What’s the secret behind the success of bloggers’ websites that get thousands and millions of interested users daily? This secret won’t take long to crack. Effective websites attract users with their valuable content. Let’s try to figure out how to write powerful content for your website or blog.
This article will focus primarily on creating text content, going over the main stages of writing texts, and identifying the criteria they should correspond to.
Why are some texts read and others not? What is the formula to write unique website content? What important point should you focus on? That’s the topic of today’s discussion.
This article will be helpful for novice publishers who want to monetize their websites and blogs and are ready to create quality content.
Write website content for purpose and value
There are no requirements for the content itself. No one will check your copy for the number of listicles, visuals, or commas (though they may notice typos.) The main criterion is value. In other words, you write any content to get traffic and monetize it while users want to read something valuable for them.
If your copy meets these two objectives, you win:
- Solves a problem and deal with users’ insecurities,
- Helps achieve your monetization goals.
Let’s break down these two points.
1. Learn what your readers need
The text on your website should solve users’ problems, answer their questions, give advice, and offer ways to resolve complex and troubling situations. These problems arise from unsatisfied needs. What are they?
Drew Eric Whitman, a well-known marketer, distinguishes 8 fundamental needs common to all people. He calls them “Life Force 8” (LF8). Also, he recognizes an additional 9 supplementary needs people have acquired over time.
LF8 are primal desires. However, supplementary needs are non less meaningful.
Fundamental needs
- Survival, enjoyment of life, life extension
- Enjoyment of food and beverages
- Freedom from fear, pain, and danger
- Sexual companionship
- Comfortable living conditions
- To be superior, winning
- Care and protection of loved ones
- Social approval
Additional needs
- The desire to be informed
- Curiosity
- Body hygiene and environmental cleanliness
- Efficiency
- Convenience
- Reliability/quality
- Beauty and style
- Thrift/profit
- A good buy
2. Address your target audience’s needs
We know now that there are powerful needs that people biologically want to satisfy, regardless of who they are, where they live, or what they do. Creating a text addressing one of those entries can be highly effective since you can connect to the human psyche and affect the human brain at the primal level.
Look at these heading examples below. They’re not about fear or sex. In the meantime, they address the initial demands.
- “All masterminds in affiliate marketing keep this secret” (Curiosity, To be superior, Winning).
- “15 little-known ways of writing a great copy” (The desire to be informed, Curiosity).
- “You deserve to sleep better! Use the Headspace app!” (Eenjoyment of life, Comfort).
3. Remember the monetization purpose
Along with serving valuable content that meets users’ needs and solves problems, you need to identify your own goals.
As a blogger or publisher, you may want to:
- Boost your brand’s authority or raise credibility.
- Increase the number of readers = increase the number of ad impressions.
- Earn from recommending goods and services.
- Promote your expert services (e.g., webinars, courses).
- Fundraise or attract investors, and so on.
That’s why for publishers, it’s vital to balance organic search queries to fit their initial goal.
Informational, navigational, and purchase-oriented search queries should come in the complex.
If you’re a geek blogger and promote, say, a new folded Samsung, you need to optimize your promo page to queries with purchase intent: “buy”, “where to buy”, “discount on”, “buy….near me”.
Want to make sure that users you attract to the website are will bring you profits? See how to build truly strong, converting traffic that advertisers will pay for highly.
Types of content publishers can use to enrich their websites
Search engines still give preference to long, weighty materials. However, “a good text isn’t always a long-read.” If your target audience prefers checklists to everything else, long-reads will not make 100% of your blog copy.
What types of text content your audience may be be interested in:
- Tutorials ─ a step-by-step explanation of any process; a guide to doing something to obtain a specific result. For example, a guide on setting up an ad campaign.
- Interview ─ a conversation with an expert or influencer, whose opinion may be interesting to your target audience.
- Trend reviews, digests ─ a convenient way to talk about recent news and events with something in common with your website’s topic.
- Research ─ a thorough review of a topic by respectable experts with deep immersion and detailed analysis, statistics.
- Product and service reviews ─ an assessment of services, companies, films, video games, etc.
- Listicles ─ all sorts of compilations of helpful, time-saving tips.
- Case study ─ an issue put in a real-life context; an expert gives valuable advice on dealing with specific situations. Anti-case studies as a negative experience examination are also popular.
- Opinion posts ─ short texts that express the author’s position; usually correlate with the news agenda.
Your 11-step guide on how to write great content for your website
Any process consists of specific steps that come one after the other in a particular sequence. Writing great content for your website also includes a pattern of consecutive and related actions.
As we have already noted at the beginning, there are different types of website texts. The one you focus on depends on the nature of your site.
