Content Writing

Content is King How to Write Killer Content for the Web By Steve McDonald

Dedication A special thanks to all of my amazing Udemy students. Your valuable feedback has made all the difference.

Edited by Marian the Librarian

Copyright 2018 Stephen McDonald

Table of Contents Introduction 11 Killer Advantages You'll Gain from This Book

Chapter 1 - Recognize Killer Content Different Types of Content Value Makes Content Killer

Chapter 2 - Find Killer Ideas Brainstorming Powerful Keyword Tools Amazon Bestseller List Forums and Websites for Related Niches Your Passion and Experience Evergreen vs. Trending Content

Chapter 3 - Use Killer Keywords How to Choose Keywords

Chapter 4 - Understand Your Audience You Can’t Write for Everyone Demographics

Chapter 5 - Write Killer Content 1. Value 2. Voice and Tone 3. Flow

Chapter 6 - Persuade Your Reader Know Your Reader Social Proof Call to Action

Chapter 7 - Master Titles and Descriptions What's in It for Me? Writing Titles Writing Descriptions

Chapter 8 - Edit Your Content 5 Things to Look for While Editing. Communicating with an Editor

Self-Editing

Conclusion

Introduction Are you ready to learn how to write killer content so you can: - Win an audience - Attract more traffic - And make more money? Whether it’s for an eBook, blog, website, or video, many of the same principles apply. In fact, you can customize what you learn here for writing print books, email newsletters, web articles, video scripts, or just about any other type of content that lives on the web. Hi. I’m Steve McDonald; I make my living from web content. My claim to fame is that I have published over 100 Kindle and print books. I also teach 12 courses at Udemy.com. I write a lot of content myself, including books, blog posts, and the scripts for all of my Udemy courses. I also frequently edit, re-write, and publish the work of other writers. Check out the list of books I have edited and published here. (You’ll notice they are written my many different authors, but my name is on the copyright page. That’s because I have edited and published all of them and I own the rights to them.) All my time spent writing, reading, and editing has taught me to recognize the difference between ordinary content and killer content.

What You'll Gain from Reading This Book You'll learn how to write better. You’ll learn how to be more persuasive, which means people will click on your titles and descriptions, read more of your content, and click on your calls to action. Your writing will be more interesting. You'll learn how to make your content more valuable to your readers so they like you more, appreciate you more, are more loyal to you, and want to read more of your content. That's good for you because it means more traffic to your books, websites, blogs, videos, and emails. More traffic means more purchases of your products and sign-ups to your email lists, which ultimately ends in more money in your pocket. You'll be able to write faster because you'll have simple tools for structuring your content that you can use with everything that you write. You'll feel more confident writing content because you'll know what it's supposed to look like, and you’ll know how to write content that gets results. Once you have a deep understanding of what good content writing looks like, it'll be easier to overcome writer's block and to be productive as a writer because you'll know exactly what to do each time you sit down to write.

In this book you’ll learn how to: 1. Find Awesome Ideas (and expand and develop those ideas for more related content) 2. Understand Your Audience (so you can make your content extremely valuable to them specifically) 3. Make Your Content Effective (by adding value, using your unique voice, and creating flow in your content) 4. Write Persuasive Copy (so you can get your message across clearly and inspire your readers to take action) 5. Write Killer Titles and Descriptions (so people will want to click through and read you content) 6. Edit Your Content (to make it even better) Are you ready to become a killer copywriter?

Chapter 1 Recognize Killer Content First, let’s take a look at the different types of content commonly found on the web. Then, we’ll talk about the differences between ordinary content and killer content.

Different Types of Content eBooks The wonderful thing about eBooks is that people pay for your content directly. You create the content. They buy the content from you. It’s that simple. If you select your topic correctly and package your eBook content correctly - create a great Cover, Title, Description and Keywords you don’t have to do any additional advertising to make money from it. The challenge with eBooks is that all of the content has to be created at one time, and the content has to be good. It also has to be formatted correctly to be read on an e-reader device. Websites and Blogs The beauty of websites and blogs is that you can create a wide variety of content and add it as you go. You can start out with a simple five or ten-page website and add a page a week for two years. If you did that, you would end up with a 250-page website. You can also monetize websites in a wide variety of ways including AdSense (I'll explain more about that later), affiliate programs, selling your own products, selling other peoples’ products, and more. The challenge of websites is that you have to use SEO strategies, like keywords and backlinks, to drive traffic to your site. Then, you must sell to those visitors after they’ve arrived in order to make any money. Video Video is quickly growing as one of the most important forms of content on the web. Whether it’s information videos on YouTube, a promo video on your blog, or an entire video course that you’re selling, people love to watch videos. Video is a great way to engage your audience. The challenge with videos is that they are more work than simple text. While sound and video are outside the scope of this book, many of the principles that you’ll learn about great content writing apply to writing scripts and outlines for your video content. Whether it’s homemade or highly produced, you can provide killer content to your viewers through video.

Value Makes Content Killer “Killer content creates value for your reader.”

If you do a Google search for “what makes great content?” you can find lists of things that comprise great content. You'll find words like this: - Original - Shareable - Actionable - Well-written - Great headline All of these things are true, but at the end of the day the one thing that really matters is that you provide value to the reader. Every time you sit down to write content ask yourself this question.

“How is this providing value to my reader?” Yes, the reader needs to find your content, and we'll talk about using keywords to make it easier to find your content. Yes, it needs to be original, and we'll talk about some great ways to come up with original ideas. Yes, it needs to be actionable, otherwise your killer content doesn't benefit you by growing your audience and making you money. We'll talk about how to create an effective call to action. Just remember to constantly ask yourself, “How is this providing value to my reader?” Do that, and you will improve your content dramatically.

Chapter 2 Find Killer Ideas In this chapter, you’ll learn how to find killer ideas for your content. There are a number of places you can go to find ideas. These include using brainstorming to mine your own brain’s data base, using powerful keyword lookup tools, using search suggestions from major search engines, and more.

Brainstorming Brainstorming is when you sit down and spontaneously come up with ideas or solutions to a problem. The key to brainstorming is spontaneity. Spontaneity allows the creative side of your brain to work in ways that the logical side can’t. It takes a little practice, but after a few brainstorming sessions you’ll be surprised at the killer ideas that are lurking just outside the reach of your conscious mind. Start by thinking about what you want to write about in general. If you already have a basic idea, like gardening, for example, then brainstorming will help you dig up more things to write about gardening. If you don’t know what to write about yet, then brainstorming will help you to come up with some killer ideas to get you started.

Brainstorming Step-by-Step The very first thing you should do when searching for new ideas is to start a brainstorming list. You can do this on your computer in a text document, like Word, or even in a paper notebook. Use whatever method you feel most comfortable with. 1. Write down every idea you can think of. You want as many ideas as you can possibly have, so just write down everything. Do it as a list, not a paragraph, so it’s easier to look through later. Bonus tip: One thing I like about the Inkpad notepad app is you can turn the microphone on and record your voice as text. Sometimes I pace around the room or lie on the floor while I ramble off a bunch of ideas into the mic. Later, I’ll pull up the Inkpad app on my computer and go through my notes, organize them and add to them using the keyboard. 2. Don’t censor yourself AT ALL. Write down EVERY idea no matter how stupid, weird, or obscure it might sound. Just write it down without judgement and move on to the next idea. 3. Don’t stop writing until the brainstorming session is over. Just write and write and write. You can set a timer for five minutes, if you want to make it more structured, or you can just write until you feel like you’re done. Again, don’t censor yourself. You can weed out the crazy ideas later, but some of those can lead to other inspiring ideas, so don’t censor them while brainstorming.

