Today I’d like to discuss a few ways that blog posts and website articles can boost a business. There are an awful lot of sites and blogs out there, and I have seen a number of them that could use a little help. And of course I can provide some of that help. There are 3 things I consider when evaluating a site’s content for quality.
What Did You Say? The first thing you need to do is get people’s attention. There are good and bad ways to go about that. I was doing a freelance writing project not too long ago, and the client actually said, “go ahead and make it kind of ‘click-bait’.” Of course when most people hear that phrase, they think that any manner of ridiculousness my be inside, and all the originator wants is for you to open it, probably because there is advertising that pays based on number of clicks. I find that shady, if not dirty, so I refuse to use anything deceptive. But I have a knack for being ridiculous without using deception, so that helps. You definitely want to make people stop scrolling. The right headline and summary can do that.
What was that again? There is about 1 gazillion pieces of content added to the interwebs per second, or so it seems. Being a general Virtual Assistant, or a blogger/writer, or podcaster, it can seem as if you are one in a zillion, and finding you is like telling someone, go to the California coast and find this ONE grain of sand.” The good thing is that although there are zillions of people in these fields, with zillions more joining all the time, there are also people by the zillions breaking their corporate chains and building things for themselves. All those zillions need the help and content the zillions of bloggers, writers, podcasters and VAs provide. You just have to give them what they need and want. If you combine valuable content with your attention-grabbing headline and summary, people will find you and tell others about you.
Make It Easy. I find it interesting – and bothersome – when I visit a website with an external link that doesn’t open in its own space when I click on it, but instead leaves the original site for the one in the link. I strongly prefer making links open in a new tab. Why do it that way? Because the viewer never fully leaves your site, leaving him/her less likely to forget about you if you linked to something super-compelling. Plus, if you link to a site that instantly throws pop-up ads with the message that if you don’t sign up for the site’s newsletter, your quality of life will decrease and your pet rodents might drop dead, the back button may or may not respond, and soon it becomes too much bother to get back to your site. Every external link I put on my site opens in a new browser tab. In WordPress, it’s as easy as clicking on the check box in the window where you are inserting the hyperlink. If you happen to be from the “Multiple Open Tabs Are Chaos That Will Accelerate The End Of Civilization” school, no worries – just click on one link at a time and close it when you’re done with that content. And make sure to take a deep breath now and then. 🙂
I also prefer to use the “justify” alignment. I think this makes text easier to read. Being a person of low vision, I’m particularly tuned-in to things like this. You may remember, back when the Flintstones and Rubbles were neighbors, we used to have this thingy called a “newspaper.” The print was always justified, so the columns would appear orderly. A lot of books (if you still actually buy physical books as opposed to doing all your reading on your iPad or Kindle) use justify alignment for their text as well. Like the hyperlink, it only takes a couple of mouse clicks to establish.
If things are going well, you may think, sounds good, but I don’t have enough time to create or find that kind of content.” That’s where you partner with a Virtual Assistant to handle it for you. If you wish to further explore how some great site content can help make your website dazzle and improve your business, contact us and let’s get to work. (See what I did there?)
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