5 Ways to Improve the Quality of Your Content

The process of content creation has become one of the most important pieces of an inbound marketing campaign but if your not producing quality content than your hard work will get lost in translation.

So how exactly do you deliver quality content in a consistent and timely manner?  That's the million dollar question.

But don't worry we have put together 5 quick tips for you to think about and utilize the next time you publish anything online.

How to Improve the Quality of Your Content Marketing

Visuals

One of the easiest ways to break up a chunk of content is to implement visual media into your work, enhancing your readers experience. Images and video have a tendency to catch our attention. As well as transforming your content into something that is shareable. Did you know that 90% of the information  that's transmitted to the brain is visuals, which are processed 60,000 times faster in the brain than text.

Consider developing these types of visual content:

• Memes

• Infographic

• Videos

• Photos (people using product or service, your employees)

Visuals are great for your company and brand, allowing you to quickly catch the attention of visitors and users. Visuals not only develop your brands identity, but they are also a way to create user experience. Don't just post meaningless photos and videos to your social media profiles. Consider showing the culture of your company or brand to develop a deeper connection with your company.

Ways to create user engagement:

• Post a photo and ask fans and followers to leave their own caption

• Showcase two employees in your company and ask a question (maybe something like who has the most tattoos or did ballet when they were younger.

• Create contests

Content

A great way to organize your blog articles is to assign your content (blog articles, eBooks, and whitepapers) a difficulty level: Beginner, Intermediate, or Expert in order to target your content to a specific audience.  Before you publish your content, make sure you read through it and double check to see if your target audience will appreciate what you've created. Ask yourself if your content is in line with the interests and needs of your target audience.

Don't forget to optimize your content. If you aren't optimizing your content for search engines as well as creating quality content, there's a chance your content won't be found by readers.

Ways to optimize your content:

• Searchable title

• Meta description

• Keywords

• Inbound links

Formatting

There is nothing worse and more unappealing than reading a large block of content. Making it hard for readers to identify the important elements and key facts included inside the article. Content that isn't formatted, will not only compromise the quality of your content but you will lose the attention of your audience. Don't let your hard work suffer these consequences because of poor formatting, take a few extra minutes and optimize your article for greater exposure.

A few basic ways to improve the formatting of your content:

• Consider using bullet points, smaller portions of text are easier for readers to digest.

• Consider using Bold, italic, underline to highlight important facts and keywords.

• Include headings (h2, h2, h3) in your content to not only break up your content but to tell readers what sections are about.

• Don't forget to include visuals within  the content of your blog articles, ebooks and other content.

These simple techniques can break down your content so it's not only appealing to the somebody who is scrolling down your page but can also create a certain structure to your article.  A well formatted piece of content will attract new readers, please your current audience, and will also increase your chances of your content being shared through social media.

Quote an Expert

One problem that many content creators often run into is producing quality content for topics they only know a little bit about.  For example you may be a thought leader in your own industry but unfamiliar on the subject your writing about.

A great way to present relative information is to quote  professionals, experts and thought leaders  in that specific industry and revolve your content around their message. Here is an important tip, if you're going to consult an expert for information, make sure you do so before you start, this will save you time on clarifying and editing the information your presenting.

Editing and Proof Reading

Editing and proof reading are two completely different concepts. Both are very important and can move your content from boring to exciting!  Don't publish your content without performing these two important tasks.

You should edit your content as soon as you finish your first draft. Don't be afraid to reread your content several times. While editing the content you want to look to see if it is well organized, has smooth transitions between paragraphs, and that your content reflects the needs of your audience.

While editing look at:

• Overall structure

• Clarity

• Style

• Citations

• Content

Proof reading is the final stage of the editing process, focusing on fixing small grammatical and spelling errors such as misspellings and mistakes in grammar and punctuation. You should proofread only after you have finished all of your other editing revisions.

Editing and proof reading can help you identify:

• What is missing that should be included

• What can be taken out or is unnecessary

• What references should be included

• Who should be notified that you created this