4. Outside inspiration (optional). Now that you have vomited out all of the ideas floating around in your head, it’s time to look for ideas outside of your head. Go to your favorite source of inspiration, whether it’s a book of quotes, Google trends, Facebook, a talkative friend, or the view out your window. Whatever inspires you, look for ideas there. This will probably generate a shorter list, but it will give you a different perspective. Write down anything that you come up with. 5. Refine the list. Now, take your list and browse through it. Narrow your list down to eight or ten of the best ideas. Look for ideas with potential and highlight them, circle them, or create a new list for your top ideas. 6. Broad research. Using this shorter list, do a little research. Search the web for each idea and look for related topics. Don’t be afraid to wander off on any tangents you find. Often, you will find entirely new directions to take your content. 7. Specific research. Now, narrow down your list to one or two topics that are really showing promise and research the heck out of them. This doesn’t have to take a lot of time. Just search the web for anything interesting. Bookmark interesting websites or articles that you find, so you can refer to them later. 8. Keep brainstorming. Brainstorming doesn’t stop after you get up from your desk. You have just kick started your brain to start looking for ideas. It will find them. When it does, write them down. Add them to the list, or start new lists and go through the process again to generate new content ideas.

Brainstorming Tips Here are some tips that I use to get more out of my brainstorming sessions. 1. I have a simple text document on my computer where I can type tons of idea lists and notes about ideas. 2. I always have a paper spiral notebook for writing outlines and notes, so I can more easily look at them while I’m typing on the computer without toggling between screens. 3. I use an app, called Inkpad Notepad, on my cell phone, so I can take notes when I’m out and about or when I wake up in the middle of the night with a great idea. (You could use Evernote or any other note-taking app that you feel comfortable with.) The goal of brainstorming is to just get as many ideas written down as possible in a set period of time. Once you get good at brainstorming, you will have more great ideas for killer content than you could possibly use in a lifetime. When you reach that point, you’ll focus more of your brainstorming efforts on refining and expanding the best ideas, so you can create tons of Killer Content about those topics. Brainstorming isn’t a one-time thing. You can use the brainstorming process over and over. You can always be adding to your list of ideas and creating new lists. You can even brainstorm during a writing project to find new directions to go with your content.

Often, the best ideas pop into your head when you are not trying to come up with ideas, like just before you fall asleep. Ideas can come while you’re driving in your car, while you’re brushing your teeth, or while you’re talking to a friend at dinner. When an idea pops into your head, stop and make yourself a quick note. Soon, you’ll have more ideas than you know what to do with.

Powerful Keyword Tools Let's talk about how you can use keyword tools to find great ideas for your next content. The most popular keyword tool is called the Google AdWords Keyword Planner. The Google AdWords Keyword Planner is a free tool that was designed to help people who are buying advertising on Google to find relevant keywords to bid on. The magic of it is that it’s a free tool that you can use to do powerful keyword research, even if you aren’t buying advertising on AdSense. The drawback is that you have to have an existing website to use it. If you don't have a website, there are other free tools online that you can use just by doing a simple Google search for “free keyword tools.” I’ll show you more about this later in the book. Here’s a simple way to use these tools to come up with ideas. First, do a brainstorming session to create a rough list of ideas. Then, take that list of ideas and enter them into one of the keyword tools such as Google AdWords Keyword Planner. Finally, scroll through the results and look for related or even unrelated ideas that give you new directions for content. In chapter 3, I’ll show you how to use the Google AdWords Keyword Planner and other free online keyword tools not only to find content ideas, but to find killer keywords as well.

Amazon Bestseller List The Amazon bestseller list is an amazing way to see what subjects are popular. It’s great for coming up with ideas for Kindle eBooks, and it's also good for researching popular content ideas for a website or blog. To use this technique, you go to Amazon.com, then click on “shop by department” and then click on “kindle books.” Click on “best sellers” and this will give you the top 100 paid eBooks for all of Kindle. Now, that’s not going to tell you a whole lot because those are usually fiction and romance categories, which tend to be really popular and hard to rank well for. So, what you want to do to really drill down to find great sub-niche ideas, is go to the "subcategories" on the left side of the screen. Let's say you want to write a book about business.

If you want to do entrepreneurship, then you go to “entrepreneurship,” then “small business.” Click on that and you will see a bunch of different titles that can give you some really great ideas for what is popular right now and what people are buying. When I click on the “small business” category, I see several books about passive income, and several about starting an Etsy shop. That tells me that in the entrepreneurship category, passive income and Etsy books are very popular right now. Remember, you can drill down even deeper if you need to. Keep clicking until you get into very specific categories to really find out what is selling in the smaller niches. Then, when you find some books that are related to what you're interested in, take a look at the description, reviews and contents to find out what’s appealing about it. This isn't for the purpose of copying the book but for the purpose of getting ideas about successful niche subjects that you can write about. Another thing you can do is go to the search bar and type in a keyword from your list - for instance entrepreneurship, or make money - and see what Amazon suggests for you. You can do the same thing with the Google search bar and it will suggest popular subjects that are related to your subject. Imagine this: If people type in the word entrepreneur and it pops down the suggested search phrase entrepreneurial ideas, then they're pretty likely to click on that—which means that a lot of people have been going to the search results for entrepreneurial ideas. Naturally, you would want to create content specifically about that to accommodate your potential readers. A side note about suggested search: Take these suggestions with a grain of salt, because they are often tailored to your personal search history. Still, they can be helpful in giving you general ideas.

Forums and Websites for Related Niches One great way to find popular content is to do simple Google searches. Type in a word you’re interested in and browse the top 20-30 search results to get an idea of what is popular. If you want to write a book about gardening, do a Google search for “gardening”. When I search for gardening, I find a lot of general gardening websites, but I also find kids gardening, organic gardening, patio gardening, and container gardening. This is a quick way to expand your brainstorming list. Some of the things you find, like kids gardening, might surprise you. Forums are also an excellent way to get ideas. Forums offer something even more important than general trending ideas. They reveal what people need. People go to forums to complain, ask questions of other people, find information, and get help. It's a perfect place for you to find out what people want and what they need and what content might be lacking in their lives. These needs can be a great opportunity for you to create new and valuable content that fills those needs.

Your Passion and Experience Nothing beats passion and personal experience with a subject when it comes to writing killer content. If you write about something that you are passionate about, it comes through in your writing. Researched subjects are great if you're good at doing research, because it will provide quality information on your subject. If you combine that research with a passion for the subject and some personal experience, it adds a deeper level to the quality of the writing. Your passion for the material will make it more interesting, and the reader is more likely to feel engaged and connected to you and to the material. People want personal insights. People read information from other authors because they want to know what that author knows, not just what that author can regurgitate from the internet. People want personal tips and tricks from real life experience.

