Last updated on April 8th, 2023 at 10:58 am
“Do you create content that satisfies you as a writer?” This is what the writer in me has begun asking these days quite often. So much so, that it propelled me to write an article on this.
Though I’m not a very productive writer I manage to write about 500-1000 words daily. This implies 15,000 to 30,000 words a month. By all means, this is sort of sufficient for my website that attracts average to good traffic.
If you multiply this by some years, you can understand that my website contains a lot of content.
Even so, if I ask which blog post has given me maximum satisfaction I can’t immediately answer.
Subjects take birth from topics doing rounds on the net, facts repeat and the same old words mould into new shapes. I wonder how long this can go.
This is definitely one, if not the sole, reason for the decreasing interest of the readers. Why do they touch your article and fly away? Why is your bounce rate increasing day by day?
This is only one side of the overused content served again and again. More than anything else, do I feel satisfied myself with recurring content? Call it impostor syndrome or whatever but it pains me when I put myself in my readers’ shoes.
This led me to think it would be in the fitness of things to write an article where I’ll add up all the factors that contribute to the beauty, wholesomeness and worth of an article. This also means creating a list of the most sought after factors in an article — the factors that would strike a chord with my readers and that would satisfy my soul too.
I’ve taken care to shortlist only the factors that appealed to my writer-being very earnestly and side-line those petty ones that are less important. I want my esteemed readers to read only the cohesively knit words that fill them with heart-warming satisfaction.
Let’s now pick up the factors one by one, read them carefully and try to understand how we can create content that spells magic, gets instant following and most importantly satisfies ourselves.
#1 It Should Contain Something New or Original
Being original will bring you readers even without any promotion. But it’s easier said than done. Writing an original article will, at any time, imply, either your subject is a new or less treaded one or you’ve taken a different course on an already existing subject.
I covered some ideas to hit upon an original subject. Here are the links:
It should be of some value to the reader.That is, it should answer a burning question that will solve aproblem of the reader.
#2 Your Article Must Look Professional
Amateurish presentation would make the reader feel that he is not on a par-standard website and would leave soon.
What can you do to hold him long? Perhaps the following would help:
- Properly formatted text with size and brightness adjusted for eyes
- Beautiful, proper sized images and videos to provide great UX
#3 It Must be Absorbing to Read and Connecting to the Reader
Tell me which of the following topics you would click as soon as you see it:
- Nadal clinches the French Open title from Djokovic in tiebreaker final set
- Vaccine for Corona arriving next month
- Who will win the U.S. elections? The perfect guess with data based reasons
I don’t know. You may be a sports enthusiast and hit the first one. To me the third one is very interesting. Many will of course go for the second one.
I’m citing this example to draw the fact that interest matters and your audience matters. Give them what they want.
If they like mystery, read far and wide and create content of mystery for them. Depict with your own perspective. If they love ‘HOW TOs’, give them wonderful step-by-step tuts on how to do something.
Deliver Only Deeply Researched Points With Proof
Read the following two ways of stating the same fact in different ways and tell me which one is a better way:
It’s a myth that some students understand their lessons better when the content is served to them through a video or an audio.
As per an article “10 Myths About the Mind” (Point 4) in the September, 2020 issue of ‘Psychology Today’, it’s a myth that tailoring education to a video or an audio form and classifying students as visual, auditory or kinaesthetic learners works.
The first one may be good for someone. But the fact remains that the second one has been quoted from a creditable source of repute. As such, the second one gives your article a pro touch.
The Language Must be Direct, Error free and Easy to Work Upon
I wonder what do the readers utter just after reading an article. Some example comments could be as below:
- What a boring article? How on earth did I click this link!
- My Gosh! I think I’m going to read this again!
- Wow, I think I should bookmark this.
- O…I bet only she can write like this…
- …Made up my mind to discard this writer from my reading list…
I think I’m very clear as to what kind of writer I want to become. And so you should be.
A Philosophical Angle Should Accompany Your Description
Long back I used to work in the services department of a computer sales and services company. My job was to repair non-functional machines back to life. Sometimes, I had the opportunity to go on repair calls along with an experienced field engineer who I still hold in a very high esteem.
Along with his authoritative ability to rectify any kind of fault, he had a unique habit of developing a philosophy on the systems with which he had a long experience. He would utter sentences like, “This kind of machines generally don’t stand high temperature conditions.” or “Line printers are generally good for billing purposes and back office voluminous print-outs.”
A real expert, I believe, keeps on building up a kind of philosophy with his valuable experience and the same reflects in his works, speeches and writing.
This has led me to state the following in respect of budding writers:
Work deep. Keep on observing your following, their feedbacks and comments and the appreciations and the condemnations that you‘re handed on the way. This will accumulate as a philosophy unique to yourself and you are at your liberty to use it anywhere you like.”
There Should be a Motivational Force Backing up Your Writing
When you urge your reader to do what you cited in your article, your post upgrades to the level of an ‘interactive’ one. She starts participating.
You can then ask them to follow steps, check their progress at intervals and though it looks a bit selfish, you can also request them to subscribe to your courses or buy the affiliate products through your website.
Remember, first and foremost is your reader’s interest and then comes your own. So, motivating your audience is your duty as well as your business.
It Should be a Properly Timed Article
Suppose the D-Day is near and you write an article on how to improve your handwriting. Who will read that?
If your blog post is not timed well it won’t go anywhere. Remember, relevance is the mother of popularity of an article. If your post is not timed for the present, it can become successful only if suits all seasons. A learning course, festivals, celebrities and study materials are some of the evergreen niches on internet.
It must be edited and formatted properly
Sometimes you depart from a website because the fonts are too small and sometimes the appearance is too messy. It’s all because the presentation matters. You may waste an excellent effort because of the untidy appearance of your article.
This definitely indicates something. How can you not be serious about the overall look? Do things that standardize your website’s and post’s glance. This implies you go on adding, subtracting and modifying things that improve your article’s readability.
Now Create Content That Satisfies Your Soul
If you’ve realized what should be the standard of your content, then start creating such content. Remember, an article that does not satisfy you, cannot be a good read for your audience.