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3 Content Related Advices to Consider

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Content Related Advices

Blogging has turned into a vast industry these days, as blogs are starting to grow like mushrooms on a rainy day. It is a known fact that with the help of blogging each and every business out there can get a huge boost.

Whether you are selling software of some sort or an e-book, offering amazing cooking insights, the chances are that with a great article on the subject, you can get far more people to see and probably buy what you are offering.

In order to make the whole undertaking to work, knowing a few basic things is required though. Big percentage of the marketers fail, exactly because they don’t have good knowledge on those same basics. With the following article I aim to give you some content related advices, which should be taken into consideration when starting out with blogging.

The Title – User-Friendly vs SEO-Friendly

Trying to please both the search engines and your visitors is of course what you should be striving for when coming up with a title for an article. Unfortunately this is not always possible, since what search engines call a killer title, might turn out a disaster for your visitors’ eyes. Do not fool yourself into thinking that you should completely exclude one of the two. The question is, towards which one should the scales be tipped?

If I were to make a decision, my choice would definitely be to first think of the visitors. In the end you are not writing your content for the search engines. They are nothing more than a mediator between you and your readers. That is why getting 100 really interested people from the search engines is far better than getting 1000 folks, who clicked your blog just because it was the first on the list. Those same folks are fast to hit the ‘Close’ button after few seconds.

Article Length – Short vs Long Articles

Giving an accurate answer to that question is a daunting task. Some claim that short and straight to the point content is what one should be striving for. Others are on the opposite side of the coin, explaining that long posts that dive into the deepest of detail are what visitors are hungry for. Although both of the two approaches have their pros and cons, I would advice novice bloggers to try and go for the first one. Short of course doesn’t mean an article, three or four sentences long. Keeping your thoughts to around 350-400 words is perfect for first time visitors, as they quickly tend to browse away to a different site. If the articles is over a thousand words for instance, they will probably get bored and leave, before reaching the essence of your message.

Do not Disregard the Importance of Comments

Having comments on your articles plays its role when it comes to achieving better conversions. Although you will not directly benefit from the number of comments, they can significantly raise your credibility. And being credible is what can make the difference between success and miserable failure.

Let’s say you are trying to promote some sort of a marketing tool alongside another blogger who is selling similar product, offering similar features for roughly the same price. Your blog is getting around 20 comments per post and the competition a mere 4 or 5. No doubt that for the average Joe, who’s just reading around this might be a small detail. However things would have been far different if that same guy was to make a decision between the two expensive products. I bet that in such a case the smallest details can prove the turning stone.

Exactly for that reason I would advice you to take comments more seriously. The least you can do is encourage readers to leave their feedback. Why not ask a question, related to the topic you have just discussed? Simple yet effective solution!

Your Thoughts

What do you think about the above points? Do they matter for you? Feel free to leave your feedback and criticism below in the comment section.

Image Credit: Qisur

About

Daniel Sharkov is an 18 year old student, marketer, blogger and a social media enthusiast. Make sure to check out Reviewz N Tips - the place, where he shares his insights and experience!

