 8412 or email malcolm.jones@bulletin.co.uk