For example, let’s go over the steps you need to take when writing content for your blog.
1. Choose your article's topic
Choose a topic that’s relevant for your target audience. It should correspond to a type query (information, navigation, target purchasing). For example, this one’s always relevant: What dietary supplements help lose weight when you’re over 50.
2. Do your homework on the topic
Do recon work even if you’re a mega expert on the topic. It’s always important to just google articles dedicated to the same issue. You’re guaranteed to find something you missed.
Take a look at the benefits of the product that your competitors highlight, and you don’t. Highlight the advantages that only your product has. This way, you’ll be able to stand out from your competitors.
3. Identify your article's objective
Any text has to have an objective. Why is identifying your goal important? Your goal is what helps you stay on track during narration and achieve your desired result faster and with less effort.
Do you know the purpose of your article? Not your Publisher task (monetization or spreading brand awareness), the task for the readers.
The article must answer such user concerns like:
- What’s in it for me?
- Why should I buy this from you?
- What do I need to do to get it?
- Why should I buy here, not from competitors?
4. Lay out your bullet points
Briefly cover your main points, make a mental note about the things you should focus on in your article.
5. Prepare a draft version
Create a draft with all the essential points. Don’t worry too much about the structure at first. It will appear as you go.
6. Check if the points you listed support the primary objectives
Highlight the main benefits the user will obtain by purchasing your product or using your advice. And don’t forget about the value for the consumers. Spice up your points with an understandable and straightforward call to action.
7. Verify the information
Now you can get down to fact-checking. If you use research data, expert opinions, reports, then make sure to double-check all the numbers. You must be sure that the information you want to share with readers is factually correct.
8. Draw up a plan for your article
What’s a plan for? You need a plan to make sure your storytelling is convincing and powerful and to check that you haven’t forgotten a single meaningful point.
For example, let’s make a plan for an article called: how to meet people when you’re over 50. Tips that work!
An example of an article's plan
I. Introduction. The entire world has long migrated to the Internet, yet finding a partner is as tricky as ever. It’s hard to meet people, especially when you’re over 50. Provide some numbers.
II. Main body. Tips that work!
1. What stops people: Top 5 fears and myths that it’s time to bury and forget.
2. How to stop being afraid and to start acting?
3. Expert tips.
4. Top 10 services that organize the leisure of elderly couples.
III. Conclusion. An answer to the question: “How do you find a partner if you’re over 50?”
9. Write the draft of the article
The most exciting part, though the most challenging. It’s not obligatory to start by creating a headline. Sometimes, it’s the final chord of the symphony. Keep in mind your users’ problems and your own goals, and check with the plan you’ve come up with earlier.
10. Edit the article
It is better to start editing your article the day after you wrote it or at least several hours later. What to look at first?
#1 Drain the milk and water. All texts that don’t give any value or don’t support the benefits you listed.
#2 Check your writing style. It should be consistent. Try not to mix up urban slang and complex language. Like in this example when a vigorous heading is weakly supported by pre-order rules:
- Get this bombastic new gadget with combo bonus gifts now! To pre-order the item from the catalog, you must fill in all the required fields regarding the delivery address and payment details.
#3 Check your emotions. Use them only if you do feel like that. Fake emotions look unnatural and provoke suspicion.
#4 Don’t go overboard with introductory phrases (most likely, first of all).
#5 Avoid tautologies (the evening sunset, hot water heater, the first premiere).
#6 Don’t use bureaucratic cliches (in accordance with, in order to eliminate). People don’t speak like that. They just use it to write official documents.
#7 Replace words and phrases that regular people won’t understand: industry words, vernacularisms, slang. Difficult means boring. You lose potential subscribers and customers.
#8 Reduce word repetitions, go over the text and if need be find a suitable synonym.
11. Make the article readable
No one will read a text that is just a single block of text. Your text needs subtitles, numbered and marked lists. The text must be airy, with indents, small empty areas between blocks.
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A sure-fire formula of a great article: from headline to the CTA
An efficient article contains the following 3 ingredients. The main criteria for any online text:
- A catchy headline – 73% of your article’s success.
- An engaging introduction.
- How valuable and exciting your content is.
A catchy headline - 73% of your article's success
A headline should:
- attract attention;
- arouse interest;
- motivate the user to read the article;
- state your main benefit;
- contain a SEO keyphrase.
The main task of the title: to surprise, shock, arouse certain emotions.
Let’s see some usable headline formulas.
