March 24, 2010
How to Drastically Improve Blog Copy: Write for One Goal
Focused blog posts are the most potent posts. Photo by dsevilla
The end goal of your writing should always be to provide the highest-quality information, as simply as possible. It's the second part of that sentence that usually trips writers up.
Too often bloggers fail massively in a couple ways when creating content. They either
- try to throw too many goals on the reader or
- don't have a specific goal in mind when they write.
Too many goals
People like simplicity when it comes to digesting information, and the more complex and unfocused your content, the less likely readers are going to be drawn to it.
Great content is easily lost when it's nestled in a thicket of unfocused writing.
Hazy goals
When you create content without pointing to a specific goal, it's like closing your eyes and aiming a gun at seven targets. At one time.
If the reader can't figure out what you're trying to accomplish in the very beginning of the copy, then they're gone. And most visitors won't make repeat visits to your site.
The only universal truth to conversions is this:
Visitors who leave don't convert.
If you're going to make the most of your visitors, each post should have one goal, and one goal only.
List Wars Don't Work
Writing with one goal in mind is such a simple concept that oftentimes we overlook it when we're writing. It's tempting to follow "expert" wisdom that says we have to fill a certain word count, or have at least a bajillion list points in our articles.
You don't.
How do I know? Simple. When's the last time you actually read an entire post that had over 20 bullet points? If you're like me, you make it to about number 6 and leave.
List posts are great for search engines and social media, but not great for engagement.
Search engines like focused content
Tightly focused content will beat an unfocused, wordy list post every time. The more focused your content, the more focused the searches that come to your blog.
More focused searches mean better conversions.
Isn't helping the reader find exactly what they want the point of the copy anyway?
How to write more focused content
I'm going to be honest: writing for only one goal is incredibly hard to do.
It takes a disciplined writer to sit down and really focus on the the most important thing in each post without deviating from it. So here are a few tips to start writing more tightly focused posts.
- Figure out your goal before you start writing. Seems obvious, right? Yet many writers start writing without an end goal in mind. What results is a meandering, incoherent post. Figure out the main takeaway before you start writing.
- Simplify! Evaluate ever word, every sentence, and every paragraph. If it doesn't fit into the one goal of the article, drop it. Be ruthless, because your readers will be even more critical.
- Make your headline obvious. The headline is possibly the most important part of your content. If the user clicks the title and starts reading only to find that that the title has nothing to do with the article, the user looses trust and leaves.
- Be repetitive. How many times have I used the phrase "one goal" in this article? Could it be any more apparent what this article is about? People love repetition, almost to an annoying amount. Never be afraid to repeat yourself and bring the point home.
- Replace clever with simple. Writing should always be simple. Dead simple. Often bad writers use complex sentences and clever phrases with substance. Readers should never leave your site more confused after visiting it.
- Break apart long paragraphs. There's something refreshing about breaking bits of information down into smaller bits. It helps with usability as well as makes the content more digestible.
- Sleep on it before hitting "publish". Take a break after you've finished the article before publishing. It's amazing what simply waiting a day can do for adding perspective. You'll find phrases that don't make sense, and words that never fit.
If you take great pains to simplify your message and only focus on one main thing in each post, your blog will prosper. Search engines will love you, and more importantly, so will your readers.
