Content is the most essential aspect on web, as it is for offline magazines and newspapers. It doesn’t matter what kind of website you own, it should carry content. Content is the difference between successful websites/magazines, and not so successful websites/magazines.
Promotion and marketing of sites and magazines are equally important to make them successful, yet content is far more important, simply because it is the basis on which websites and magazines are established. No matter how hard you promote or market your website, if you don’t have content that turn heads, your website won’t be able to sustain the fruits of marketing. Readers come to your site to read content. Marketing is just a tool to draw readers, but eventually, it’s the content that truly matters.
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Ability to express ideas leads to great content
Creating good content is an art. It takes years of experience, failures and expertise to create good content. And also, one should have comprehensive knowledge along with the experiences and expertise, to dig out facts and create great the content.
How does one create content that sells? I’ve attended seminars and visited forums, and observed that writers often seem to lose the plot while finding the perfect formula to write good content. Content creation doesn’t relate to a formula. It’s not only about grammar and sentence construction, but also about how to give wings to your ideas. An idea is the essence of creating content. Good content creators know the process of intertwining ideas with facts, and polish it up with a perfect grammatical finish. That’s how content should be created, and doing it that way would require certain fixed principles to be covered.
Content should have depth
No one likes to go to plow through plain information and boring data. There are plenty of magazines that provide exactly that kind of information. Readers have become smarter. They’re fed-up reading the same old story rewritten by different authors in various magazines. They now seek unique content, not just unique in web terms, but unique in the way the content provokes their thought process. They prefer content that takes them to an unknown domain. Readers do love to read a new take on issues. The topics might have grown old, but what most readers look at is how differently the content has dealt with the topic. Has it provided a new angle on things?
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Readers love to go through the content as long as it ignites interest. And interest can only be generated, if the content has dug deep and presented facts, with a unique stance. That is exactly what every content creator needs to do. He should learn to look beyond the facade, and search for rare facts on the subject. This may not be easy for someone young and lacking foresight. In order to create content with depth, it is significant to have the ability to look deep inside a topic, and then find words to express what you just saw.
Create content for a targeted audience
Every magazine, online or offline has its own audience base. Content creators should learn about the readers who will eventually read their content. Magazines know their readers, and therefore, they want content to have the appeal to satisfy their readers. It’s not surprising to find magazines clearly stating in their ‘write for us’ section to adhere to the writing style of the magazine. They also mention to go through at least three back issues before writing any content for them. The reason is magazines don’t want content creators to simply develop content without focussing on the style and direction of a magazine. Every magazine has a fixed style and certain direction, and their readers have become used to reading content in that style.
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If you’ve decided to write for a publication house, make sure you understand their penchant for a particular style. It’s no coincidence that a magazine generally follows a set house style pattern for all its issues. Magazines also have a particular tone, which they use in their content. Content creators should always identify the style and tone of a magazine before writing content for it. There’s plenty of good content that gets rejected by publication houses, just because such content doesn’t fit with the direction and the tone of a magazine. Successful content creators carry a knack to adjust their creations according to the demands of a publication house.
Content should be geared to captivate your audience
How to mesmerize readers? Have you ever thought about what makes readers click? It’s not always perfect grammar that attracts readers. Grammatical errors should never be a part of any content, but good grammar alone is not enough. Content creators should learn to play with words. Everyone talks, yet not everyone is effective. It’s exactly the same with creating content.
Some content creators have learned the art of captivating audiences. And they use it to the best of their ability. It’s important to create content with an eye to develop chemistry with your readers. It is the chemistry between readers and content creators that makes magazines successful. Good magazines are trained to choose content that helps them in their cause. If your content is found wanting, it may be left out.
The more you dwell on a subject, and involve yourself completely, the better you will be able to stretch your ideas and produce content, which will create impact in the minds of the readers. That’s what readers look for. The language of the content also makes considerable contribution in generating reader interest. The easy flow of any content, with pleasing language is an essential facet while creating it. Again, the nature of your readers also determines how you should characterize your content.
Conversational content or otherwise
Conversational content is more effective. The real advantage of being conversational is you have the opportunity to induce reader interest. Readers come out of the content thinking that it has touched some aspect of their life. A reader can relate to it, and therefore it makes for an interesting reading session. Those who blog are advised to use conversational tone in their blogs, because readers find it more engaging and relaxing. Even print magazines prefer conversational content, as magazines are meant to provide intense information in a laid back tone.
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No one likes to read serious stuff in a third person boring tone. Content creators should use serious formal content, only when they are asked to fill up company’s website with information based content. Writing conversational content would mean – to begin a sentence with a verb at times. By doing so, you can pack sufficient information by using less words. It makes content more compact.
However, everyone may have their own style. The bottom line is how well you connect with your readers. If your created content can touch readers, then any content style is worth it. Content creators should understand the fact that it’s the readers who are the best judges of their work. And if they don’t like your work, then it’s time to switch to a different style.