Does your blog bring you enough engagement? Are you getting the results in proportion to your efforts?
There is no doubt that content reigns supreme in online businesses. The key to having a successful website or blog is to create content that people are interested in reading.
But how do you ensure your content is engaging enough to hold someone's attention?
Well, to help you create engaging content, we've put together 17 tips.
Here goes nothing.
1. Write In-Depth Content
When a user is seriously searching for something, they want a detailed solution, and writing in-depth content offers a solution. Though a small piece of content can provide a similar solution, offering a one-stop solution on the topic requires a time investment. The more in-depth and satisfying your articles are, the more engaged your readers will be.
People looking for solutions to their problems will appreciate content answering all their questions. And why not? Browsing through several pages for a solution can be frustrating.
A user's experience is spoiled when they can't find what they're looking for on a single page. Unfortunately, many bloggers don't provide the experience their users want.
Longer articles offer more benefits than shorter pieces. Some of these benefits are listed below:
- In-depth content provides the reader with a more comprehensive understanding of the subject.
- It tends to be more engaging.
- It allows for a more complex argument or story.
- It will enable you to cover a wide variety of sub-topics.
2. Format
Clear formatting can help make your blog more engaging by making it easier to read.
When readers can quickly scan your blog and find the information they're looking for, they're more likely to stick around and keep reading. They can focus on your content rather than be distracted by the page's colors, fonts, pop-ups, and other design elements.
Fixing the errors in the existing formatting makes your blog more readable and user-friendly. Additionally, clearing the formatting can help improve your blog's SEO, making it easier for search engines to index your content.
Here are some tips to help you get started when it comes to formatting:
- Optimize your content for all devices, so their format doesn't change.
- Use appropriate font colors to improve visibility.
- Use headlines and subheadings to break up the text.
- Have clear navigation on your blog. You can create a table of content for readers to navigate better.
- Use bullet points and number listings in your blog.
3. Use Visuals
With so much competition for attention on the internet, it's essential to make your content stand out. People are more likely to remember information presented with a relevant image.
Use visuals to engage your audience with different colors, shapes, and images to capture attention and interest.
Adding these elements to your blog can entice your readers to stay around. In addition, visuals can help to break up large blocks of text and make your blog more visually appealing and engaging.
Visuals also help convey a message or story that might be difficult to communicate with just text.
According to Hubspot research, using colored visuals can increase people's willingness to read a piece of content by up to 80%.
Here are some tips to make your blog more visually appealing:
- Optimize images for better load time.
- Add alt text for better indexing.
- Always use copyright-free images in your blog.
- Use tools like Canva to create quality images.
4. Hook Readers With Interesting Title & Intro
Hook your readers immediately; you must start with an interesting title and introduction.
Your title should be eye-catching and make the reader want to know more.
Below are some headline tips for writing a catchy and SEO-friendly title:
- It should be unique and describe exactly what the blog is about.
- It should have your primary keyword as early as possible.
- It should have a number to tell users how long it is.
- Can have an authoritative name present to improve CTR.
An AI blog title generator makes it easier for writers to create catchy headlines or titles for their articles.
The blog intro should briefly overview the article and why the reader should care.
Starting your introduction with a question can be more hooky to your readers in the very first place. It's important to write an intro that grabs your reader's attention and gives them enough information to decide whether or not they want to read more.
A headline intro generator helps you create a blog's perfect intro, which blends seamlessly with the body of the content.
5. Keep it Brief
"Keep it brief and to the point."
It's an overused phrase, but it holds true to its meaning.
Being a good writer means thinking like a reader. Longer paragraphs are a recipe for readers losing attention.
There is no set rule for how long a paragraph should be. However, shorter paragraphs are generally easier to read and understand than longer ones. It allows the reader to take a break more often, and each paragraph section is less likely to become confusing.
When writing shorter paragraphs, focus on one main idea or point per paragraph. Write in simple and easy-to-understand language. You can keep the language tone informal, as if speaking to the reader.
6. Use Storytelling To Your Advantage
Storytelling is one of the oldest forms of communication. It's a way to share experiences, ideas, and culture, making your audience read and remember your content for a long time.
Storytelling can be a powerful tool for engagement, whether you're trying to engage with your audience, customers, employees, or other stakeholders.
Storytelling is a powerful way to take your reader to places. When done well, storytelling can create an emotional connection that can lead to positive action. But what makes a good story?
Below are a few storytelling tips you can use to engage your audience:
- Try to include some personal elements in your story.
- Visualize your story with images and graphics.
