5 Steps Towards Good Content

How many meetings have you been to that have dragged on for hours when 20 minutes should have been sufficient? 

In a captive situation like the board room this behaviour is possible, but in the flighty spaces of the internet you don't have the luxury of chaining people to your web page. So here's some ideas for your thought process when creating good content.

1. Make it useful

Your content must be of use and of interest to your intended audience. This may seem obvious but I think worth pointing out, having been suckered in on some intriguing headline only to be disappointed in the resulting content. 

When you've come up with your idea, you should be able to have a decent answer to the "so what?" question. If not, work on a new idea.

2. No waffle

Now I like waffles just as much as any other sweet-toothed person, but padding out your content just because there doesn't seem to be enough of it is just a bad idea... Remember those dull, dull meetings?

3. Layout is important

The way you lay out your content is important. You need to consider that many people simply skim-read content.

Using short headers or bullet points to establish the key items, together with short paragraphs to break up the text will keep both the skimmers and the divers happy.

4. Write a concise, descriptive heading

The heading needs to be concise and descriptive, especially if you're going to use it to promote your content in social media.

Don't use stock phrases like "Read our latest blog" or "Our Summer newsletter is here!". These are a waste of key presses - and, well, so what?

5. Promote it

The old adage of "build it and they shall come" really doesn't work on the internet. It's a pretty dense forest out there so you'll need to shout to get heard. 

Some places to shout:

• Your website
• Email newsletter
• Social media

Just think about where your target audience is likely to be visiting.