The 4 Pillars of Great Content
Tips for Success
In today’s world, creating content is no longer optional - it’s a must.
As competition for attention online continues to grow, it’s more important than ever to ensure your content stands out.
But what makes for great content?
While there’s no single answer to this question, there are some fundamental elements that all successful pieces of content share.
In this blog, we’ll explore the four pillars of great content:
Catchy title
High-value information
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Clear call to action (CTA)
Whether you’re a seasoned content creator or just starting out, understanding these four pillars can help you create content that’s not just good, but great.
Let’s take a closer look at each pillar.
Catchy Title
The title is one of the most important elements of your content. It’s the first thing that readers, listeners or viewers will see and it plays a critical role in determining whether your audience will click on your content or not.
Here are some reasons why using a catchy title is important.
Attract attention - A well-written title grabs the attention of your target audience and makes them spurious about your content.
Improves SEO - Your title is also an important factor for SEO. Search engines use the title to understand the topic of your content and display it in search results. (more on SEO below)
Sets expectations - Your title sets the expectations for your audience, letting them know what they can expect to learn or gain from consuming your content.
Enhances sharability - A catchy title can encourage your audience to share your content on social media, which increases your reach and visibility.
Branding - A well-written title can reinforce your brand identity and make your content recognizable.
In short, having a catchy title is essential for attracting an audience and increasing the visibility of your content. This can help your business grow.
Side note - Don’t clickbait (use dramatic or sensationalized titles that aren’t related to your content just to get readers to click on your content). This is off-putting to content consumers, ruins trust and, eventually, you’ll actually get less reach as search engines and algorithms learn they can’t trust you and quit showing your content in search results.)
High-value Information
Creating value with your content is essential because it helps you attract and retain your target audience.
When you provide value to your audience through your content, you establish yourself as an authority in your niche, build trust with your audience and increase the likelihood of your audience consuming more of your content and eventually becoming customers.
Here are some ways to add value to your content.
Address pain points - Identify challenges and pain points your audience is facing and create content to help them overcome those challenges.
Provide solutions - Offer practical solutions to your audience’s problems. Your content should help them find answers, make better decisions or achieve their goals.
Educate - Provide your audience with valuable information and insights that they may not have known before. Share your knowledge and experiences to help your audience understand your topic better.
Entertain - Sometimes creating content means providing entertainment. You can make the content fun and interesting to capture your audience’s attention and keep them engaged.
Personalize - Make content personalized by catering to your audience’s preferences, interests and needs. You can achieve this by segmenting your followers (using categories, segments, tags, etc.) and creating content that speaks directly to those audiences.
Providing high-value information is crucial for building an engaged and loyal audience.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Optimizing your content for search engines helps your content rank higher in search results, making it more visible to your target audience.
Currently, Google has 84% of the market share for search engines, so I tend to focus on optimizing for Google versus other individual search engines. They’re all similar and since most people use Google, I don’t want to unnecessarily waste my time or energy.
Here are some simple ways you can optimize your content for search engines:
Keyword research - Start by researching the keywords and phrases that your target audience is searching for related to your topic. You can use tools like Google Keyword Planner or Ubersuggest to identify relative keywords and phrases.
Use keywords strategically - Once you have identified your target keywords, use them strategically throughout your content. This includes using them throughout the body of your content and in your title, meta description, headings and alt text for images.
Create high-value content - Search engines prioritize high-value content for their users so be sure to use some of the previous suggestions to ensure you’re adding value with your content.
Optimize page titles and meta descriptions - Your page title and meta description appear in search results so make sure they are optimized to include your target keywords and accurately describe your content.
Use headings and subheadings - Use headings and subheadings in your content to break your content into sections and make it easier to digest for your audience. This helps search engines understand the structure and hierarchy of your content.
Optimize images - Optimize your images using descriptive file names, alt tags and captions that include your keywords.
Implementing these tips can optimize your content for search engines and make it easier for your target audience to discover your content.
Clear Call to Action (CTA)
Using a clear call to action (CTA) is imperative when creating content because it encourages your audience to take a specific action and guides them through what they need to do next. You can not make the assumption that your audience will automatically know what you want them to do.
Here are some reasons why a clear CTA is important.
Guides your reader/listener/viewer - A CTA tells your audience the next step they should take after consuming your content. Without a clear CTA, your audience may be unsure of what to do next resulting in lost opportunities for engagement or sales.
Increases engagement - A clear CTA can increase engagement with your content by prompting readers to take a specific action.
Boosts conversions - A clear CTA can significantly boost conversions, turning interested content consumers into subscribers, customers and clients. By providing a clear and compelling CTA, you are increasing the likelihood that your audience will take the desired action.
Provides clarity - A clear CTA provides clarity on what the reader can expect to receive in return for taking the suggested action.
Improves user experience - By providing a clear CTA, you enhance your audience's user experience. It guides your audience on what to do next and keeps them engaged.
Providing a clear call to action in your content helps you grow a devoted and engaged audience for your business.
By focusing on the four pillars of great content - catchy title, high-value information, SEO and clear CTAs - you ensure your content is engaging, informative and easily discoverable by your target audience.
Whether you’re creating blog posts, podcasts or videos, keeping these four key factors in mind will help you create content that resonates with your audience, drives traffic to your website and channel, and ultimately supports your business goals.
Creating great content requires a thoughtful approach that considers the needs and preferences of your audience, as well as the technical aspects of online visibility.
If you’d like to learn how you can use AI to help with your content creation and save yourself hours of time, download my FREE guide below. (see what I just did there 😉)