Evergreen vs. Trending Content When brainstorming your content ideas, it is important to understand the difference between evergreen content and trending content. Evergreen content, for the purpose of this book, means content that will remain valid without being updated or edited long into the future. The beauty of evergreen content is that you create it once and it can continue to be relevant, continue to draw traffic and continue to make you money for a long time. The drawback is that evergreen content sometimes lacks the sizzle and immediacy of trending content. Evergreen content is also somewhat less likely to go viral and get shared around quickly. History and how-to subjects are good examples of evergreen content. Trending content is just the opposite of evergreen content. It will likely only be valid for a short period of time and then it will expire or it will have to be edited to keep it current. The benefits are that it can ride the wave of popularity and take advantage of the viral nature of trends. The drawback is that once the subject is no longer popular, the content tends to expire, which means traffic dries up along with the money from that traffic. Celebrity gossip, current politics and fashion are examples of trending content. Trends can actually be fun to write about and draw a lot of profitable traffic. If you can successfully tap into content that follows or leads a trend and create an addicted following, you can be very successful over the short term. Before you create trending content, make sure that the subject is something you're passionate about. That way, you can continue to stay ahead of the trend and dazzle your followers months or years from now by providing new trending content on a regular basis. Trending content is well-suited to blogs, since blog posts are immediate and time sensitive.

Do you want evergreen or trending content? There’s no right or wrong answer as long as you understand what is required to make it work successfully. Do you want to put your content out there and leave it while the traffic grows slowly? Or do you want to chase trends, create viral content and add frequent updates to dazzle an information-addicted audience? With the right planning, you can even do a hybrid of the two types of content to create a nice balance. Create some content that is evergreen and some content that attempts to capture the trends. An example of this would be if you have a website about makeup tutorials. You could create quality evergreen content about basic techniques and styles, and then add trending content about new hot styles as they arise.

Chapter 3 Use Killer Keywords A keyword is a word or phrase that search engines use to help people find what they are looking for online. A person types in a word or phrase and the search engine searches its database for results that relate to that specific word or phrase. There are very sophisticated algorithms that help search engines determine which resources are chosen to be listed on the search results page. The search engines try to find the most relevant resource available, whether it’s a web page, blog, video, or product. It takes into account things like popularity, quality and quantity of reviews, and the number of other reputable sources linking to that resource. It also takes into account the relevance of the keywords associated with the content. The search engines look for keywords in the title or headlines, descriptions and the words found within the content itself. That means you get to decide what keywords are associated with your content. If people type in the keywords that are associated with your content and the algorithm likes your content, it will appear in the search results. Google is the most well-known search engine, but many people don’t realize that Amazon is also a huge search engine. The difference is that on Amazon people are searching for products to buy rather than free resources. That can be to your benefit if you are trying to sell something online.

How to Choose Keywords So, how do you find these keywords and how do you use them? Here are three strategies that you can mix and match to come up with good, relevant keywords to weave into your content.

1. Common Sense Your best resource is your own common sense. Think of someone you know who hates the idea of running but feels like they should start doing it for the sake of their health. What would they type into the search bar to find help with their problem? It would probably be something like running motivation tips, get started running, how to motivate yourself to start running, running tips for beginners, or how to overcome my hatred of running. By using common sense, you can see that those would be good keywords to include in your book or webpage’s title and description. Using just your common sense to come up with keywords will get you about half of the way there. Let’s take it a bit further to see if we can refine those keywords even more.

2. Amazon Search Results

Amazon search results can help you refine your keywords even more. Let’s say you want to write a Kindle eBook about running motivation. If you go to Amazon’s search bar and select Kindle Store and type running into the search bar, before you hit enter, you’ll notice that a list of suggested searches drops down. In mine I see running on empty, running with alphas, running barefoot, etc. I always do this to see if there are any golden nuggets that Amazon is trying to tell me about. In this case, none of these keywords are relevant to my book idea. In fact, using my common sense I can assume that the first two are titles of popular books, so I’ll ignore them for now. I would, however, do more research later on the phrase running barefoot, as that could be a great subject for another book. In this case I didn’t discover any new keyword golden nuggets, but often you will see Amazon suggesting something like running for beginners or running tips. You would definitely want to include those in your list of keywords, since Amazon is specifically telling you that those are words that people are looking for. Next, you can type in running and then add different letters of the alphabet after it, like running m or running c. When I enter running m, Amazon will then suggest search results that start with running m, such as running meditation and running memoirs. When I enter running c, it suggests things like running cookbook and running coach. These are all possible keywords to include in your list of keywords. Finally, let’s type in the phrase running motivation and hit enter to see what kinds of books come up. Browsing through the first page of titles we see phrases like, top running keys, fitter, faster, stronger, weight loss, fitness, health, running guide, running motivation, step by step formula to start running, how to run faster, etc. These are all good, relevant words so we’ll add them to the list. One thing to keep in mind is that Amazon will tailor your search results to your own browsing history and personal preferences. Remember to rely on your own common sense when choosing your final list of keywords. Important note: Always select the “Kindle Store” as your Amazon department before doing your search. Otherwise you’ll get suggestions for other products which can lead you astray. If you don’t find enough suggestions in the Kindle Store, try searching under “books”. This will expand your search to print books without getting too far into other product categories.

3. Google Search Results Just like with Amazon’s search results, you can use Google’s suggested search results to find ideas. Just type your keyword ideas into Google and see what it says. Google is trying to get you to the most relevant results for your search, so the phrases suggested by Google are good indications of what people are searching for. Remember that Google, like Amazon, is customizing these results to your past browsing history, so keep that in mind when deciding on the relevancy of the keywords it suggests.

Common sense is your best keyword research tool. Important note: If you’re creating a book, use Amazon’s suggest search ideas first as these are more specific to what book buyers are looking for. But if Amazon doesn’t provide enough ideas, Google search can still help expand your list. If you’re writing a webpage or blog post, start with Google.

4. Google Keyword Planner If you want to get really serious about keywords, you can turn to the Google AdWords Keyword Planner. As I mentioned earlier, the drawback with it is that you have to create an AdWords account in order to use it, and you have to have your own website. If you don’t have a website, you can use any number of similar free keyword research tools online. Just type in the words free keyword research tools in a search engine and you’ll find websites like this one, http://www.wordstream.com/keywords. Most free research tools will bring back almost identical results to the Google Keyword Planner. I just went to the Wordstream site and did a search for our running motivation phrase. It provided a bunch of interesting ideas. As I scroll down the list, I see keywords like running motivation quotes, running motivation tips, motivation to start running, motivation to keep running, and stay motivated running. I’ll add these keywords to the list. Note: I also see phrases like running motivation wallpaper, running motivation video, etc. Using common sense, you would ignore these, since they won’t be relevant to your book.

5. Amazon Bestseller List Previously, I mention the Amazon Bestseller List as a good way to come up with content ideas. It’s also a good way to find keywords. Comb through the bestseller list, see what is selling well in different categories, and look for recurring keywords in the titles. I use this all the time. I know I sound like a broken record, but it’s important to use your common sense here. If all of the bestselling books have the same keyword in the title, there is a good chance that it is a killer keyword. Always check to make sure that a popular keyword is not the original title of a book. For example, I see lots of people stealing the phrase “Square Foot Gardening” and using it in their titles. The reason it is so popular is that it is the actual title of a popular book. It is most like protected by copyright or even trademark, making it illegal to use that phrase. Even if it isn’t legally protected, it’s uncool to plagiarize, so don’t do it.