- Use imagery phrases that create an image in the readers' minds. For instance, if you want to tell someone to understand your condition, instead of saying, "try to understand my condition," you could say, "put yourself in my shoes."
7. Make It Actionable
Without action, no engagement happens; without engagement, your blog dies a slow death.
As a writer, you must communicate to the readers to take action. An action may be adding a comment, sharing your content, following you on social media, signing up for an email newsletter, joining a community, etc.
The best way to make your readers take action is to provide value to them. There are a few things you can do to make readers take action:
- Send them a weekly newsletter.
- Give them a shout-out on social media if they share your content.
- Answer if they comment on their questions.
- Interact with your readers and prompt them to join your community.
8. Summarise Your Content
After writing an in-depth content piece, you must drop a brief summary describing the article.
Summarising your article is important for several reasons. These include:
- It allows you to condense a lot of information into a shorter, more manageable format.
- It can help you better understand the article's main points and how they fit together.
- Summarising can help you easily remember the article's key points.
You can generate an informative and to-the-point summary of your blog using an AI content conclusion generator. It reads through your content and identifies the main points before concluding.
You can also generate a content summary for distribution on various social platforms.
9. Know Your Audience's 'Why'
You need to know your audience through and through before you start writing.
Discover why they are searching for a particular keyword on the search engine.
You can't make people happy with your content if it doesn't align your content with their goals.
So, once you've decided on a topic, figure out why your audience is searching for that content. What are their true intentions behind searching for it? If you solve their problems, they'll help you solve yours. It's as simple as that.
10. Visualize One Person as Your Whole Audience
When you write for all, you write for none.
Remember that you are not writing for the entire globe when you write an article. You are writing for a particular group of people who may be interested in the topic.
Consider writing for only one individual, an ideal person seeking answers to the questions you're covering. This practice will make your content more conversational, natural, and engaging.
11. Write As You Talk
Don't write in the style of an academic essay. You might find it well; others might not. Honestly, it's boring if you're on the other side.
So, write in a conversational tone, as if you're talking to your target audience, the one perfect person. Assume you and your content's reader are having a cup of coffee together at a cozy coffee place. And if the conversation is not good, the coffee won't taste good either.
Remember, you are discussing or rather talking about a topic with your reader. This practice will assist you in making the content as conversational as possible.
12. Maintain a Consistent Flow
Make your title, headers, introduction, body, and conclusion into a symphony. Every one of these components should lead to another.
A consistent flow can assist in engaging the audience. Otherwise, your readers would be reluctant to continue reading the blog.
And that's why, after completing your blog, you need to proofread and edit the content to find the gaps. Each line has only one purpose, to lead the user to the next one.
13. Use Lists and Bullet Points
While you may not always use lists, they can surely appeal to readers since they are easy to follow and understand.
Lists are also easy to skim and give quick information without reading significant volumes of text. And if you didn't know already, lists or bullet points for a well-formatted content piece. So, go for it when you see fit.
14. Make Proper Use of Keywords
Keywords help you create SEO content, which generates content around the words people search for.
It's all about continuing the conversation that's already happening inside the head of your users. Targeted keywords give you content a cause.
Keywords will not only help you improve your SERP rankings, but they will also help you continue to stay on topic.
So, be consistent with keywords regarding your title and body content throughout the article.
15. Research... And Research Well.
Research like you're doing humanity a favor.
There's a saying that the dessert is as sweet as the sugar you add. People respect when you put in the effort to generate a well-researched content piece.
And to be honest, not everyone can do it; that's why you don't see those on the top SERP results.
With so many cool tools available today, it's easier to research the topic than ever.
You don't want to post inaccurate information that is more than a year old. Make an effort to find the most current original updates and sources.
16. Stay Focussed on Your Topic
Don't divert from the topic at hand.
One of the most prominent problems writers face is diverting from a topic. They don't know where they need to end something, and so they keep dragging the content piece for miles.
You don't want content that begins with communal gardens and ends with a phrase promoting your new car. Stay on topic and concentrate on critical points.
Remember, sometimes less is more.
17. Add Relevant Quotes
Quotes can change the face of a blog. Their power lies in their depth.
There's no doubt adding quotes from prominent authors, celebrities, and humanitarians can take your content to another level. They are an excellent way to connect with your readers through a subheading or the first sentence.
A well-placed quote and you're looking at an impact galore!
18. Ask Thought-Provoking Questions
While writing content, you can engage your audience by asking them questions that surely make their heads scratch. You can use questions to set up a larger point you are making in the blog post.
