If you read the most of the articles about content marketing and content creation, they make it seem like it’s something that you could do half asleep, before you’ve even had your first cup of coffee. That might have been true, back in the Wild West days of the internet, but it isn’t true anymore. A lot of the best niches have been taken and if you want to get attention, you’ve got to go about it the right way.

So what is the right way? I’m glad you asked. That’s what I’m going to devote this article too.

Not thinking about SEO

It used to be that Search Engine Optimization had a bit of a bad rep. There were lots of black hats around trying to game the system. The thing is, that’s changed. Google and the other search engines have gotten ever better at figuring out the cheats from the real deal.

The result? Creating good content and creating something that is highly SEO worthy are going ever more hand in hand. So how do you optimize for SEO? Well, if you’ve got a WordPress website then you’re in luck. All you really need to do is install Yoast. It will tell you a whole lot of things that you should do.

• Putting your keywords in the title. This is essential, as Google quite rightly believes that if it’s important, then it should be part of the title.
• Putting the keywords in the URL. Another logical place for you to put your Keywords is in the URL.
• Putting the keyword in the first paragraph. For the same reason as outlined above.
• Sprinkling the keywords throughout the text. Now you’re not supposed to keyword load. That will detract from your text’s readability. Still, having it appear more often (at most about 1% of the time) will help.

That’s just a few of them. Check out Yoast for the rest. That alone, however, will already make sure that you’re going to rank better than most.

Trying to do it alone

You really should get more people involved for a number of reasons.

1. The quality of your content will go up, as they spot mistakes, give you suggestions and introduce topics that you hadn’t even thought about.
2. By getting more people involved and having them feel that they own a piece of content, they’re far more likely to let friends, acquaintances and their social networks know. That’s free adverting, right there.
3. If the person that you’re getting involved has any authority, then that authority automatically rubs off on your content.

For those reasons and no doubt others, try to pull people into your content creation. If you’re creating content as a company, then ask colleagues. If you’re creating content on your own, then interview people or get guest authors.

Thinking it’s done when you’ve put up the article

The truth is that putting up your content is only half the battle. There is so much more that needs to be done! Specifically, you need to get your articles in front of readers. For that to happen you need to build up your social network, find other content creators who are interested in similar things and share it with and find other websites through which you can push your product.

Particularly if you don’t have a big marketing budget with which to get your content out there, you need to constantly be finding new ways to put your content in front of new readers. Only when you’ve got some kind of critical mass when people know you, respect you and will seek you out on your own, can you slow down in this regard.

Even then, you probably shouldn’t, for your content is only ever as valuable as the readership it has.

Forgetting that most people online are skim readers

Most people don’t have time to read everything you’ve written. They’re far more likely to read a few words here and there. For that reason, unless you want to lose the majority of your audience, make sure that you cater for their needs.

How do you do that? Use bullet points, use lists, and use headlines. This will make your content far easier to read. While you’re at it, make sure your sentences and your paragraphs are short and to the point. That will make your reading far more digestible.

Using Jargon

There is no better way to lose most of your audience than to make your text incomprehensible to them and the best way to do that is by using words that only people in your particular industry are interested in. Sure, your content might be mainly directed at them, but what if somebody comes along who is new to the industry and trying to get to grips with certain subjects? Would you like to have them close your content in frustration?

Of course not! Quite the opposite. These are exactly the people that you want to keep reading your content. After all, they’ve not yet built up a whole list of experts in your industry to turn to. You might very well be their first one. And so, you’ve got a perfect chance to create a follower. Don’t waste it by creating content that they can’t understand.

So, if you use any abbreviations, the first time you use it to write it out in full. Similarly, if there are any words that your grandmother wouldn’t be familiar with, offer a quick summary or (even better) link to another article on your website where you explain the phrase. They’ll appreciate it.

So will you in the long run.

Not editing your work

You know the difference between a good writer and a great writer? It’s editing. I kid you not. A great writer will never show you his or her first draft. They will always take the time to make it better. That’s because editing heightens accessibility, makes a text more engaging and lets you remove stupid mistakes that always slip into a text.

So edit your text! Make sure that your metaphors and parables are relevant to your audience (for example, if you’re writing for a housewife audience, you might not want to use a sports simile). Make sure that your text is chopped into useful bits, with clear headlines that separate them out. And check for spelling and grammar mistakes.

Even better, don’t just edit it when you put it online, but come back to it later, as you learn more. In this way, you can make a text better and better. In fact, Google likes it when you edit texts and assumes that if you do, that they stay relevant. So there’s a cherry on this cake.

Last words

It happens to us all. We get stuck in a way of doing things and plateau in whatever we’re doing. That happens in your work, in your life, and in your content creation. In these cases, you need to get a shock to the system to make sure that your skill level and the quality of what you’re doing once again start to improve.

For that reason, don’t just read the suggestions I’ve given here, but make sure that you incorporate them into what you’re doing. That might be just the shock you need to start improving again. And that will be what you need to boost your content creation career.

Contributed byhttp://flashessay.com/