Chapter 4 Understand Your Audience Your audience is the life blood of your business. In this chapter, you’ll learn how to better understand them. Before you cast your net into the water, you need to know what kind of fish you want to catch. There’s no sense fishing for whales with a fly rod or trying to catch little shrimp with a big, open net. The same is true in writing killer content for your audience. You have to know who you’re trying to reach, what they like, and where they hang out before you set pen to paper. It’s obvious to most people that they need to know who their audience is, but it isn't obvious to most people just how important it is. It might just be the most important thing. Readers want to feel like you're talking to them specifically. Here’s a silly example. If you're talking to the little old Red Hat Society lady down the street, you have to talk differently to her than you would to her sixteen-year-old, football-playing grandson. In fact, you might find that these two individuals don't even speak the same language most of the time. If you start talking to the little old lady about quarterback sweeps, "Hail Marys" and what happens in the locker room, you're likely to see some shocked expressions. Similarly, if you try to talk to the football player about the difference between azaleas and zinnias or whether you prefer Darjeeling over Jasmine tea, he's probably going to roll his eyes and start looking for the exit. This is really obvious once you start to think about it. If you’re trying to draw traffic to sell football cleats on a website, you don't want to compare them to the color of zinnias. And if you want to sell Darjeeling tea on a website, you don’t want to describe it as “the king of the grid” or “the champion of teas.” This is a silly example, but the moral of the story is: spend some time thinking about who your audience is. At the very least, imagine who you would like your audience to be so you can write using the words, style, voice and language that your audience will understand. But you should go further than that. Define your audience in detail. The best way to do this is to discover your actual audience by browsing through niche forums or reading Amazon book reviews. If you have an email list through your blog or website, reach out to them. Ask them questions. Ask for feedback. You won’t always like the feedback you get, but it will take you one step closer to really understanding your audience. Think about their needs and desires with every word you write.

Will you maintain their interest with the words you are writing? Is your writing going to help them in some way? If not, you need to understand them better, or you need to change your content to better suit their needs.

You Can’t Write for Everyone One mistake that many writers make is trying to write for everyone. I’m certainly guilty of this. But if you try to write for everyone, you end up writing for no one. The best example of this is an audience of beginners versus an audience of experts. The way that you write for a beginner is completely different from how you write for experts. Beginners need to be introduced to the concept. In many cases they need encouragement or even convincing of why they should be interested in the subject in the first place. They need a broad overview of the subject followed by more detailed information. An expert, on the other hand, does not require general information about the subject. They require specific, detailed knowledge. They need the author to dig into very specific content areas to deepen their knowledge. Let’s say you’re writing an article about weight loss. In this example, an article for beginners might look like this: Simple Weight Loss Secrets for Beginners Someone with lots of weight loss experience, would look for an article more like this: Burn the Final Five - Proven Nutrition Secrets to Break Through the Weight-Loss Plateau Writing for Beginners vs. Experts Content for beginners is generally much easier to write. Because it is more general in nature, mastery is not usually required of the writer. You will also find that there is a wider audience for beginner content. There is always a group that is just starting to learn something new. Many people will start, but fewer will continue to pursue it until they reach the advanced stages. The drawback to writing for beginners is that almost anyone can write content for beginners, so there is usually a lot more competition. One disadvantage of writing expert content is that there is generally a smaller audience. But, it has the advantage of being able to fit very small niches, which can be good for two reasons. First, there is less competition in smaller niches, making it easier to rank high in search results. Second, it is usually harder for readers to find specific, advanced content about smaller niches. This lack of good content allows you to fill that void and attract a very loyal reader following.

Another drawback is that advanced readers are often more critical of any shortcomings in the writing or the information. So, more expertise and research is required to fulfill their expectations.

Demographics You can target your audience more specifically by understanding their demographics. This will help you to reach your most desired and likely-to-respond customers. These demographics may include: - Age - Gender - Location - Income - Occupation - Education - Marital Status Demographics may also include things such as: - Lifestyles - Values - Hobbies - Attitudes Once you know who you want to reach, make sure you use the type of language that your audience will understand.

Chapter 5 Write Killer Content So far, you’ve learned about the pros and cons of the different types of content. You’ve learned how to brainstorm killer content ideas. You’ve also learned how to identify your specific audience. Now you’re going to learn three simple ways to write killer content. You’re going to learn how to: 1 - Add value to your content 2 - Write in an appropriate voice 3 - Create a smooth flow throughout your content

1. Value If you only remember one thing from this book, remember to always add value to your content. How to Add Value If you create valuable content, you will have more readers and make more money. It’s that simple. So how do you create valuable content? What does valuable content look like? It boils down to this: People… readers, want to feel good. If you make them feel good, you have provided value for them. Here are three powerful ways to make a reader feel good: 1- Entertain them 2- Teach them 3- Solve a problem for them If you entertain them, make them laugh, make them cry, or make them feel excited; you take them out of their normal everyday thoughts and put them in a heightened emotional state. Those emotions are powerful! Warning: Unless you know you’re a natural entertainer, I recommend that you avoid trying to be entertaining. It can backfire on you. For example, for most of us it’s hard to be funny consistently. If you don’t do humor right, you can easily push people away. I’m good at being helpful but I’m not particularly funny, so I use humor sparingly in my writing. I’m more of a teacher. Teaching is a great way to connect with an audience. If you teach someone a valuable skill, you can change their life. The power of that connection can build you a very loyal audience.

This book is an example of content that teaches. If I can help you write better content, attract more readers, make more money and enjoy more success in your life, then I have created value for you and you’re more likely to want to read other content that I create. You know your own talents. If you’re entertaining, go for it! On the other hand, maybe you’re good at being passionate, informative or supportive. Any of these strengths can add value to your writing. Write to your strengths. Another way to create value is to solve a problem for your reader. This can be as simple as helping them get rid of chinch bugs in their lawn or as complex as saving their marriage from divorce. The important thing is that your writing digs deep into a real solution of some sort. Sticking with our weight loss example, let’s look at what do to and what not to do. Let’s say you write an eBook that explains what weight loss is, how weight loss works, the benefits of weight loss and the dangers of being overweight. You tell your readers about your own struggles with weight loss and how you wish you could find a way to keep the weight off too. It’s well written, but you don’t offer solutions to their problem. You aren’t likely to inspire many people with a book like that. On the other hand, let’s say you write an eBook that teaches a specific strategy that readers can use to lose weight. You share inspiring stories, including your own, of how people have succeeded in losing weight using this strategy. You provide specific action steps they can take to succeed in losing weight. You help them to overcome their fears, weaknesses and the obstacles in their path, and you motivate them to take action. After reading your book, they can see that weight loss is possible. They can imagine what it’s going to feel like in their new healthy body. You have changed the way they think. You have changed their life. That’s a book that has value. The second eBook empowers them. The first book just leaves them feeling exactly how they did before, if not worse, because it doesn't solve their problem. A good rule of thumb is to always leave your reader better off than when they started. You’ve learned that to provide value for people you can entertain them, you can teach them, or you can solve their problems. Figure out what you’re best at and write using your strengths.

2. Voice and Tone In this section, you’ll learn how to use voice and tone to enhance your writing. Your voice and tone will help your reader to connect with you and with your writing.

Voice Your voice is who you are as a writer. Your voice is critical, not only because it tells the reader who you are, but because it tells them what to expect from your writing. Your voice helps

the reader to connect with you from the beginning all the way through to the end of your content. Things that affect your voice are your background, your interests, your personality and your writing style. Your voice is your brand. It should be consistent throughout your entire piece. In fact, if you have an online presence as a writer, your voice should be consistent throughout all of your content. Your voice then truly becomes your brand. On the other hand, if you are ghost writing for someone else, you should match your voice to theirs so that their content remains a consistent brand. Spend some time thinking about what voice you will use. Are you a serious professor type? Are you sarcastic, controversial and thought provoking? Are you the laid back joker who makes every subject light, easy and humorous? Choose your voice and know the reason for the voice that you've chosen. If you’re writing about stock market investing, you would likely have a more serious, professional or even analytical voice. On the other hand, maybe you are boisterous and surprising, more like Jim Cramer. Or maybe you are motherly, passionate and helpful, like Suze Orman. Sometimes developing a unique voice will help you stand out from the crowd and help you connect with a specific audience. Just make sure that your voice works for you, that it’s natural and sustainable for you. Unless you are a trained actor or a fiction writer, you don’t want to use a voice that doesn’t belong to you. It will just make writing more difficult for you and is likely to sound inauthentic to your audience.

