One of the most difficult things for many is creating great content.
There's a writer in all of us, but to some it is far more natural that others. We all know that writing great content is one of the best ways to get reviews and content shared to help generate quality links .
Here are a few tips to get you started.
1. Create a schedule for the weeks and months ahead.
2. Start planning: Select topics you feel passionate about. Follow your interests and knowledge. Leave gaps for topical, and newsworthy content.
3. Spend time researching your topics. Do the research in advance. Sometimes it'll stimulate other potential topics for future publication.
4. Work to the schedule you've created, but if it's too punishing a schedule you'll struggle to create good material effectively.
5. The best time to write is when your mind is most active, and for many it's in the morning.
6. More preparation: Understand your target audience to gauge the level complexity or depth. Clearly, writing for a younger audience requires different style compared to writing for a business audience.
7. Get ready and dive in to the research.
8. Start writing a short overview of the article to help focus the mind. Use bullet points if you prefer. Create a working title.
9. Now's the part most people struggle with: The actual writing. Avoid interruptions, turn off your phone, don't agonise. Some days it's just not going to flow. Don't make it over complex, and stick to natural language as if you're speaking to your friend about the topic. Include references for any facts, and link when appropriate. Use a good thesaurus and dictionary to help.
10. Don't worry if you're not satisfied. You'll have set aside some time to check and edit your document on your schedule. I always find that reading the document out aloud picks up obvious errors, but if you don't want to read it out yourself you could use a screen reader. You'd be surprised what it picks up when you hear it played back.
11. Once you're satisfied, publish according to your schedule.
12. Don't forget to promote the article through your favourite methods.
Anyone with other tips and ideas?