But don't just ask any questions. Your questions should be something that is interesting and provokes people to think. It can be anything, from a controversial topic to the latest news.
This will make them feel that they are part of the content and give them time to think.
Of course, you have to know what kind of questions your audience will enjoy. You can get inspiration by reading the comments section of a blog or checking out Twitter threads.
19. Use Analogies and Metaphors
If possible, provide an analogy in every piece of content. The analogy is a powerful tool for engaging the reader's thought process and better relating your content clearly and understandably.
Keep it plain and use relatable ideas and thoughts.
Metaphors are like secret ingredients that you add to your writing to add flavor and creativity. It's a whole new way of adding life to your content.
20. Use Power Words
Facts are facts, but learning to connect emotionally with your reader is different.
You can at least start by using Power words into your content, and you'll instantly create more engaging content.
Successful writers use certain words to manipulate your emotions (in a good way). Their persuasive nature makes people unable to resist accepting their influence!
21. Write Easy to Read Content
Why say more when fewer words do the trick?
The most challenging thing while writing is to keep things simple.
Your content must be easy to read to captivate your readers. So, you can focus on writing shorter paragraphs with clear headers rather than big blocks of content. If you're looking at sections with more than three lines, stop and see how you can get the message through more efficiently. You can check the Hemmingway Editor's grade or the Flesch-Kincaid scores to learn more about your content readability.
Presentation of your content plays a significant role in content readability. So, another thing you can do to make your content easier to read is to format it nicely. Apart from these, you can divide the text with visuals to break the monotony.
22. Use Relevant Facts and Statistics
You can leverage facts and statistics to interest readers by offering concrete supporting evidence. When information is backed with figures, people are more inclined to trust it.
Statistics and facts can assist you in explaining a point or providing evidence for your claim. They can also help readers comprehend the magnitude of a situation or trend.
Oh, they have that WOW factor, which is quite helpful in gaining backlinks organically.
23. Leverage the Bucket Brigade Technique
Have you ever come across a blog, and just as you're ready to leave, something pulls you back to read the content?
That is precisely what bucket brigades do. They are mini cliff-hangers that entice your readers to go on to the following sentence, the next, and the next.
So, the next time you write content, try including bucket brigades that pique their interest to keep your reader engaged.
24. Diversify Your Content
Imagine eating your favorite dish every day for the next year. The first few times will be fun, but you'll want something different later. It's only natural. Content is not too different this way.
You should consider diversifying your strategy even if you have a pattern or preferred content types.
People get bored reading the same listicles or how-to's, no matter how good your content is. They are constantly looking for something new. Try diversifying your editorial calendar with new blog post types to indulge existing readers while attracting new ones.
Switching things up once in a while will do wonders. And it'll take your writing to another level.
25. Create Linkable Assets
Linkable assets are content explicitly designed to attract links from related websites. These assets can be your blog, videos, infographics, etc.
The idea is that your content should be so valuable to your target audience that they'd want to share it with everyone.
So, to make your content stand out from your competitors, you have to offer extra value to your audience. And that's where you can use linkable assets.
26. Make Every Word Count
Since Internet users' attention spans are dropping by the day, you must work harder to keep their attention from the start to the end of your blog.
To do this, each word, phrase, sentence, and punctuation mark must contribute something to your article. You can put a value on every word you write. Think of them as an expense. Now you have to manage your expenses to keep the budget in check. So, write impactful content and make every word count.
27. Never Doubt Yourself
You might have been writing for a while. Maybe you're looking for that breakthrough article that gets you on the scene. For that to happen, you must be at your best every time you write. You have to believe it before it starts showing in your content. Remember, your words are just an extension of how you feel.
Stop writing if you find yourself using phrases or words that give the impression of uncertainty. Always write confidently, as if you know what you're talking about, because you most likely do. Whenever you sit to write, write like a pro!
Every writer must confront and overcome the battle for self-confidence and self-belief to properly connect with the audience.
Rise above and be better.
Whatever you do, always have faith in your writing capabilities. Because if you're not the main lead of your movie, then who?
28. Take Sufficient Breaks
Writing takes a lot of mental strength and effort.
The key to writing engaging content is to present your thoughts clearly and directly, which requires a clear thought process.
It generally helps to take periodic breaks when writing to maintain that level of quality. You cannot underestimate a 15-minute stroll or just getting out of your seat and watching an episode of The Office. A little refreshment goes a long way.
29. Showcase Case Studies
Apart from being a superb marketing tool, a case study is an effective way to generate engaging content.