Tone Your tone is the mood of the piece you are writing. Unlike your voice, your tone can change from piece to piece or even paragraph to paragraph. Let’s look at our weight loss example. In your weight loss eBook, you might start out with a dark or urgent tone as you empathize with your readers’ fears and concerns over their declining state of health and happiness. Then, you would move to a more encouraging tone as you show them that there is a light at the end of the tunnel and that you have a solution to their weight problem. Finally, you would burst into excited passion as you share the secrets to weight loss that you and so many others have used to transform their lives. Regardless of what you are writing about, keep your tone appropriate to what you are writing about. For example, a friendly, humorous tone in the introduction could draw your readers in and help them to connect with you. On the other hand, using humor when writing about a safety warning could cause them to seriously mistrust you. Polarizing vs. Neutral Tone

I almost always write in a fairly neutral tone. Using a neutral tone doesn’t mean you can’t be passionate, excited or energizing. It just means that you’re not taking a firm stance on any extreme viewpoint. A polarizing tone, on the other hand, means that you are taking a firm stand from a distinct viewpoint. You’re expressing strong, controversial opinions that will excite those in agreement and potentially aggravate those in disagreement. Polarizing writing encourages readers to pick a side. I write in a neutral tone because I value harmony. It’s part of my personality. I love people and I sincerely just want everyone in the world to be happy and get along. If I wrote in a polarizing way it would sound insincere, and it would be. It wouldn’t fit my voice. That’s just me though. You might be good at taking a polarizing stance. If so, consider the benefits and drawbacks of creating polarizing content. One benefit of polarizing content is that you can create incredibly loyal fans. Think about conservative talk show hosts Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck. They are extremely opinionated. No one who listens to them remains unmoved. People either love them or hate them. Regardless of which side you fall on; their content provokes strong emotions. Polarizing content has its drawbacks too though. While it can excite and inspire people, it can also create controversy, disagreement and enemies. Using a neutral voice is less agitating and less exciting. It runs the risk of being less interesting too, but it can reach a broader audience. Neither style is inherently better. They’re both appropriate for different situations. They also need to fit your personality and your subject matter. If you're writing about politics or religion, polarizing content is often the better choice. There is a lot of polarity in these topics already, so it’s a good fit. You can also be gently polarizing without being offensive or going to extremes. This can be very beneficial for you and your readers. For example, let’s say you have a strong opinion about a tried and true method for creating income as an entrepreneur. In this case, you would benefit from presenting a very one-sided argument for your method. You might even speak out strongly against other popular, but less effective methods. The reason this is so effective is because people may have seen the other styles that you are speaking against. They may have even considered them or tried them and had a bad experience with them. If you present your method in an assertive and confident light, then you may be able to win a very loyal following with your content. One more added benefit of being a little bit polarizing is that it helps to weed out the readers you don’t want. Wait a minute, Steve!

Don’t I want all the readers I can get? For the most part, yes, you do. But the 80/20 rule applies to your readers as much as it does anything. The 80/20 rule means this: 20% of your readers account for 80% of your bad reviews, obnoxious comments and general annoyances. That 20% of readers doesn’t appreciate your content. If you are a little bit polarizing in your content right up front, it can help those people to know that your content is not for them. They can move on to other, more appropriate content for them. This saves you, and them, from wasted time and aggravation. Next, we’ll look at how to make your content flow, as well as some common issues that can block the flow in your writing.

3. Flow Did you ever have one of those days when everything just seemed to be going your way? You could do no wrong. Luck was on your side. Flow is that feeling; the one you get when everything just seems to be going perfectly. When written content flows well, the reader just floats along happily; completely unaware that they are even reading. They are engrossed in the content. It just feels right. There are no speed bumps or distractions to get in the way of their pleasant stroll down the page. When content doesn’t flow, it’s like one of those bad days. You know the ones I’m talking about; everything goes wrong. You can’t find your keys when you leave for work. You finally find them, but not until you’re running late. As you’re getting in the car you drop your keys out the car door into a puddle. When you reach down to fish them out of the puddle, you feel the burn of the hot coffee that you forgot you were holding, as it spills onto your lap. That’s what it looks like when you don’t have flow. Unfortunately, there are lots of things a writer can do to mess up the flow of their content. In the following sections, we’ll look at common issues that inhibit flow and simple ways to help improve it. Some have to do with formatting and others have to do with language. All of them will help to create a better experience for your reader and help you feel better about your writing.

Common Issues with Flow and How to Fix Them As a writer, publisher and editor, nothing drives me crazier than content that doesn’t flow well. Congested, distracting content is a big problem for readers. Unfortunately, fixing it can be hard to do. First, let’s look at some really common issues that impede flow. Then, we’ll look at how to improve it.

Nonsensical and Run-on Sentences. Sometimes, an idea sounds good in your head as you’re writing it, but it doesn’t make sense on paper. If you have a sentence that looks odd, it’s a good idea to read it aloud. Or better yet, have someone else read it to you. If a sentence seems too long or your word processing program is telling you that it’s a run-on sentence, just try breaking it up into smaller pieces to make it easier on your reader. Here’s an example of how the above sentence could be re-written: Are your sentences long and confusing? Is your word processing program yelling at you about your run-on sentences? Break them up. Your readers will thank you for it. See how much easier that was to follow? Huge Paragraphs. Huge paragraphs might be appropriate for print books, but they aren’t great for web content. Times have changed. People skim more. They need to see something stand out in your content or they are going to move on. Do you find yourself fighting against the writing rule which states that every paragraph must have at least three sentences? It’s okay. Take a deep breath and let it go. There is nothing wrong with a one sentence paragraph on a website. Break the rules a little bit to make your content easier to read. Breaking up your paragraphs helps your reader to get through your content more easily. Just don’t overdo it with several one sentence paragraphs in a row. That has the same effect as paragraphs that are too long. The ideal mix is a variety of paragraph sizes. This helps the reader’s eyes to flow down the page. A five sentence paragraph, followed by a one sentence paragraph, followed by a four sentence paragraph will make the one sentence paragraph stand out. That’s a good thing. Keep your paragraph lengths varied, and your content will look inviting. Unnecessary Repetition. Restating the same thing over and over and over, going on and on and on, boring your reader to tears, treating them like they are idiots by beating the dead horse, belaboring the issue, describing the same thing four different ways just in case they don’t understand…you get my point. Don’t do it. Say it right the first time and you won’t have to say it again. Distracting Tangents. This one is pretty simple. Stick to the point. No one cares that your Aunt Mildred wastes lots of money on weight loss equipment that she doesn’t use. What they do care about is all of the money they have wasted on weight loss equipment that they don’t use, and how they can break the cycle. Relevant tangents are fine as long as they are still providing value for the reader. But distracting tangents will lose their interest and lose you money. Misworded Sentences. I’m actually not great at grammar. I still struggle to figure out where to place commas and those damned semicolons.

