Here are five tips to make your content stand out online. With an estimated 7.5 million blog posts added to the internet every day, you need to make your great piece of writing really stand out.
1. Use headlines and standfirsts
Pick a headline that your audience will respond well to – it could be attention grabbing, to the point or a pun – but it is also worth noting that the headlines that score the highest for SEO are those that accurately describe the content below them. Giving the reader a short standfirst summary encourages them to keep reading and fully engage with the content. Most newspaper and magazine websites use this technique.
2. Use images
Most articles are accompanied by an image these days – and for good reason. If a relevant image is paired with information, people retain 65% of the information three days later compared to retaining 10% if there is no image. Images can add life to your content, convey complex messages with simplicity, encourage engagement and help to break up long pieces of text.
3. Use video
Videos are becoming more common on websites. A recent survey found that 74% of marketers said that video had a better return on investment than static imagery. Videos can provide more information than still images and encourage visitors to spend longer on your site. An excellent example is this piece on urban farming by the BBC. The video gives the feature added depth, complements the rest of the text and imagery and provides the viewer with another route to understanding the story.
4. Make it interactive
Giving people the ability to interact with your piece can help to maintain their interest and encourage them to spend more time looking at it. This example from ThredUp, uses a survey format to engage the user to follow the journey to the end and provides statistics to encourage action.
5. Use data/infographics
In an age where data is everywhere, adding good quality data that is easy to understand into your piece increases its authority, helps reinforce the points you are making and can make it easier for readers to understand what you are talking about. The Telegraph’s coverage of the US election results in November 2020 used a number of different charts to explain the complexities of the vote count and also broke up the text to help keep the reader’s attention.
Each of the five tips to make your content stand out online can give your writing an extra “something”. They will make it memorable, keep people engaged with your brand and encourage them to spend more time on the page (a key metric used by Google to rank sites).
Bulletin always considers these elements when helping clients produce content. This helps ensure that the content we author and design is featured in as many places as possible. That makes it work harder and thus reduces costs for our clients.
Contact Chris Bridges to discuss what our editorial, data, design and digital specialists might do for you. Telephone: 0115 907 8412 or email chris.bridges@bulletin.co.uk
