In the battle for online supremacy, original content rules.
So many small business owners know that they should be creating good quality, original content as often as possible, but they struggle to find inspiration or time, or just don’t believe they have the skills to do it.
I thought I would share a couple of the online tools I recommend to clients who are wanting to start writing their own content but just need some extra assistance to dive in.
If you are ever stuck for an idea on what to write about, Quora can give you inspiration in an instant. It is a platform on which people ask and answer questions 24/7. I recommend that anyone aiming to write interesting content should sign up, track the topics that are relevant to their business, and then start providing some short answers to relevant questions.
You will quickly find a topic to address or question to answer that you could write 300 - 500 words on without blinking. Voila, there is our next blog post.
Hemingway is a hidden gem. The tool is designed to help your writing become bolder and clearer. You simply copy and paste your content into the app and it will colour code everything and give you an overall Readability rating. Work through the process to create as many good quality sentences as possible and before you know it the flow and style of your writing is reading to hit the Huffington Post!
I like to keep a copy of my work before it goes into Hemingway and compare it to the final output. It is an amazing tool for self-education and helps eradicate so many unnecessary words from your writing style.
It is no secret that the perfect picture can make all the difference when it comes to catching our audience’s ever-shortening attention. There are hundreds of free photography sites out there but one of my personal favourites is Unsplash. They have some phenomenal contributors and the quality of work never wavers. Think outside the box when finding the right photo and don’t forget to credit the photographer.
You often see really long links shared in social media posts which take away from the quality of the message being shared. Bitly is an awesome tool for shortening your links so they don’t dominate a post, allowing your one sentence hook to capture a potential readers attention. Taking it a step further, Bitly also allows you to track links and gather data on interactions so you can see what works best for the audience you are targeting. Bitly have shortened over 28 billion links so far!
The final challenge is getting your content to the widest possible audience. We can boost posts and tag hundreds of people but it will only get us so far. The online world is always looking for good content so you just need to know where to share it.
Amplify by Outbrain is a service that helps your content appear on a number of premium sites across the web. It directs readers back to your site giving you higher opportunities at converting customers.
SourceBottle is a great place to register your interest in being called upon as an expert in your field. You can also share your content with media outlets, online magazines or blogs who are looking for specific information that you might be qualified to write about.
Taking your first steps when writing original content is so often the biggest hurdle. Hopefully some of these tips and tools can assist you in building a solid foundation, so you can develop a strategy that supports your business online and attracts more customers.
If there are any other interesting tools that you use in your content creation journey I would love to hear about them.