How to create more engaging content (part 1)

8 seconds. That's all you often have.

According to a study, the attention span of an average internet user is just 8 seconds. In comparison, a goldfish has an attention span of 9 seconds. 

What does this mean for you as a content creator or online businessperson?

It means that if you can't reel your readers in within the first 8 seconds, then that’s likely it. There is a chance that those visitors may never visit your blog again. All your efforts driving them to your website go to waste.

This is why creating engaging content is so important.

In addition, engaging content is also very beneficial for SEO. The average time your website visitors spend on your website is a search engine ranking factor.

Let’s explain it in a simpler way.

Average time on page and SEO

If someone visits your website and quits it within the first 2-3 seconds, it sends a negative signal to Google. It indicates to search engines that your website doesn't have the high-quality content and information that the user was looking for. 

If it keeps happening, Google eventually may demote your website in the search engine results page and promote your competitors' websites.

Therefore, if you want to improve your website's SEO and increase its search engine traffic, you will have to create more engaging and interesting content. The goal is to keep your readers hooked on your website and increase the average time they spend on your blog.

Fortunately, there are ways you can make your blog posts more engaging and interesting for your readers.

In this two-part series of blog posts, we are going to share more than 20 tips on how to make your online content more interesting and engaging.

Here are the first 10 tips.

1. Start with a captivating headline

The headline is the most important part of your blog post.

According to Copyblogger, 80 percent of internet users just read the headline of a blog post. If they find the headline interesting, they will read the rest of your post. Otherwise, they will jump off to do something else.

Therefore, the first step of creating engaging content is to write better headlines. 

A good, clickable headline should have certain qualities. Here are a few of them:

• It must show a clear benefit to your readers.
• A good headline is clear, concise, and easy to understand.
• Clarity is very important when writing a headline for the web.
• The headline should be able to evoke certain emotions in your target audience.

2. Nail the intro

After the headline, it is the introduction of your posts that matters the most. More often than not, writers lose their readers in the first few sentences or paragraphs. Make sure you don't make the same mistake.

Here are a few actionable tips to make the intro engaging and interesting enough to keep the readers going.

• Write shorter sentences.
• Start with a punchy sentence that grabs the attention of your readers.
• Raise curiosity.
• Highlight the problem that you are trying to solve in that particular blog post. For example, in this post, I highlighted what problems uninteresting and dull content could cause for your website. You may lose traffic and search engine rankings.
• Make a clear promise to the reader to solve that problem.

3. Use “power words”

There are certain “power words” that evoke emotions in your readers. Such words are important to keep them engaged with your content.

Here is a couple of lists:

• 14 Trigger Words That’ll Ignite Engagement in Your Blog Posts
• 401+ Ridiculously Useful Power Words To Increase Conversions

4. Keep it conversational

Blogging and creating content for the web should be like a friendly conversation between two people.

This is why it is very important to write conversationally and in a friendly tone.

Here is a simple tip for that.

Incorporate words like "you" and "your" in the content. It engages the readers as if you have been talking to them personally. When you address them directly (as I just did to you), it makes a far more significant impact.

5. Use a storytelling approach

It is another technique that works very well for some bloggers and their readers. As the saying goes, "You don't remember statistics. You remember stories.”

It is true even in today's digital marketing world. If you want to engage your readers with your content, start by telling relevant stories that they can actually relate to and connect with.

6. Create and/or embed videos

Videos are great. 84 percent of marketers say video has helped them generate leads.

That’s because videos are engaging and easy to watch. For informative content and blog posts, videos present another way for readers to consume content. 

It may not be possible to replace your entire blog post with a video altogether. But you can at least complement your post by embedding relevant videos that provide more information or context.

So the next time when you are creating a new blog post, think about the different ways you can integrate videos in it. If you can produce your own custom videos, it will likely have an even bigger impact, especially in the long term.

7. Include images

As content marketers are getting smarter, they are now using more and more images in their blog posts.

Images are excellent. They not only make your content interesting, engaging, and useful for your readers, but they also help you bring more traffic. According to a study, blog posts with images get 94% more views.

8. Include "Tweetables"

It is a great little technique that can drastically increase the engagement rate you usually get on your blog posts.

When you quote an important fact, statistics, or tip, you can include a "Click to Tweet" link with it. It has three major benefits:

1. It makes your content more interesting and engaging.
2. Including tweetables throughout your post helps you drive more traffic through Twitter.
3. It breaks the monotony of text in your blog posts. If your entire post is a big wall of text, it will never be able to engage your readers.

9. Replicate success

There are certain types of blog posts that people generally prefer. For instance, BuzzSumo and OkDork analyzed 1 million articles to find out the most socially shared articles.

According to their study, list-based blog posts work particularly well. They got the second-highest number of social media shares (11,000 shares on average). More social media shares clearly mean that readers love this type of content. After all, they found those posts so interesting and engaging that they shared them on their social media profiles.

Therefore, look into your Google Analytics account and identify the type of posts that get the most traction on your site. Then try to create more such posts because your readers are obviously interested in that type of content.

Apart from the topic and type of content, also try to replicate the tone and structure of the article.

10. Don't forget to respond to comments

Blogging is a platform for two-way communication. If you want your readers to engage with your content, you will have to engage with them, too.

Make sure to respond to each and every comment you receive. I know it can be hard, but it’s necessary.

When you respond to your readers' comments, you make them feel like a part of your little community. This is a long-term solution to creating better engagement on your blog.

Conclusion

That’s the end of the first part. We hope you found it informative and valuable.

In the next post, we will share the rest of the 11 tips on how to make your content more engaging and interesting for your website visitors.