As Stephen King says, “If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot”.

Content writing can be difficult. It requires a combination of creativity and technical precision, a mastery of storytelling and marketing, and a knowledge of how to turn those ideas into prose that attracts and persuades an audience. 

Sometimes the best writing comes from observing the world around you. We all have something to say, and some of us are more talented than others when it comes to putting our thoughts into words. With a little bit of study, practice, and these 5 ingredients you can become a great writer too!

1. Write an attention-grabbing headline

   If you only have a few seconds to grab someone’s attention and make them want to read more, then writing killer headlines is key. 

   Create a sense of urgency. People love to be told about the benefits of your product, but sometimes advertisers get so excited about the features that they reveal too much. If you want to create excitement around your product or service, keep the headline focused and give just enough detail to create curiosity. Too much detail and you risk boredom or driving off potential customers with confusing information.

   People love to learn new things, so make sure your headlines include instructional phrases like “you need to know” and “why you should.”

2. Write an interesting intro 

   You’ve just hooked your reader. Now it’s time to reel them in. Use a strong logline to quickly summarize your content and entice them to read on.

   Nothing says “I am a credible resource” like starting with a solution and then backing it up with examples, tips, and proof. Headlines act as an entry point for people to discover your content, so giving them what they want within the first few sentences makes it an easy decision to read on.

   No matter what your content is or the people you’re trying to reach, creating a snappy introduction is a great way to hook your audience. But no one knows your content better than you. To keep it from being too generic or vague, start by thinking about who your audience really is—their age, location, interests and quirks—and what they’re likely to expect from reading this piece of content.

3. Stick to your brand’s voice

   Brand voice is a key concept in content marketing. It describes the tone, style and personality that a brand uses when creating content online. In other words, it’s what makes one brand stand out from another. 

   When you know how to nail your brand voice, you can attract followers and build trust quickly with your audience.

   A consistent brand voice is a powerful thing—and it can help you attract more of the right customers, grow your business, and tell a relevant story through any medium. But it takes effort to create and maintain, which is why we’ve developed this guide to help brands everywhere find their own unique voice.

   The more copy you create, the better you’ll get at expressing your brand’s voice. The point of this article isn’t to make you content writing Jedi after one read, but to give you the tools to start thinking about how your brand sounds and what it says.

4. Add trust factors

   Why should readers choose your content over anyone else’s? One of the best ways to stand out from the crowd is to make your content trustworthy. If people know your content is well researched and authoritative, they’re more likely to click on it.

   There are thousands of articles available online. Even if you’re in an obscure niche, there will be hundreds of others covering similar topics. How can you stand out from the crowd? The best way to do this is through trust-building. If people know that your content is well researched and authoritative, they’re more likely to click on it than a random article from somewhere else.

   Make your content more credible by linking to popular sources in your community. Learn how to get other people to link to your content and get good sites to link back.

5. Provide Knowledge That Readers Want

   As the old saying goes, “Don’t expect me to do your research for you.” No one likes having to do Google searches when they don’t have time or patience for it. They just want the answers right away. If they don’t find them in your article, they won’t feel confident enough in you—or your brand—to return and trust what you have to say again.

   Keyword research is the first step in creating effective content for your business. It helps you figure out what people want to learn about, which means you can create better content that appeals to your target audience.

   In order to maximize your reach and get people to engage with your content, it’s important you figure out what people want from it before you start writing.

   Conclusion

   Great content writing starts with defining your target audience. Start with them in mind every time and chances are you’ll create better content.

   If you don’t understand who you’re writing for, what they want to hear from you, or what motivates them, you could be creating content destined for a poor response. Write for the right people and you’re more likely to create compelling content that generates leads and sales.

   Writing isn’t just a hobby, it’s an art form. And like any other activity, the more you practice it, the better you’ll become.  So keep writing and look back on posts you’ve written in the past to see how much you’ve improved.