In fact, I will go on a helpful tangent here and say this: don’t let the fact that you’re not a perfect writer get in the way of you creating your content. The value of your content is much more important than the perfection of your content. The web is actually pretty forgiving of a few mistakes here and there, as long as your content provides amazing value. That being said, why not make your content stand out from the rest of the web by making it a little better? I’m definitely not a grammar Nazi, but I do recommend that your writing makes sense. The best way to get better at this is just to read a lot and practice writing and editing your own writing. Here’s an example of some distracting wording from an eBook that I hired an author to write for me. I’ve italicized the distracting wording: Raised bed gardening techniques are easy to learn - therefore even a newbie can excel the tricks in a much shorter duration of time. This quick edit isn’t perfect, but a few little changes and it’s a lot less distracting: Raised bed gardening techniques are easy to learn. Even a beginner can master the tricks in just a short period of time. This one is even better: Raised bed gardening is so easy to learn that even a beginner can master the tricks in no time. Inaccurate Information. Inaccuracies are a great way to break the reader’s trust. Simply put, if you quote something, quote it right. Also, avoid making factual statements that you can’t back up with proof. Distracting Spelling and Grammar Mistakes. As I said, you don’t have to be perfect, but at the very least, use your spelling and grammar checker. It’s so easy to do. The occasional error is pretty forgivable on the web, but a lot of errors just make you look lazy. It also makes your reader feel like you don’t care about them. Don’t make them fumble over all of your lazy mistakes. It only takes a moment to fix them and show your reader that you care.

Additional Ways to Improve Flow You’ve just learned about the most common issues with the flow of content. Now let’s look at some additional ways to improve flow. Be Clear and Concise. Get straight to the point. When you edit, try cutting out one-third of the words you used in the first draft. Your writing will make more sense and be more enjoyable to read. Use Language that Readers Will Understand. This comes back to knowing your audience, including their education level.

Consider this: if half of your readers read at a seventh grade level, and half of them read at a ninth grade level, at what grade level would you want to write? You would want to write at a seventh grade level, so 100% of your readers understand you. Maybe you would even want to write at a sixth grade level, just to be sure you didn’t miss anyone. Your writing can still be clear, effective and inspiring, even if it isn’t loaded with big words and complicated sentences. Headings and Subheadings. On the web, visual structure is really important. Break up your content into digestible chunks and define those chunks using headings and subheadings. Here’s a good general rule: A quick skim through your headings and subheadings should give the reader a complete overview of what your content is about. Varied Sentence Length. We already talked about varying your paragraph lengths to break up your content. The same thing applies to your sentence length. Use a few short sentences. Then, use some longer ones. Breaking it up for your reader makes it feel more natural and rhythmic. If you err in one direction, err on the side of shorter sentences. Structure. Every piece of content needs three things: a good introduction, relevant body content that delivers the message, and a simple conclusion that sums up what the reader has learned. I have seen a lot of novice writers go on and on in their introductions. They spend so much time introducing the content that they forget to write about it in the body of the piece. Then they short-change the conclusion, leaving the reader hanging at the end. In fact, I did that with the first version of this book. Thanks to the feedback of my students, I was able to fix it. Structural Elements that Improve Flow Lists. One of the best ways to break up your content is to use lists. Lists break up the monotony of text. It also breaks up the ideas in easily digestible chunks. Just don’t over-do it by creating multiple lists too close to each other. Create a compelling title for your list and be sure to left justify your list. Centered lists are harder for the eyes to follow. Also, use bullets, dashes or numbers to make the list items stand out. 3 Reasons People Love Lists: - They’re fun. - They’re quick to read. - They’re easy on the eyes. Quotations. Quotes are great for highlighting an important line of text. This can be an important line from within the content or a quote from an outside source that adds power and authority to your writing.

Relevant Images. Although they are obviously outside the scope of this book, it’s important to keep in mind that images that relate to the text can add to the content and draw your eyes through the content.

Chapter 6 Persuade Your Reader Now that you know how to make your content killer, you can use your content to persuade your reader to take action. Whether you have a single eBook, a small business with a website, or a blog with thousands of followers, at some point you are probably going to have to convince someone to do something. The following chapter will show you how to do that. Always know what you want your reader to do next, and keep that in mind as you write. Maybe you want them to click the “buy now” button on your Kindle book. Maybe you just want them to click to another article and keep reading your blog. Maybe you want them to sign up to your email list. Whatever you want them to do next, keep it in mind as you write and your content will be more persuasive.

Know Your Reader The most important factor in writing persuasive copy is to know who it is you are writing it for in the first place. I know I mentioned this already, but it’s important, especially if your business depends on the persuasiveness of your copy. If you are writing to reach a young age group, say eighteen to twenty-five, using slang and inyour-face wording might be completely acceptable. If, however, your target audience is professionals in the age group of forty to sixty, that strategy won't work nearly as well. Here are a couple of examples of product advertisements: I was just telling my friend this is a GAME CHANGER! I went around the house and threw away all of my other light bulbs. They were JUNK, but this light bulb is AMAZING! This is a bold and informal ad, appropriate for a young, energetic audience. If you used this on an older or more reserved audience, you’d run the risk of annoying them. It’s too unprofessional. A reserved audience expects something more like this: Is your home dim and depressing? Let us show you how a simple light bulb can transform the mood of an entire living room. Take advantage of this limited time offer, and make your future brighter. Emotions. People act on emotions. If you connect with them on an emotional level, it’s much easier to persuade them to take the action you want them to take. Life insurance ads do this all the time by reminding us of what it will be like for our loved ones when we die. They show us the tragedy that our deaths will be if we don't leave enough money to care for them. Our love for them and our fear of causing them pain motivates us to make that call to the insurance company.

Credit card companies do this, too. They paint a picture in your mind of you and your family on the perfect vacation. Suddenly, you realize that the luggage, with all of your clothes, is lost, and the vacation is ruined. But wait, you don’t need that worn out old clothes anyway. You have your trusty credit card. Now you can buy all new clothes. The offer is made at the very moment that you are feeling that sense of freedom and empowerment. Credit card to the rescue! Obviously this a silly example. Your content is going to provide much more value than some ad. But you want them to respond as readily to your content as they would to that credit card offer. That’s why it’s so important that from your title to your conclusion you connect with your audience on an emotional level. They need to feel something or they have no reason to take action. In fact, they’ll have no reason to even click on your content to read it in the first place.

Social Proof Social proof helps to lower the resistance of the buyer. People need to see that other people have already tried it and that it has worked for them. Provide social proof in the form of: - Reviews, as in Amazon book reviews - Testimonials, as in a celebrity endorsement - Mass approval, as in Facebook likes or YouTube views. Reviews and testimonials are especially powerful, because they often include personal stories. Here’s an example, “I loved this book so much because I’ve wanted to try gardening for years, but was afraid it would be too much work. This book showed me how to keep it really simple and I’m so glad I read it because I just made a salad with fresh vegetables and tomatoes from my own garden! Highly recommend this book!” You can’t beat that for persuasive power! If social proof is a built-in part of your content, like with Amazon reviews, then do everything you can to make those reviews great. This means creating content people will love. If it isn’t already built-in, then add some form of social proof, such as a Facebook like button or a testimonial from a happy customer. You can also use real proof in the form of test results, before and after’s, or clinical studies.

Call to Action No matter who your target audience is or what your offer, you always want to include a call to action. Your call to action tells your target audience what they should do next. It should motivate them to act.

