Tips for writing content that converts

We know that ‘likes’ and ‘shares’ don’t bring in the cash, but what exactly do you, as a content marketer, need to do to make this happen? If you know how to write content that converts, you’ll end up with more profit at the end of the day.

Do you have content on your website just for the sake of having something there, waiting to be read again at some point? Or is your content a digital account manager, bringing in new clients left, right and centre? If you’re reading this blog, your content probably falls into the first category, whilst you secretly dream of the second. You’d love to make this scenario a reality for your business – and fortunately, it is possible.

Consistently getting lots of likes, shares and views is great, but it doesn’t necessarily put food on the table. You’d therefore be well advised to optimise your content for your readers to turn them into leads and subsequently into customers. There are a number of handy tricks you can use to ensure your content gives your sales a boost. Below are four tips to help you write content that converts.

1. Know who you’re writing for

Fishermen know exactly what bait to use if they want the fish to bite. As a marketer, you need to ensure you have the same level of knowledge about your target audience. If you want to convey a message effectively and achieve more conversions, you need to know which bait to use to catch your customers. The only way to ensure you can write that killer content is by knowing your target audience inside out, for example by drawing up a content strategy.

If you want to know exactly who your audience is, it’s a good idea to create a so-called ‘buyer persona’. Take a moment to consider the background of your potential client. Think about things such as: their education, company name or job title, their preferences, which websites they prefer to visit and how they prefer to shop. Once you’ve gathered that information, it’s time to delve even deeper. Find out which values and principles are important to them, what makes them happy, and, crucially, what they definitely don’t want to see

‘How do I get hold of all that information?’ I can hear you asking. Well, there are a number of very simple ways to uncover this personal information. For example, you can ask visitors to your website to complete a survey, and you can search for the keywords you’re focusing on across social social and websites such as Quora. The more you know about the people you want to sell your products to, the easier it is to write content that convinces them to buy from you.

2. A catchy headline

Your blog, video or landing page may well have fascinating content, but if the headline doesn’t grab the reader’s attention, you’re already 10-0 down. So always give careful thought to a catchy headline. You really don’t need to have it down on paper within a minute. Give yourself time; perhaps do some other tasks in the meantime, and you’ll see that inspiration really does come. By the way, always make sure your title is SEO-friendly. So include the most important keyword in your headline to rank as high as possible in the search results.

3. Subheadings

If people see a long block of text without subheadings, there is little chance that the article will actually be read. This is purely because it does not look user-friendly. To solve this, we recommend using subheadings. From an SEO perspective, it is beneficial to incorporate supporting search terms into the subheadings.

4. Entice the reader with your meta description

In practice, we see that many articles do not have a meta description filled in. A shame, if you ask us, because Google will then select the first few lines of the article. It is therefore better to come up with one yourself, as a good meta description can encourage the reader to click through to your website. It’s essential that the main keyword appears in the meta description; preferably as close to the start as possible. Bear in mind that the meta description used to be limited to 160 characters. Recently, this limit has been increased to a maximum of 320 characters. Make the most of these extra characters.

5. Optimise for purchase-oriented keywords

Around 69,000 search queries are entered every second. Google is the go-to place for people when it comes to gathering information. And the intentions of searchers can also be gleaned from the keywords they enter. Purchase-intent keywords are search terms that people use when they are planning to buy something. You then incorporate these keywords into the content you write to ensure that your content ranks higher and is seen by people who are ready to buy.

There are three different types of purchase-oriented keywords:

• Informational searches – Clients use these informational keywords during the phase in which they become aware that they want to make a purchase. They have a problem and are looking for a solution and further information. These often include words such as ‘how’, ‘tutorial’, ‘alternatives’ and ‘explanation’.
• Navigation search queries – Clients use these keywords during the phase when they are conducting further research to check whether the solution they have found is actually the right one for them. Search queries may then include words such as a brand name, product name, a place name, ‘costs’ or ‘reviews’.
• Transactional search queries – Clients use these search queries at the stage when they are proceeding to purchase a product or service. At this stage, they have decided they want to buy and are looking for the right place to make the purchase. The search queries will therefore include words such as: ‘buy’, ‘where to buy’, ‘download’ and also the word ‘discount’. We are, after all, Dutch.

By using tools, you can ensure you identify the most relevant keywords for your business based on search volume and competition for that term. This also allows you to assess whether you have a good chance of ranking for it. You must ensure that your content reaches people at all three of the previous stages. In this way, you are, as it were, guiding them through their customer journey.

6. Optimise your content

It is important to ensure that the content you write is optimised for the reader. Naturally, you don’t want them to miss out on essential information that encourages them to buy from you. According to the Nielsen Norman Group, visitors to a webpage read around 20 per cent of its content.

One of the most important elements of writing content that converts like crazy is the value proposition. This proposition is a statement in which you clearly set out the benefits a client will enjoy when they purchase the product or service from you. However, nobody wants to read a long piece of text that is clearly a sales pitch, so make sure your content is relevant to your business and solves a problem in logical, step-by-step terms.

A good example is if you run a clothing printing business and write about ‘How can I have workwear printed?’. You then ensure that you explain to the visitor, step by step, what is possible and how they can best resolve this issue. When your content solves this problem for them and also convinces the reader that they can trust your company, your content will start to convert.

4. Always use a call-to-action

Are you leaving your visitors to guess what the next step might be once they’ve finished reading your content? It’s your job to tell them what the next step is by adding a call to action within the content you provide. This invites the reader to take a specific action. For example, if you’re writing a series of posts, it’s a good idea to include a link to part 1 in part 2. That way, the reader can be sure that you’ve provided all the relevant information.

Your content won’t convert if you don’t offer this option to your visitors. Every piece of content should include some form of clickable call to action that benefits your audience. These could be links to other relevant pieces of content, an option to request a quote, or an opt-in for the newsletter. The bottom line is that you want to ensure you’re offering content that your visitors find useful and interesting. That way, as a marketer, you can ensure they follow your advice when you tell them what’s best for them to buy.

The conclusion

Helpful and engaging content created by your company can be found any day of the week, at any time, by anyone in the world. If you ensure that this content converts, you stand a chance of turning these readers into your newest and best customers. Need help creating content? We’d be happy to assist you!