It's a well-known fact that content creation is one of the most important areas of successful marketing. But how can you make sure your content converts? How do you know if you're writing engaging, valuable, and convincing content?

The process is easy, and efficient and requires practically no extra work on your part.

I'm going to share with you the steps I take in content writing. These steps have been used by me and many successful content writers and I believe they will help make your content stand out among the crowd.

Use a Strong Headline

Your headline is the first thing readers will see, and it's crucial to get this right. It should be clear, concise, and relevant to the content of your article.

The ideal length for a headline is between 6-8 words—this is enough to capture attention without being too long or wordy. If you're having trouble fitting all of your keywords into that space, try writing two headlines: one with all of your key terms and another that focuses on what the article is about (i.e., how it will help readers solve their problem).

Ideally, you want a catchy phrase that encapsulates what's most important about your post in just one sentence. For instance: "How I Made a Software That Generated $15k In One Year."

A good way to capture attention in a headline is by including an action verb (or noun) so there's something specific for readers to do when they read it; for instance: "How I Launched My First Tech Product in 5 Days".

Confirm Your Topic with Keyword Research

To confirm your topic, you'll want to do keyword research. This is a process of looking at the search volume for your chosen keywords, the competition for those keywords, and the difficulty in ranking for them.

You can use tools such as Google Keyword Planner or Moz Keyword Explorer to do this. You'll want to look at search volume first so that you can avoid choosing a topic that has little interest or demand from potential customers.

Once you're confident in your topic selection, look at how difficult it will be to rank on page one of Google (or whichever search engine you prefer). A high difficulty score indicates that many other websites have optimized their site well enough to get their content into top rankings on this subject. This means that yours won't stand out and get clicks if it isn't very well written!

Ask questions.

Asking questions is a great way to engage your audience and get them involved. It also makes you look like an expert because it shows that you know what you're talking about.

However, make sure to pose questions that are relevant and useful for readers. If a question doesn't add anything to the article, don't ask it! Don't waste time or space on things that don't matter.

Examples: "Will this ever end?" "What do we do now?"

Craft Compelling Opening and Closing Paragraphs

The opening and closing paragraphs are a great place to include persuasive language that will compel your readers to take action. This section will give you some examples of what these paragraphs should look like and how you can use persuasive language in them.

Opening Paragraph: The first paragraph of any blog post is extremely important because it often sets the tone for the rest of the content. You want to grab your reader's attention right off the bat, so make sure it's compelling by providing a summary of what they'll learn in this article and why they should care about it. Keep this paragraph short—no more than two sentences—and make sure it ends with a strong call-to-action (CTA).

Closing Paragraph: The last paragraph is also crucial because it permits people to leave if they're not interested in learning more about your topic or buying from you yet. This is usually where most writers will include their CTA again, but there are other ways that you can close out an article as well. You could ask questions or raise doubts about why someone shouldn't buy from you yet so that readers feel compelled by their curiosity about those answers or lack thereof if appropriate for your business model (such as asking who would benefit from using [product name] versus competitors' products).

Use the Middle Portion to Explain the Topic in Detail

The middle portion of your article is the place to go into detail about the topic at hand. For example, if I'm writing about "how to write content that converts," my middle section might explain how you can use customer testimonials and case studies to convince visitors that your product or service is invaluable and worth buying.

In this section, it's also important to mention any other resources or tools you've found helpful in your research.

Use Pictures, Tables, and Video to Break Up Text

You can also break up the text by using images. Images are a great tool for adding context to your content, as well as emotional impact or humor.

If you have a lot of information to convey in one place, then it might be helpful to use tables and charts. You should also consider including videos in your blog posts and articles.

Use the word "you" more often than "I" or "we."

Writing in the second person has its benefits: it's more engaging and personal, and it can make readers feel like they're being spoken directly to. To that end, use the word "you" more often than "I" or "we."

This is especially true when you're writing about your product or service. For example, instead of saying "we offer affordable web hosting," say something like "the best web hosting is available at." It's much more direct and specific—and will therefore give readers a better sense of what they can expect from your company if they choose to do business with you.

Write a Compelling Call-to-Action

Now that you've got your reader's attention and they're ready to learn more, it's time to ask them to take action. This is where a call-to-action (CTA) is useful.

A CTA is any word or phrase that encourages the reader to complete an intended action. It can be as simple as “Click Here” or as complex as a whole paragraph with multiple CTAs. The purpose of CTAs on landing pages and lead generation forms is so you can direct people to whatever stage of the sales process you want them at. For example, if your goal is for people who visit the landing page with concerns about XYZ product solutions to become qualified leads for your sales team by submitting their contact information, then one of your CTAs would read “Become A Lead!”

Create material that's worthy of being linked to and shared.

When you write content that's valuable to readers, it's also likely to be valuable for search engines. This is because the types of topics that are popular on social media are usually relevant and useful—and therefore more likely to attract links from other websites. If your content can help people solve a problem or answer a question, chances are good that others will want to share it with their audience as well.

Don't be faceless.

You should be using your name and a picture of yourself. This isn't to say that you have to put a photo of yourself on every page, but having an image of the person who writes the content is an important way for your audience to connect with you as an individual. It also helps them understand that there's a real person behind the words rather than some faceless corporation or anonymous blogger.

In addition to images of yourself, consider including photos of your team members, office space and facilities, products/services/services in action (for example: "Here’s how we made this product,"), customers using their products/ services/services (with permission), etc.)

Be social.

Social media is a great way to get your content in front of your audience, but it's also an effective tool for building relationships with them. If you want to write compelling content that converts, you need to spend time on social media interacting with potential customers and building trust.

Use social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn as part of your marketing strategy and engage with others who are interested in similar topics as you. You should also use these platforms to interact with customers who have purchased from you or may be interested in doing so soon.

To maximize this opportunity:

  • Post regularly – posting consistently makes it easier for people to find new updates about your business or blog and increases traffic over time;
  • Post relevant information – make sure you don't just post links back to your website without any context (that's spammy), but instead share links that are relevant both within the context of what someone might be searching for and what they're reading at any given moment;
  • Use hashtags – Using hashtags can help boost engagement by making posts more searchable across multiple networks;
  • Use different social media channels – try using Instagram for photos, YouTube for videos, Snapchat for interviews/engagement opportunities, etc.

Set up a Google alert for your name (or the name of your business).

To make sure you’re always in the know, set up a Google alert for your name (or the name of your business). The search engine will send you an email anytime someone publishes something on the web that includes those keywords. You can then either write a post about that topic yourself or use it as inspiration for an existing piece.

This is also a great tool for finding new content ideas: Just put “[your industry]” into Google News and see what comes up!

SEE ALSO Webinar: Transform your Mindset into your Desired Reality by Leveraging Digital Skills and Opportunities.

Conclusion 

Of course, the most important takeaway from our guide is the step-by-step process involved in writing content that converts. These steps should give you a good place to start when you're trying to come up with your next content writing, blog post, or article, and they should provide insight into what goes into creating compelling content. Just remember: if you can follow these steps for your content, chances are that other content creators or bloggers will be able to follow them as well—and that can only mean good things for your conversions!


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Joshua Ogunlade is a Content Creator, having created valuable content ranging from Articles, Graphic Design to Video Content. Digital Skills Enthusiast, helped small and top businesses with digital marketing strategies to scale up their game. 

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