The Skinny on Writing Engaging Content
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The Millenials (aka the Nintendo Generation) continues to be the ever-growing majority of Internet users worldwide. Because of this and their openness to new concepts, changes and opportunities, they are generally the largest demographic being targeted by social networks, blogs, Web and mobile services and, of course, marketers. However, grabbing their attention is a challenge, keeping them entertained long enough to get your message across is an entirely different ballpark.
In a previous post, we talked about two general concepts being applied today to tickle the Nintendo Generation’s fancy and keep them engaged in your Web site; injecting humor and eliciting opinions. This week, we dig deeper and lay out for you a somewhat in-depth look at several elements of a written content. We also offer up a few suggestions on how you can improve them to make your outputs effective and engaging for your readers.
 Image by Markus Rödder |
The Title
Aside from shared links on social networks and chance encounters on search engines, a lot of contents are discovered online with the reader swinging from one content link to another or they employ the use of content discovery and sharing services like Digg or StumbleUpon. In either case, nothing draws the eyes to a news piece or blog post’s link as much as a catchy title.
It’s understandable if you forego wit when writing a straight news article or a formal announcement. The object of a title, after all, is to give a gist of what your message is and compressed within in a few words.
“Catchy” is a broad term and thus makes it easier to apply in your titles. For instance, if your blog post is richly slathered with humor, you can extend it to the title to unify both. If you’re quoting a person in your article or post, you can choose an interesting quote as part of your title. Another eye-catching way of conceiving a good title is to highlight some surprising or even alarming detail about your subject matter; this will definitely add some shock value which will compel your reader to read your writing.
This too will prove beneficial for your existing audience who have subscribed to your site’s RSS feed or have included your site to news aggregators like Bloglines. This gives your site a better chance of repeat visits.
Your Writing
In essence, news articles must be direct to the point. Simply deliver the news details without distracting your readers with unnecessary metaphors and personal commentaries. Unless you’re writing an opinion-based piece, it’s best to refrain from inserting personal opinions, prejudices and comments. Doing these greatly helps your content exude an air of elegance and professionalism that can earn you respect from your audience and peers.
Depending on your subject matter and general tone of your Web site, feature articles and most blog posts can be written with a free-flowing and informal style. Most posts you’d find online commonly employ a narrative voice; and we recommend using this writing approach because it can actually help you build rapport with your readers. To the reader, this gives the impression that you are reaching out to them on a more personal level by being candid, honest and even being comfortable enough with them to share stories and to be witty. You can boost this further by including personal anecdotes to prove a point, supply humor or to simply give them something to relate to.
Despite these, make sure to stay within the boundaries of your subject matter. Sure, going off on a tangent or two every now and then seems twee and necessary at times, but overdoing it can be off-putting for some. Hilarious as some tangents may be, they can be potentially distracting, pulling your readers away from your actual message.
Also, proofread your finished work several times before you publish it online to catch typos and stray grammatical errors. These can turn off your readers and reflect badly on you or your brand.
 Image by jhritz |
Content Structure
Whether it’s a serious news piece or a whimsical blog post, always make sure you have a solidly structured article. It seems sophomoric at this point, but coming up with an outline before you start writing is still the best way to go about this.
With this in mind, you may also want to divide your article into segments or sub-segments if necessary. Doing so breaks down the information contained within each paragraph, making it easier for your readers to digest.
Research and Attribution
As your writings appear and continue to be published online, your audience will have the inclination to digest them as facts. Some may even cite you and your Web site as references for their work or school research; you owe it to them to keep your articles well researched. While there is a wealth of information readily available for the taking online, some references are yet to be digitized so you may also want to scour libraries and museums or even conduct experiments on your own.
Also, some materials online contain proprietary information so make sure to obtain permission from the author/s or publishing company before you even quote them.
Another very important thing to remember: never forget to credit your sources with proper attributions. This can be done by appending source material details at the end of the article or by simply attaching links accordingly within your article. This may seem trivial, but attributions can save you from legal issues in the future.
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RSpears @ April 8, 2010
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