Best headline formulas that publishers can use
1. The promise of a significant effortless result
Formula: how to [reach the desired goal] without [a standard and painstaking method]
Examples:
How to lose fat from the abdomen without going on a diet or going to the gym
How to earn $448.99 a day without sales
How to look seven years younger without botox
2. The guarantee of a quick result
Formula: [Obtain the desired result] in [time-frame]
Examples:
Get your credit report in 2 minutes or less
Single? We’ll find you a date for this weekend
Android battery repair within 60 seconds
3. An anti-expert uprising
Formula: the secret that [experts] don’t want you to know
Examples:
The secret to weight loss trainers are hiding from you
Dentists hate her. Mom reveals the secret to teeth whitening.
An engaging introduction
The intro has to:
- Contain information about the situation in which the reader finds themself in. In our example mentioned above, the 50-year-old user wants to find a partner.
- Describe the user’s main problem. This is the insecurity that forces them to look for the needed info. For example, the reader is over 50, and they’re lonely. They want to find a partner but aren’t sure how to do it or if it’s even possible.
- Spice up the problem. There are lots of dating services on the market. Here’s how not to make a mistake.
- Point to the benefits of reading your article (saves effort, time, money).
The lead-in paragraph consists of 4-8 sentences. When writing a lead-in paragraph, keep in mind that the user mustn’t lose interest or get tired. The primary purpose of the lead-in paragraph is to motivate the consumer to read further.
Content uniqueness and optimization
The level of your content’s uniqueness is essential to both search engines and visitors. Check your draft articles with Copywritely or Grammarly tools that allow for checking how unique your texts are.
Af for search engines, it’s best to optimize content for keywords — the queries through which you want users to find your website. Pick 2-3 keywords per page and use them several times in your text.
Keep your content writing simple and accessible
Your point must be understood easily and quickly, as well as be well-structured. Write in a way people can understand. The more you make people think, the more likely they are to leave.
Always highlight the key benefits and prove them
Highlight the key benefit of the product and positive end-results that the buyer will receive from purchasing your product.
If you promote lawnmowers, then the critical benefit for the consumer will be a well-kept front lawn for his children to play on or his family to relax on after a long day of work.
If you write about design training courses, the key benefit for the consumer will be getting a source of additional income since they now will be able to get requests to design websites from other people.
Use active verbs and prove all adjectives
If you want your readers to get involved, you need to immerse them into action. Use active verbs instead of passive voice.
When you state something is “helpful” or “efficient,” that’s a marker for you to add proofs. Don’t just describe in words – insert images, videos, place testimonials and expert reviews.
Use powerful CTAs and be persistent
Finally, you should develop how your readers will perform the target action and how they will do what you want them to do: sign up, subscribe, pre-order, etc.
Of course, the text should call for action. The call to action tells the reader what to do next. The CTA helps nudge the user towards performing a specific action, reveals the end destination and the way to get there. Your СТА should always contain an imperative verb that tells the user what to do. For example, “Connect,” “Register,” “Choose,” “Claim now,” etc.
How to write content for affiliate marketing
When you’re in affiliate marketing, you become a pro in many niches. But still, it is better to choose goods and services that you have something to say about. Each time you will need to study the subject thoroughly. You need to understand the ultimate benefit the consumer gets from purchasing your product/service.
Focus on the key benefit of the product and positive results. Earlier, we shared a guide on creating a high-converting landing page, so now just a list of the most important parts of your powerful selling content.
The structure of a selling text
- Headline.
- Lead-in paragraph.
- The consumer’s problem.
- Reasons for the problem is existing.
- A solution to the problem.
- Arguments to back your way of solving the problem.
- The benefits of solving the problem.
- Product presentation.
- Clear advantages of the product.
- Licenses, certificates.
- Sale.
- Time and quantity limit.
- Social evidence (reviews from satisfied customers).
- Guarantees (reliable and long-term ones).
- Call to action.
What else to pay attention to
Your affiliate marketing content must add value to the advertised product. If you just copy the advertiser’s website, Google will “reward” you a low position in the ranking.
Add images to your ads. Photos of your product being used increases consumer response by 13%.
Don’t hesitate to call to action. Add СТА buttons. Use FOMO techniques. Create an illusion – a shortage of packages, limited time only — force the potential client to make a choice here and now.
Respect the audience and point out that the article contains an affiliate link as well as that the partner network pays you a commission for each target action.
Conclusion
Whatever website content you write, the only objective is to grow income. And the final result depends on how well you understand what your audience wants, needs, and expects. Visitors will be drawn to exciting and useful content, which you can use to promote products and turn a profit.
Well, earning money with Adsterra is far more easily than write powerful website content. Add your website to the advertising network, choose an ad format you want to place on the web pages and let the profit flow steadily.
