How to write engaging content that people will read

If you’re like most business owners, you probably struggle to come up with content to post on your website and social media accounts. You know you need to create posts, but you’re not sure what to write about that your readers will actually care about.

Before I get into what to write, I want to first talk about what NOT to write.

When it comes to content, there are two common mistakes I see many people make.

Fluff
The first mistake is that they write “fluff”. What I mean by that is content that is minor, with no real information related to your business

Example:


An accountant posts:  “What’s your favourite pizza?”


Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with the post itself. The problem is that it’s posted by an accountant. Now, if a pizza parlour posted the same thing, that would be different, because the post IS relevant to that type of business.

But even if you post something relevant to your business, it can still be fluff.

Let’s take our accountant example again. Imagine she posted 8 times on Facebook in one month. Here are the posts.

1.       Income tax season is here
2.       Happy birthday to our Admin Assistant, Jean
3.       Who likes paying taxes?
4.       We are open to help you
5.       Appointments now available
6.       We are busy!
7.       Did you get a refund?
8.       How will you spend your refund?

That’s fluff. It seems as though she is posting just for the sake of posting, without putting much thought into it. The posts aren’t really meaningful to the reader.

If these types of posts appeared once in a while, that might be okay. But if that’s all you're posting, then it’s just a bunch of—you guessed it—fluff.

Opinions
The second type of mistake I see people make is that they write about their opinions. I see many articles that are basically just the writer’s opinion about a certain topic.

Examples:


A graphic designer posts:

Why I think the Government should increase funding to schools
                          
                                A Wedding Planner posts:
The problem with skateboard parks

Don’t get me wrong, there are certain types of business where writing opinions might be okay (for example a newspaper, or a financial advising firm). And there are times when it might be okay in your business, if the opinion is related to something that is going on in your industry. But to be honest, those times should be rare.

What your readers want
Your readers aren’t interested in fluff, or in opinions. What they are truly interested in is this:

How can you help them solve a problem?


Your readers read your posts to find help of some kind related to your industry. That means they want to learn how to do something (or do it better, faster, cheaper, etc.). They basically have a problem (or a need) and they are looking to you for help.

Let’s say your business is graphic design and you specialize in helping small businesses create their websites. Which of the following topics do you think your customers would be more interested in reading about?

  1. What’s wrong with politics today

  2. How to get free photos to use on your website


Not to say that your article on politics might not be interesting, but people haven’t come to your website to learn about politics, they came to learn about graphic design. They want to learn how to solve some problem related to that.

Here’s another example, this time for a pizza parlour. Which of the following do you think patrons might be more interested in reading about?

  1. Why I think the new government regulations on Food Safety negatively impact the pizza industry.

  2. How to reheat your pizza in the microwave without making the crust tough


Even though #1 is relevant to the industry in question (pizzas), readers probably won’t be that interested. But #2 is something that is helpful to them.

Here are a few more examples of posts that different types of businesses could use that would help solve a problem or meet a need for their readers. Each of the examples below gives you the title of the post and a short snippet of what’s in the full post.

FOR A BAKERY

How to make the best whipped cream for your desserts
Want to make whipped cream the way professional chefs do? It’s not as hard as you might think! Read on to discover a simple way to…..

FOR A DOG WALKING SERVICE

How to easily and safely remove ticks
No question—there are more ticks around these days than there used to be. That means Fido is more likely to bring one of these unwelcome guests home…..

FOR A YARD/LAWN MAINTENANCE COMPANY

How to keep your roses blooming all summer long
Roses can be finicky. But we’re going to give you 5 tried and true tips to help you have beautiful blooms that last…..

Notice that each of the above posts gives readers information that solves a problem.

Can I give away too much information?

One of the objections I often get from my clients is that they are afraid that giving away too much information for free means their customers won’t have any need to buy from them.

But take a careful look at the topics of the posts listed above. The posts are giving away helpful advice, not free products or services. You can post about things that are related to your product/service, without giving away what you actually sell.

I should add, however, that if your business offers services as opposed to products, then giving some of your service/advice away in a post CAN be a good tactic. It depends on the type of business you are in.

Let’s say our accountant writes a post that contains tax tips. That is, essentially, giving away some of her expertise for free. However, there is a return on her investment. Her audience may be more likely to hire her because she has shown them her value. With her posts, she is building trust. But you do want to be careful to not give everything away for free!

So, when writing a post, ask yourself these questions.

  • Is my post topic related to my business?

  • Is my post content solving a problem? (or a need, want, etc.)

  • Is my post topic something my readers would likely be interested in?


If you can answer no to any of those three questions, then your post topic probably isn’t the best.

So stop posting fluff or opinions. Focus instead on providing helpful content that “shows” how to do something.  You will build customer loyalty and trust and, in the long run, sales.

Regards,
Tim
Helping you engineer the business of you

Tim Ragan