Content Press – A Guide To Fill Your Blog With Engaging Contents

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Before we dive into the content creation methods, let us take a look at why it is essential to create high-quality contents for your website.

Let’s try a quick analogy:

Say that you are building your own house out of bricks and you are laying each brick by yourself, one at a time. This construction is a long slow process to get your home finished. It is a planned journey, and each brick is laid thoughtfully, every crack that you seal on your wall is an activity of love.

This is precisely how you should build your authority website:

One article at a time.

Make each article into a labor of love, and give it the care that it needs to do its job correctly.

So, what is the duty of the articles you create?

To delight and satisfy the searcher, of course. Please your end user, and the search engines will have no problem directing free traffic to your website.

“Quality” is in the eye of the searcher. It is not necessarily based on article length, or whether you have pictures or videos in your posts.

If your website visitors are disgusted with your content, then your future income is not secure.

On the other hand, if:

1. your web pages cause your visitors to be satisfied with their results
2. readers comment on your articles,
3. the reader emails your article to their friends,
4. the reader build links to your article, and share your articles in forums,
then your website probably fits the description of “quality” as much as anything else.

So one way we can define quality is based on search engine visitor reactions.

Can this be judged by metrics such as bounce rate or “average visit length?” 

Of course, but keep in mind that some niches simply have a notoriously high bounce rate anyway, based on the mindset of the searcher. Other niches tend to have a lower bounce rate.

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Also, a more meaningful test perhaps is to try to get into the mind of a “Google quality rater.” Yes, they pay people to sit at a computer and rate websites, then they use machine learning to extrapolate those results to the entire web. So even if they do not rate your specific site, you might get lumped in with other web pages that are similar to yours. 

It is a little bit like the black cloud problem when trying to determine which inputs are most valuable for making money online. When trying to decide “article quality” in the eyes of the search engines, you cannot necessarily pin it down.

So what can you do?

You aim to stay a step ahead of search engines by producing high-quality articles.

Here are some tips:

Focus more on the user experience. Give more attention to the article level, rather than at the site level.

For example: Say you are writing an article about advanced yoga positions. Yoga positions probably need pictures or a video to do the topic justice.

If you were working at the “site level” you might have just ordered all text articles with no pictures. However, working on each article separately, you can better see what each article needs to qualify as “quality.”

Search Google to see what is currently ranked #1 for your key term, then attempt to beat the content with a more beneficial material. Not necessarily longer, but better in some way. Depending on the case, “better” might mean: more concise, more in-depth, more visual, more opinionated, or more resourceful.

Ask yourself: “Does my page offer more value to the searcher than the top-ranked site?”

Demonstrate your expertise with content that uses an angle that is unexplored on the web before. Be original and authentic at the same time. Ask yourself: “Does this content contribute to the web, or does it just duplicate ideas that are elsewhere?”

Build a quality house by laying down quality bricks, one at a time.

I have one website where I put down quality articles every single time, and I have another site that I started a few years back where I just used very cheap outsourcing just to get something up.

girl wondering - guess which blog

Guess which website is doing better today? Not exactly rocket science.

Even if “quality” is a subjective measure that can never be fully agreed on, we can still estimate what would provide the most value, and attempt to deliver the best possible experience for the searcher.

Next:

Let us look at your voice.

Write in an authentic voice and why you should do it?

The answer to that is simple:

To rise above the web spam.

Every day, millions of new pages are added to the web. Thousands of blogs are started by the hour. Moreover, the vast majority of this new content is very inauthentic. Much of it is spun content, some of it is original but is inferior quality outsourced material, and none of it carries a powerful personal voice in it.

So as a point of differentiation, you want your website to have an authentic voice.

So what is the best way to accomplish that?

Be sincere and tell your truth, plainly.

Sounds a little too simple to be effective, right?

However, take a closer look at the idea, and you will find that, in many cases, we fail to do this in our writing.

State plain truth – For example, say that you are reviewing a red toaster on your website. You are hoping to get search engine traffic to your articles so that you can then make money from that traffic.