The results that you've generated for your audience carry great value. People love reading stories that highlight and resolve their pain points.
You can utilize your customers' success stories or positive experiences from your product or service to persuade your readers of your capabilities. Check out LongShot's Case Study recipe to learn how to create awesome case studies.
30. Avoid Jargon
Jargon makes your blog posts appear pretentious.
Your target audience wants to read content with simple words and conveys clear information.
By using wordiness or obscure terms, jargon may, at best, confuse the audience. In the worst-case scenario, it completely defeats the writer's intent to communicate clearly.
31. Double Check Your Content
Imagine seeing a content piece from a top writer and noticing a spelling and grammatical mistake—no need to say that it can be a turn-off.
Believe it or not, good grammar can do a lot to your efforts in creating engaging content. As such, it's always better to have someone else review your work. If not that, just your fresh set of eyes.
32. Strive to Be a Thought Leader
When pressed on time, it's tempting to take the easy path and knock something out fast, such as a news event, etc.
That's good once in a while, but if you genuinely want to get an audience engaged and interacting with your blog, then include your ideas and opinions. Be a thought leader. It takes time, but you need to start from somewhere.
33. Write Skimmable Content
Readers want to get the information they need from an article instantly, either because they have a specific question or because their time is limited.
Assist your readers in finding and locating information. You can add a table of contents containing the various heading and sub-headings.
Another way to make your content skimmable is by generating list-oriented content.
34. Offer a Bonus or Giveaway
An easy way to make your content engaging is by adding a bonus or giveaway inside your content.
These can be a free ebook, a valuable template, a compilation of the year's best blog posts, or topic-specific checklists.
35. Use Active Voice
You must use an active voice to engage your audience when writing blog content. Active voice makes your writing more understandable and easier to read, which will help keep your readers engaged. So when creating content for your blog, be sure to write in an active voice!
By using an active voice for most of your sentences, you make the meaning of your sentences clear to readers, and you keep your sentences from becoming too wordy.
36. Be Authentic
Be authentic and transparent while writing content for your audience.
When you're authentic, you develop a writing style over time, which gives you an identity. So, being yourself is the best thing you can do for yourself as a writer. Your readers will appreciate your honesty, which will help build trust between you and them.
37. Use Humor Judiciously
The best way (though challenging) to win over your users is through the use of humor.
Using humor in your content is like talking to someone with a smile on your face. It's an easy way to connect with people. So, use humor judiciously while writing content to lighten the tension. A little bit of fun can go a long way in making your readers enjoy your content more. And why not? If people find something funny, they're bound to keep reading in anticipation of some more humor.
But too much humor or misdirected humor can be off-putting, so use it sparingly.
38. Provide Solutions to Problems
If you want people to keep reading your content, you need to provide solutions to the problems they're facing—no beating around the bush, straight-up answers.
Whether a how-to guide or an in-depth analysis, your readers will appreciate your effort in helping them solve their issues.
So, the next time you're stuck on what to write about, consider the problems your target audience is facing and offer some helpful solutions. This also helps you become an expert on the subject; so, win-win.
39. Keep your Content Updated and Relevant
A fresh content piece is a healthy content piece.
One of the best ways to create engaging content is to update your content regularly.
Regularly updating content that you wrote a few months back is something the search engines appreciate. And your readers appreciate it too. And why not? Nobody likes to read outdated content.
Creating a content calendar and sticking to it is an excellent way to do this. When you're creating new content, you might forget the older pieces. And that's why putting them in your calendar as something to audit and update is always helpful. This will help you stay on track and ensure that your content is always fresh and engaging.
40. Create a Content Series
One way to engage your readers and have them return for more is by creating a content series like a content tree. This is where you focus on generating in-depth content on one idea or niche.
And it's quite logical. Communicating too many ideas at once will confuse your audience. If you run after too many rabbits, you'll catch none. So, one is enough if you focus on it well.
By focusing your blog on one idea, you can better engage your audience and ensure they walk away with a solid understanding of your message. In addition, you build your reputation as a thought leader in the niche.
Conclusion
Writing that engages your readers is key to standing out from the competition. A good content writer understands the readers' needs and thinks from their perspective.
If you want to write content that engages your readers, you need to understand the needs of your audience. Once you know your audience's needs, you can start thinking about how to engage them.
Writing engaging can be both challenging and exciting. It's a journey; the more you write, the better it gets.
We looked at 40 ways you can generate engaging content. So, what are you waiting for? Begin experimenting.