A call to action can be subtle or assertive. In the case of a website or blog, include a clickable link that will lead to the page where they can make a purchase, receive more information, or subscribe to your email list. For example: Order One Today. or Click here to download your free eBook. Be Specific. Be specific about what they should do and why. The more specific you can be, the more likely you are to reach your target audience. For example: Sign up to receive a weekly newsletter. Vs. Sign up for weekly tips to make you a better writer. Create a Sense of Urgency. If an offer doesn't expire, then the recipient has all the time in the world to come back and click on your call to action. Most likely, they will forget about it and never click. If your offer is for a limited time, the reader has more motivation to click the link right now and sign up or download. For example: Sign up if you’re interested. Vs. Sign up free for the next 24 hours! If it is clear to your readers that they will miss out if they don't act right away, they are more likely to click on your call to action and follow through. Warning: Don’t let your desire to create a sense of urgency get in the way of being clear and providing value to your reader. Use a Number in Your Call to Action. Numbers stick in the reader’s head. Look at the following examples: Save on jeans, today only! Save 40% on jeans, today only! Does Your Message Always Have to be Positive? Sometimes you can reach your reader by using negative words. If your content will change something for them that is causing them pain, don't be afraid to address that pain with negative wording.

For example: Is your retirement account at risk? Old vacuum sucking too much time out of your day? Don’t you just hate it when the paper keeps jamming in the copier? Your 50% OFF coupon expires tonight. Don’t lose this opportunity!

Chapter 7 Master Titles and Descriptions Titles and descriptions show up in just about every piece of online content you create, so you may as well get used to writing them. There’s an art to it, and at first it can be hard. The good news is, no title or description is perfect, and you can succeed even with an imperfect one. Practice, practice and you’ll see your results improve dramatically.

What's in It for Me? This is the most important question you can answer for your reader in your titles and descriptions. This is also known as showing benefits rather than describing features. A benefit shows them what they will gain from reading your content. A feature, merely tells them what is in the content. Here are 3 examples of how to show benefits rather than list features: - Feature: Learn how to write titles that include important title elements. - Benefit: Learn how to write titles that get more clicks. (The benefit of learning to write titles is getting more traffic to your website.) - Feature: Learn how to grow 5 different types of tomatoes in a raised bed garden. - Benefit: Raise healthier kids with fresh tomatoes from your raised bed garden. (The benefit of learning to grow tomatoes in a raised be garden is healthier kids.) - Feature: Learn the basics of guitar, including common chords, in less than a week. - Benefit: Start learning guitar on Monday and play a song you love by the weekend. (The benefit is that you can learn to play a song you love, which is the whole reason you want to learn chords and all that other crap in the first place.)

Writing Titles Next to your cover image, your title is the most important piece of your content! If isn’t good enough to get the reader to look at your content, the rest of your content is wasted. Spend a LOT of time writing your title. Here are a few examples of where you’ll find titles: 1. Every YouTube video has a title. 2. Every YouTube channel has a title. 3. Every book has a title.

4. Every blog post or webpage has a title. 5. Every online course has a title. 6. Every email has a title (the subject line). In the perfect world, your title would sum up all of your content in one irresistible word. To take a some of the mystical art out of writing titles and add in some science, let me give you 3 basic goals of a good title. If you accomplish all 3 of these goals in a title, you’re doing great! 1. Attention: It needs to catch the reader’s attention…in a good way! A title that says, “Pictures of Your Mother Naked!” will certainly grab attention, but not the kind of attention you want. If you’re in comedy it might. Otherwise, that would be an impossible title to deliver value on. On the other hand, a title that says, “3 Ways to Make Tomorrow the Best Day Ever,” will grab attention in a good way. It creates intrigue. Why will it be the best day of my life? Is there something in this article that will make that happen? If your article shared some powerful efficiency or health hacks, you could potentially deliver value on this title. 2. Clarity: A great title should tell them exactly what the content is about and/or make them very curious about the content. Notice I said curious, not confused. Never confuse your potential reader with your title by making it overly mysterious. Leave that to the mystery authors. The above example, “Three Ways to Make Tomorrow the Best Day Ever,” does a decent job of making the reader curious, but it’s not very clear. The reader has no idea what the article is about. It could be about health, office productivity, spirituality or almost anything. To be more clear, it could say, “Three 1-Minute Office Rituals to Make Tomorrow the Best Day Ever.” Now the reader knows it will help them have a better day at work, but they’re still curious about what they could possible do in three 1-minute rituals to make it the best day ever. 3. Keywords: Third, it should contain keywords and/or phrases that people will be searching for. This is where your keyword research comes in. Search engines are looking for these words because people are typing them into search engines. “Three 1-Minute Office Rituals to Make Tomorrow the Best Day Ever,” is probably weak on keywords. If people are looking for “office productivity” or “productivity hacks” or “work productivity” then the title should be more like this: “Three 1-Minute Office Productivity Hacks for the Best Work Day Ever.” Now we have a title that grabs attention, it’s clear, and it uses powerful keywords to help readers find it. Creating titles is a process. Here are a few tips for success. 1. Always create a working title before you start writing. 2. After the content is finished, refine the title to best sum and “sell” what you’ve written.

3. Get feedback. Ideally, this would come from a poll to your target audience with different title ideas. At the very least, get feedback from friends, family or co-workers. Here’s a great resource to help you create killer titles. Just plug your title idea into this website and it will give you a score. Keep tweaking your title until you come up with a title that scores well and/or a title that you love. Headline Analyzer After playing with the software for 5 minutes, I came up with this version of a title that scored a little better than my original from the above example: “Three 1-Minute Productivity Hacks for an Awesome Day at the Office”

Writing Descriptions You’ll find descriptions in web content almost as often as you find titles. Descriptions are the next most important piece of your content. Search engines look at your description for keywords, and readers look for promises of value. As with titles, spend a LOT of time on your descriptions. Be sure that whatever you promise in your description, you follow through on in your content. This seems obvious, but it can be hard to get right. You want to promise your reader just the right amount of value with your description. To do this, you have to walk the fine line between underselling and overselling your content. Oversell it, and you damage your trustworthiness and the connection with your reader. Undersell it, and you have no reader, because no one will click to read further. Follow the same 3 goals that you do with your title: 1. Grab their attention. 2. Be clear. 3. Incorporate important keywords seamlessly into the text of the description. As you write, think of the needs, wants, fears, pain and desires of your reader. Connect with them on an emotional level. For example, you’re reading this book because writing great content is hard. You need a guide to get you through the frustration of trying to write good content. You want to be proud of what you write. You want to see the results of what better content will do for you. That’s emotional stuff. That emotion should come through in the description. Talk about the reader’s pain, needs, goals and desires in an understanding way. Make it clear that you have a solution within your content, and they will want to read more.

Here’s a secret… if you don’t understand how they feel, it will show in your description. If that’s the case, it’s time to go back to Chapter 4 and get to know them better. Spend lots of time on your titles and descriptions. Play around with the wording, brainstorm ideas, and run them through the headline analyzer link above. You’ll get better if you do, and your click through rates will improve as a result!

Chapter 8 Edit Your Content I will forgive blog and website writers for a lot of grammatical errors if they offer me useful or interesting content. That being said, I’ll give them a lot more respect and will feel a lot more appreciated as a reader if they take the time to make the reading easier for me by editing their content thoroughly. Keep in mind that many intelligent, well-educated people are not as forgiving as I am. These people will click away from your content immediately if you make them stumble across simple errors that you could, and should, have taken the time to easily correct. Even worse, they’ll jump right over and give you a bad review. To put things simply, edit your content well and make the brand of you as good as it can be.