Remove the filters about how you think you have to write and just speak naturally to your reader. State your truth, plain and simple.

Also, make sure it is your truth, and not someone else’s. Do not try to belittle your reality, or puff it up. State it plainly, and own it – the key to authenticity.

How Authentic Writing Helps You As An Internet Marketer

The web is filling up with spam quickly and is desperate for authenticity.

Think about the problem from Google’s perspective: they have to sift through billions of web pages and return the best results to their searchers.

All of that robotic, “me-too” content is boring and does nothing to help the searcher. It is not real. It is not authentic. There is no human behind this mountain of content that cares about the reader.

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Your perspective is valuable because you are unique.

If you want to make money online, then you need to add something valuable to the web.

If you want to add value to the web, then you need to put more of YOU into your writing. Otherwise, you risk being added to the ever-growing pile of webspam that Google has to deal with and eventually eliminate.

Be authentic by being sincere. State your truth, plainly.

Next:

Let us look at the numbers everyone is talking about, article length.

The Word Count – Does it Weigh?

One of those blogging questions that will never get resolved: do post length and the number of words matters?

Post length has always been a bone of contention amongst bloggers — some prefer long posts (2,000 words or more), some stick to 500 to 1,000 words, and some prefer the spontaneity of 140 characters. However, regardless of preference, is there an ideal length for a blog post?

As explained above, the answer is a resounding no.

There are plenty of thoughts to be made when deciding how long your posts should be. In fact, you can vary their lengths according to what you need to say (this is especially important for those new to blogging).

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Content

Some topics take 100 words, some call for 2,000, and some may take any number in between, or even more. Use as many words you need to communicate with your readers efficiently.

Schedule

Perhaps you are slated to publish one long post a week. Alternatively, you prefer posting a week thrice. How often you post helps determine each article’s length, as well as its readability. Five 2,000-word posts a day would probably overwhelm your readers.

Style

What’s your writing style? Do you prefer to express your thoughts in bite-size chunks, or in a more extensive flow? How you express your views comes out in your word count.

Audience

Who do you write for — readers or browsers? It is essential to know your audience’s reading habits, so you can dish out the kind of posts that they will enjoy digesting.

Niche

Your blog’s niche also affects post length. Fast-Moving niches like news and entertainment will have you posting multiple daily articles that contain 500-1,000 words each, while educational niches may not need you to post as often but require more extended discussions.

Medium

In some of the other blogs I write for, all I need to do is to write a 300-word introduction or description to present content composed of images, videos, and links. Remember that you do not always need to post in words because other media can be just as efficient in relaying your message to your audience.

Goal

Your content length will depend on what you wish to accomplish (e.g., conversions, audience expansion, improved SERP ranking). However, longer posts (1,500 – 2,000 words) are more likely to be efficiently indexed by Google’s web crawler Googlebot, because of the higher chance of related keywords, tags, and metadata appearing in your post. This results in more top page ranking.

Next:

Let us look at the frequency of content updates.

How Often Should You Update Your Site?

This is a question that many people wonder about.

I personally only update niche sites as needed. If there’s a significant industry change within a topic, it usually calls for an update.

For example, if I had a niche site about ‘different types of laser eye surgery,’ I would want to keep it up to date. That means that I would need to update the site if a different type of laser eye surgery came into the picture.

Another reason that I would update a niche site is if it starts to slide in the rankings. If you are sitting at #1 and your site is typically up to date, there isn’t a reason to do any updating, in my opinion.

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How Often Do We Update Authority Blogs?

This approach is entirely different and needs to be approached differently. If you are running a traditional blog, you are trying to develop a following and posting regularly will help with that.

In my opinion, traditional blogging is a lot more difficult than many of the other options for making money online. You have to be more fully developed in your skill set and personality traits to pull it off.

If you are sold on being a traditional blogger, the more you update, the more success you will have. Most of the big bloggers that I know post multiple times per day and often post more than five times per day.

If that does not appeal to you, I would probably pick a different approach to building niche sites or building informational sites where you do not try to create a traditional blog following.