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{ 46 Responses }

  1. Murlu says:
    I've actually been getting away from SEO in general because social media is playing such a huge role now that I think it's becoming better to write directly for your audience than to ever focus on the SEO factors. At least for me, I don't really read posts that are clearly meant for SEO - I'll just skip over them usually - need to grab my attention - I think a lot of people are like this now.
  2. Mani Viswanathan says:
    You've made a very important first point. I think a title which is both USER + SEO Friendly is only made by a pro-blogger. Also it's not the no. of comments which is important. It's how meaningful the comments are matters; more than it's numbers.
  3. Vernessa Taylor says:
    You make 3 very good points! I am not an SEO expert by any stretch of the imagination. From what I've learned, I try to make article titles first let the reader know what they've come upon. Most times, the titles are kind of long, which seems to please the search engines -- my articles tend to get indexed very quickly by Google. Short vs Long Articles? Because tutorials are generally what I write, the articles tend to be long, sometimes even several pages. I only seem to write short posts when I'm sharing a "quick fix."
    • Daniel Sharkov says:
      Hi Vernessa, Just a side note there - getting your articles indexed fast is a great thing, but it doesn't always mean that the same articles will have a good search engine ranking. Other than that thanks for the input!
      • Vernessa Taylor says:
        Hi Daniel - I see your point. Actually I don't think I'd ever considered there was a relationship between "speed" and "ranking." Sometimes, when I check stats in WordPress and see the search terms that brought people to the blog, to my surprise, I often find my posts showing up on the first page for that particular phrase. That's a cause for celebration, right? :)
  4. TJ McDowell says:
    As far as article length, I'd say that it would depend on the blog and the blogger. Some blog matter would probably require longer posts, and others would tend toward shorter. For me, I prefer to do posts in close to the 400 word mark. It's closer to my writing style, and I prefer giving information in bite size pieces.
    • Daniel Sharkov says:
      I agree with you TJ. Anywhere around 400 words is good enough as far as length goes. There are topics that require more comprehensive explanations though, so sometimes this might come a bit short. Thanks for the comment!
  5. Sophia says:
    "If I were to make a decision, my choice would definitely be to first think of the visitors." This is how I feel about almost all content. It's good to be savvy in what you're producing, but first and foremost you want to actually RETAIN instead of just DRAW.
    • Daniel Sharkov says:
      Exactly Sophia! Drawing visitors to your site or blog is always a good thing, but you need to find a way to keep them your visitors. Thanks for stopping by and commenting! :)
      • Sophia says:
        Sure! It's about building a community. They used to say that talk radio was the last neighborhood in America, but now it's the Internet...
  6. Kimi says:
    Hey Daniel, Great to see you posting here :D I almost agree with your valuable tips above. Especially with the commenters. I will pay attention on it, Thanks!
    • Daniel Sharkov says:
      Hi Kimi Thanks for the support. It's nice that you agree with the tips even if it's just "almost". LOL!
  7. jhon says:
    There should be magic in your content to attract new reader. It is very good suggestion for newbie content writer to writer contents in the range of 350-400 but the contents should be free from any mistakes.
    • Daniel Sharkov says:
      You are right John. Taking the time to remove possible writing mistakes is of great importance. Even if the content quality is kept at a good level, it just looks a bit unprofessional if there are grammar mistakes for example.
  8. Vernon says:
    Hi Daniel, I enjoyed reading your post. I don't entirely agree that every business can benefit from blogging, as you said in the beginning. If a business has only a few products and little that is newsworthy, or the business is small and has nobody who will commit themselves to the blog, it can be a disaster or a big waste of time. My take on the title and seo in general is to totally ignore it on the fist draft - write totally just for the visitor to your site. Then you can write a very good article without sounding false or spammy. When the article is very good, you can go through it and see which words could be replaced with more SEO friendly words. This is especially true if your main aim is loyalty (like the example you gave of 100 vs 1000). If you need many eyeballs passing through your site, and don't care to much about them sticking around, SEO can be an exclusive focus. I'd rather have the loyal readers. Article length depends so much on a number of factors. If you post daily, you probably can't afford the time to post long posts. Your subscribers will probably not be reading those long posts anyway, if you post often. But if you post less frequently, then long articles can be a good way to do it. If you write long articles, you need to be sure that they are very good - worth reading. They also need to be scan-able and easy to read.
    • Daniel Sharkov says:
      Hi Vernon You have a point there mate. Maybe not absolutely all businesses can benefit from blogging, as it really depends on the type of business. Not every business, but still what I believe can be called a big portion. The approach you have taken on the title and keywords is a good one. I'm applying a similar principle when writing an article. You first need to make sure that everything is flawless and then fine tune details such as SEO. I do agree on the point about long articles - taking care to make the article as close to perfect as possible is a must. If not well written, people will probably read a paragraph or two and quit, before reaching the point. Thanks for taking the time to comment! Awesome!
      • Vernon says:
        Ah, I agree totally Daniel, thanks.
  9. Salman says:
    As you say don't ignore the importance of comments i'd say don't ignore good content. So yeah pat on ur back . Well written article :)
    • Daniel Sharkov says:
      Yep, both content and comments should never be underestimated. The first one is especially important, as without quality content you are going nowhere. Thanks for the appreciation Salman!
  10. Lennart Heleander says:
    Hi Daniel, The Title; If you can’t use the perfect SEO title, use the long tail key word SEO then. Article length; Never more then 300 words, if necessary longer article divided it in 2 articles and ending the first with Part 2 of these articles is coming tomorrow. Do not disregard comments; Try always give a reply to comments, it’s your clients, friends, inspiration source. Great post Daniel.
    • Daniel Sharkov says:
      Dividing articles into two separate parts is a good thing to do Lennart. You get more posts and if presented right, the first article makes visitors eager to see the second one. Thanks for the positive comment mate! :)
  11. Isabel Rodrigues - Pro Blogger Journey says:
    Thanks for writing this excellent post. The first point is so very important. To have the right title is so very important. You need to have not just an seo friendly title but also one that will attract the reader
    • Daniel Sharkov says:
      Glad you liked the article Isabel! Thanks for leaving your feedback!
  12. John says:
    It is hard to decipher if you should go with SEO or visitor appeal. It is not always east to find a happy medium as well. I find that as long as you produce good content, you will do fine. On the matter weather it should be short or long. That is something you can survey your readers about. There is a difference between being long winded and explaining something properly. It is a well written post.
    • Daniel Sharkov says:
      Hi John! Finding a "happy medium" as you said is not always possible, which is actually the biggest problem that comes with choosing a title. The idea to survey your readers when it comes to article length is pretty good as well. Thanks for commenting! :)
  13. Rahul says:
    AWSOME !! i really approve the fact this has turned on to a very vast industry , online business is growing of course as we can feel , and what you have said is indispensable , i just believe in the powerful effect of comments and communicating with people !!! thank you a lot for the post ! :)
    • Daniel Sharkov says:
      Comments can have a tremendous effect on your communication with other bloggers. And after all without communication, you just can't make it in the blogosphere.
  14. The Bad Blogger says:
    First of all, long or short content doesn't really matter, you see.. what really does matter is the information of the content. If you say short content for first time visitor then what if... the short content isn't informative? But again writing long content doesn't mean it will be informative, look... you can't just put extra sentence in just too make it long... well it got to be informative. Oh and also the title I do agree with you, title should be written for human and not bots, well, guess what... almost every blogger I knew thus far doesn't really write good title, only a few that really does put in some effort in writing title that just can't ignore such as copyblogger... Anyway, your advice really remind me about basic stuff that I should also remember before writing a post and I hope it will remind those who are reading this how important a title is for any publication out there.
    • Daniel Sharkov says:
      You are definitely right that the most crucial element is the information in the content itself. No doubt about that one. As I said earlier it depends on a variety of factors and long article doesn't always mean a useful one. On the other hand short doesn't always equal no value.
  15. Sujith says:
    The title selection is really a difficult task in terms of search engines and readers. Search engines take only limited characters including the spaces for title indexing , which spoil the spirit of title selection. Good article, Thank.
    • Daniel Sharkov says:
      You have a good point there Sujith - the character limitation is a big problem when it comes to titles. Thanks for commenting! :)
  16. Patricia says:
    Hi Daniel You've covered the important points for us newbies, so thanks. Depending on the topic I'm writing about dictates the length of my article. When it is tips that is easy. If I say 10 tips then that is what I give my readers. However if it is about some research find it may or may not be longer depending what I have found. For me the comments point is so important. I have found as I have visited other blogs and taken time to comment and interact then my own traffic has grown and people who I am getting to know stay and comment too. Patricia Perth Australia
    • Daniel Sharkov says:
      Hi Patricia, One of that factors dictating how long the article should be, is definitely the topic. There are those topics where you just can't go with less than let's say 700-800 words. Comments on the other hand do play an important role. The thing about bloc commenting is that it often is reciprocal. You comment on other blogs and then as time goes the blog authors (and not only) comment on yours.
  17. Jan Husdal says:
    Nice article, Daniel. As far as title goes, I use two. One keyword-related meta title (the one Google sees and Windows displays and the the one I want to be FOUND/SEARCHED for) and one attention-grabbing title on my actual post (the one my viewers see, those who are not searching, but subscribing or visiting by chance). That is killing two birds with one stone, and so far it has worked very well. Sometimes I might even have a slightly different title one the actual post page than on the homepage or category or tag page listing my posts. Again, just to grab the attention of my readers. I'm definitely a friend of long posts, but with my topic (research) I have to write long posts, otherwise I feel to much like FoxNews. And my audience is not likely to shy away when faced with long posts, anyway. For other bloggers it may be different. Finding out what works best takes time, and as you say, there can be no right or wrong answer.
    • Daniel Sharkov says:
      You have found a great solution there Jan. That definitely seems like the perfect combination, taking care of both SEO and visitors. It is great that these days there's a huge variety of SEO plug-ins that can help you "kill two birds with one stone" as you said. And about the length - yes, it strongly depends on one's field of work. Sometimes short posts just can't do the trick, as the topics require diving into comprehensive details. Thanks for sharing your thoughts mate!
  18. Tristan says:
    A lot of people always say to write short blog posts, but I'm a fan of long blog posts, myself. I mean, those are the ones you bookmark, right?
    • Daniel Sharkov says:
      Well there are a lot of factors involved when it comes to bookmarking an article. Although you have a point there, short articles might still be very informative. I have read a lot of seemingly short articles that give a lot more value than a thousand word chunks. Either way, thanks for commenting Tristan! :)
    • Karan Labra says:
      I don't understand the concept of long/short posts. I mean the size doesn't matter as long as it provides the information that your readers are looking for.
  19. Steve says:
    Some solid advice on ways to improve content. YOu are right that titles, which can be one of the post important aspects to attraxcct visitors is a delicate balance. IMO it is best NOT to make a decision. Some articles are better to have SEO friendlier, some geared more toward grabbing direct readers. AS long as you make an attempt at including both in every article favoring one and then the other will get you a decent mix of articles.
    • Daniel Sharkov says:
      You are right Steve - whether an article should be SEO friendlier or reader friendlier depends on the article itself. Sometimes a catchier title is what you need, while others simplicity does the job well enough.
  20. Daniel Sharkov says:
    Hey Rahul, These days blogging is definitely something more than a free time hobby for many people. Things have definitely changed in the last ten or so years. So yes, you can easily call it an industry. Thanks for the positive feedback buddy! :)
    • Karan Labra says:
      At present, everyone who writes a blog isn't considered to be a blogger. A blogger is someone who has a nice fan following and might be making some nice amount of money from his blog.
  21. Rahul says:
    loved the way you used industry , absolutely right !! its a whole business and the point you were talking about were interesting for beginners specially , taking comments seriously is essential i see, that's the only way for readers to communicate with the writer and check out his professional "background" !! !:)
    • Daniel Sharkov says:
      Hey Rahul, These days blogging is definitely something more than a free time hobby for many people. Things have definitely changed in the last ten or so years. So yes, you can easily call it an industry. Thanks for the positive feedback buddy! :)