5 Things to Look for While Editing. 1. Spelling. Use your spell check. If you’re unsure whether spell check has it right, look it up. You also need to be careful to look for misspelled words that spell checker misses because it is a word, but not the right word. For example, if I type, “I took a ride in the care,” spell check won’t see that error, because care is a correctly spelled word. It just isn’t the right word for that context, so you need to proof read and find those mistakes manually. 2. Grammar and Sentence Structure. I’m not going to lie. Grammar can be tough. My brother still catches me messing up commas. It’s embarrassing. But he’s smarter than me, so it is what it is. If you’re like me, and you struggle with getting your grammar perfect, let me recommend a great little book, The Elements of Style, by Strunk and White. This is a little book that will make a big impact on your ability to use grammar well. You can also go online and find help with any grammar issue you may have. Pick the one or two things that you struggle with the most and commit to learning more about them. Little improvements can go a long way in the end. Most importantly, remember that no one is perfect. In fact, some of the most famous writers have done some pretty weird stuff with language and none of them were burned at the stake for it (well, at least not very many of them). Just don’t let your imperfect grammar keep you from sharing your writing with the world. Your valuable message is more important than your perfect writing. If you just can’t bear even one mistake, get a good editor to fix them for you. There, done. 3. Voice and Tone. So you’ve spent a lot of time working out your individual voice and you’ve written your piece. But did you lose your voice anywhere along the way? Reading your

work out loud or having someone edit it just for voice can be a great help. You might just catch one paragraph or one section where you were tired and you slipped into an unfamiliar voice. While you are editing for voice, check your tone throughout the piece as well. Make sure that the tone for any given section fits the content and what you are trying to convey. Does it sound too boring or monotone? Are you overly excited when talking about safety warnings? If so, ramp it up or tone it down a bit to keep your readers more engaged. 4. Value. If you only learn one thing from this book, I hope it is this: make your content valuable. The perfect subject written with all the perfect grammar, flow, and varied sentence structure in the world isn’t worth anything if you don’t provide value to your reader. As you edit your work, take a moment to re-evaluate your audience. What do they need? What do they most desire? What are their problems? Keep these three questions in mind as you edit. Are there ways that you can better serve them? Is there additional content needed? Are there outside resources that would help them? Will more examples or stories help keep them engaged and inspired? If so, you have a chance to make your content better. 5. Flow. The first thing to do, when editing for flow, is to take a visual look through your finished piece. Scan down the page or pages. Are there elements that help draw your eye along like headings, lists, images or quotes? If not, add them. Second, is there a section in the content that doesn’t have a smooth flow into the next section? Do you need to rewrite it, or add a transition sentence or two to bridge the gap? In the following example, the text jumps straight from talking about dieting to talking about exercise. Let’s look at how to improve the transition: The Low Carb Diet can really help you to shed that belly fat and get looking your best. Your workout should include a lot of high rep, low weight exercises. To fix this, add a transition sentence so the reader has a heads up as to where you’re headed next: The Low Carb Diet can really help you to shed that belly fat and get looking your best. If you want to really kick your weight loss into high gear, how about adding some exercise to your diet? The ideal workout should include a lot of high rep, low weight exercises.

Communicating with an Editor If you are working with an editor, you have to communicate with them correctly. If you just give them your content and let them edit it however they see fit, they’re not likely to do what you need. The purpose of editing is to revise and improve the writing.

The definition of editing according to dictionary.com is: to prepare (text) for publication by checking and improving its accuracy, clarity, etc. From this definition, you can see that quality editing involves more than just proof reading (which is basically just checking for spelling and grammar mistakes). In addition to spelling and grammar, editing involves “improving its accuracy, clarity, etc.,” which means working to improve the voice and tone, value, and flow of the writing. A good editor will understand this, but good editors can also be very expensive. If you are writing blog posts, I’m assuming you will not want to pay a ton of money for a professional editor. Still, you can find someone who is intelligent and literate to edit your work without having to pay them a fortune. You just need to be very clear with them about exactly what you want them to edit in your work. Make sure they understand the difference between editing and proof reading. You can tell them specifically to look for the 5 elements from Chapter 5: 1. Spelling 2. Grammar 3. Voice and Tone 4. Value 5. Flow You might also have to define what each item means a little bit so they know exactly what they are looking for. Finally, highlight any additional concerns you may have. For example, maybe you are struggling with your conclusion. You’re not sure whether it clearly summarizes your content. Tell your editor to pay special attention to that issue and advise you accordingly.

Self-Editing Let’s talk about self-editing for a moment. I recommend that you don’t self-edit if you can possibly avoid it. But I understand that finding or paying an editor is not possible for many people, especially when you’re first starting out. If you absolutely must self-edit your work, here are a few tips: First, write and re-write it until you feel really good about the quality of it. Then, set it aside for as long as you can manage… two weeks is ideal, longer is even better. If it is a time sensitive blog post, you have to work within the time frame you have available. The purpose of setting it aside is to give your brain time to separate from the writing. When we are entrenched in the writing process, it can be difficult to separate the ideas in our heads from what we have on paper.

This makes it really hard to see your mistakes, because your brain will fill in the gaps for you. When you take two weeks away from the writing, it allows you to see the writing with fresh eyes. You are able to read the concepts with a more objective perspective and the mistakes and shortcomings of the writing are much more obvious. One other self-editing trick is to read it aloud. This does a similar thing to your brain. It allows your brain to hear the words from a fresh perspective and often mistakes will stand out more clearly. It also allows you to edit it for conversational flow to make sure it doesn’t sound too stiff.

Conclusion By now you should have a solid understanding of how to create killer content for the web. If you only remember one thing from this book, remember to ask yourself this one question every time you create content:

“How is this providing value to my reader?” All of the other points in this book will help you to accomplish that goal. Let’s take a quick look at what you’ve learned. In Chapter 1 you learned about the different types of content. You learned about the major differences between websites and blogs, eBooks and video. You also learned what makes killer content. In Chapter 2 you learned how to find great content ideas by brainstorming, using keyword research tools, and by browsing forums and websites related to your niche You learned the importance of drawing on your own passion and experience in your content. You also learned the difference between writing evergreen content vs. trending content and how to best use both. In Chapter 3 you learned how to find killer keywords. In Chapter 4 you learned how to identify your audience. Remember to find out who you’re fishing for before you cast your net. Remember the example of the granny with the Darjeeling tea vs. her grandson the football player In Chapter 5 you learned three ways to make your content killer: 1. Adding value - Entertaining them, teaching them, or solving a problem for them. 2. Perfecting your voice and tone - Your voice is your brand, and your tone is the mood of any given section of your writing. 3. Creating flow – Helping the reader to move smoothly through the content. Remember you learned about how to avoid common issues such as huge paragraphs and runon sentences You also learned ways to improve the flow including being clear and concise, using headings and subheadings, and writing in the appropriate language for your audience. In Chapter 6 you learned how to write persuasive copy by knowing who your reader is, by using social proof, and by using an effective call to action. In Chapter 7 you learned how to write titles and descriptions to get people to want to read your content.

Finally, you learned five things to look for when editing, how to communicate with an editor, and some tips for self-editing your work before you publish it. Refer back to this book when you’re creating your killer content. The more you practice these strategies the better your content writing will become. _____________________

Thank you so much for reading Content is King. Please ask me any questions that come up. You can ask in the class discussions or message me directly on Udemy.