Content Curation

Content Curation is a great and easy way to populate your site with content. Of course, you have to be mindful of what you put on your blog because regularly strewing it with numerous pieces of information is not enough.

The content you curate must be relevant to your niche.

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You have to consider what kind of material will help you meet your goals, as well as when and how often you should publish it.

Moreover, you have to do it responsibly, especially when using other people’s content.

Content curation is simple, but not always easy. Later, I will write a step-by-step guide on how to curate content.

Here are some tips to get you started on gathering more content for your blog:

1. Re-Publish

Publish content that you have already shared. If the information is still relevant and applicable to your blog and the ethos of your audience, then you can reshare your posts to recap specific topics or as references.

2. Credits

Give credit where credit is due. If you are using someone else’s work, make sure you follow the basic rules of curation: include the title of the original material, a short excerpt of their work, the original post’s byline, and the link to ‘Read the original article.’

Never re-publish an entire article without the author’s explicit permission, and do not edit their wording, not even spelling or grammatical errors for them.

3. Worthy Content

Convery to your visitors why your curated content is worth reading. Always assume that there will be first-time visitors viewing each post that you publish, so it is better to give them a brief explanation as to why that article you are sharing is worth their time. This message is applicable for both your own and third-party contents.

Always gather precious information and leave out the junk

4. Content Discovery

Use content discovery sites. Aside from search engines, you can search for relevant and targeted content for your blog through social communities, how-to sites, rich media sites, online publications, and content aggregators, syndication, and curation sites.

Buzzsumo is an excellent tool to discover trending topics.

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5. Blend In

Mix it up. Some sites are purely devoted to content curation, such as Buzzfeed. However, after a while, the presentation can be monotonous.

Make your content more interesting by embedding your sources in your original posts, publishing slideshows that will showcase some of your curated content, or share the material in an online video.

Sharing your and other people’s work not only helps generate more interest in your blog but also tells your sources that you find value in their work.

Quality content is always in demand. The time may come when someone else uses your blog as a content resource, and those websites might become your stage.
Let the curation begin.

Finding inspiration for blog posts can be a tedious task. Whether you follow the ultimate writer’s block tip or follow our other, you can still find it hard to come up with inspiration for any blog posts.

Sure, you can go outside, or work out in an attempt to clear your mind. However, how many people can say they do that? It gets suggested over and over again, but you know you probably won’t do it.

So, with that being said, I would like to present you with a list that will affect you when it comes to writing new blog posts.

1. Comments bring contents

Look at your comments:

Your commentators are your community, and whatever they say you should listen. It is very likely they will have some questions you can answer. They might even flat out tell you what they want you to write about, or also want a follow up on your last post.

2. Challenge

Set challenges for yourself:

Check how many comments, views, trackbacks you received for one of your posts and try to write an article that will get a more significant response. Setting goals and challenges for yourself is a crucial strategy for effective blogging in my opinion.

3. Old is gold

Look back into the past:

Check your old articles. Read them. You may find some information you want to expand on in a whole new blog post.

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4. Analyze

Look at your pages:

If you have a page with a lot of info on it like we do, there’s bound to be something there you can take from it and write about it.

5. Teach

Teach people how you did something:

If you added some code or made your design, you may want to think back on how you did it and write about it. Write up a tutorial on something you did to your blog.

6. Read as a reader

Read your blog not as the blog owner, but as a reader:

Tricky, but if you ever get so lost you should try going through your blog posts and put yourself in your reader’s position. It is a good time for you to give yourself a better insight on your writing style, and it will give you time to go through your posts and pick out small bits of information to write.

7. Guest post

Set up a guest post page:

If you do not mind other people writing on your blog, then set up a guest post page. People can go to your blog, read your guest post page and possibly want to write on it. It is easy, free content that you do not even have to write.

8. Scout your categories

Are there any categories that are lacking in posts? Check them all out. If they seem unbalanced, try to create a balance by writing posts in the ones with fewer articles in them.

Concluding Thoughts

Coming up with post ideas do not have to be as hard as going outside (if you consider that hard). Just stay on your blog.

You will be surprised at how inspiring you are!