The Internet is full of junk. Five minutes sifting through YouTube videos or scrolling through Buzzfeed is all the evidence needed to confirm this fact. With that said, creating truly remarkable content that overcomes the deteriorating human attention span, which is now shorter than that of a goldfish, can be quite the challenge.
Your number one goal is to engage your reader, and with these simple tips, you will.
Write like a human.
No one wants to read a textbook. Think back to your school days. Did you read the textbooks? Probably not unless your instructor was a pop quiz persecutor. As we’ve covered previously humans relate to humans.
This isn’t an academic paper. Keep your content conversational and write in second person. Everyone wants to feel special. Writing in second person (you, your) can help connect one-on-one with your audience. Yes, it’s everything your English professors docked your grade for, but now you can defy them and engage through the power of second person. It’s like art. Know and master the rules, then break them.
Bedazzle with photos.
People are like raccoons. If you show them something shiny, they are mesmerized. But really, we are an inherently visual species, so if you can back something up with a photo or visual, do it.
Stop selling. Start Impacting With Engaging Content
Consumers know when they’re being sold to. So, don’t do it. There is obviously the time and place for selling your product or service, but when it comes to creating helpful content on a blog or white paper, it isn’t the time. Dropping the sales pitch and being a relatable person sharing tidbits with the intention of being helpful will gain trust for your brand. Trust is the basis of all relationships and how you’ll eventually sell a lot more in the long run if you prove your credibility through content.
Empathize with your readers.
Don’t be one-sided. Of course, I want you to see things my way, but nothing is ever set in stone. Every piece of advice you (and I) give is circumstantial. What may be peaches and cream in one situation could be completely detrimental in another. For example, our stock photo post. Certainly, we want you to have your own photography, but we empathize with budgets and the fact there are some circumstances when stock photography is necessary. Be objective and understand where your readers are coming from.
Break up your content.
The best way to overcome the seemingly ever-shortening human attention span is to break up your content (and add lots of pictures). The era of the endless, daunting paragraph is over. Break it into subsections, write in snippets, utilize bullets, etc. Whatever you do, keep it short.
Make it worth reading.
As mentioned, the Internet really does seem to be the collective graveyard of all thoughts and ideas from everyone ever. That’s a lot of content, and a majority of it is pretty terrible. Make sure what you are saying means something to your readers. To be worthy of reading, your content has to be the holy grail of all content. Make it dazzle.
Now, go forth! Show off your knowledge, but keep it engaging and deserving of your audience’s attention. Your readership will thank you.
