There are literally millions of blogs, and thousands of articles being added to them each and every day. This is means an enormous amount of information coming from so many sources that it can become very difficult for people to choose one. In this sea of blogs and articles, how can you stand out? Obviously, we have search engine optimization tricks that will help you better index your content, and there is also social media promotion that can attract valuable readers, but when all is said and done, these are strategies that will help people discover you. In no way will they guarantee that once the visitor enters your site, he will also stay.
In order to build a loyal audience you have to create great content, accompany it with awesome images, and give it appropriate titles. I like to refer to awesome articles as evergreen content, because no matter what you do, you keep coming back to them at some point. But how exactly can you create that exquisite piece that people always use as reference? Here are a few tips that will help you:
Evergreen Blog Posts
1. Add a Personal Twist
If people were only looking to get informed in regards to a certain subject, they would simply go to Wikipedia and be done with it. Nevertheless, all internet users want to connect with like-minded people at some level, they want to be inspired, they want to feel what another human being is feeling, and this means that you should create something personal. Don’t go all mushy, but try to insert a personal opinion, a little personal experience, or a controversial question. This will definitely generate a discussion, and this will lead to positive social signals.
2. Think About Your Audience
In order to create everlasting content, you have to always keep your mind focused on what is important for your potential reader. What does he want? What interests him? How will your article benefit him? These are questions that you should answer before creating your article. Most of the times people are looking for problem solvers, How-To articles, motivational posts and so on. Interminable verbosities that have no conclusion at the end will only anger him. Take a microscopic look at the daily problems of people and try to give them an answer.
3. God is in the Details
You might think that details don’t matter to anyone but you, but you are wrong. Every little thing will increase the quality of your article. For example, don’t forget to add a description for every picture, or if you add pictures, don’t just paste the first thing that comes up on Google. Take your time to find relevant auxiliary elements that will spruce up your article. Double check for grammar, add appropriate meta-tags and keywords and think of an awesome article title. All of these things will only take 10-15 minutes but they will definitely benefit you on the long run.
4. Curate Your Content Correctly
Curated content is one of the most successful types of content. There are countless of examples online. By curating content you will also be able to attract visitors to older posts, create relevant back-links, focus on a certain niche and so on. The whole idea is to make relevant content easily accessible for your visitors and to become perceives as an expert by your audience. In order to successfully curate content you have to know your audience, focus on a niche, use tools and be an expert in your field.
5. Be Unique
There is no success recipe when it comes to being unique. The truth is that you can take whatever approach you want. The main idea is to find the voice of your blog. Will it be serious, sarcastic, funny or cinical? Only you can know, and only you can choose. The whole idea is to be consistent, and to stick to the same voice for all your articles. You can also add alternative types of content in order to make your site even more special. Podcasts, videos, images, Memes and GIFs will help you a lot when it comes to presentation. Just like a museum curator arranges the way that his items will be displayed, so should you care for the way that content is displayed within the article for maximum impact.
In conclusion, you can do whatever you want with your blog, as long as you stick to several guidelines. Try to write from the heart, and to write with purpose. Apply some SEO tricks, think of a nice presentation, be consistent, and people will come.