How to write for online audiences: Top 4 tips
“When you know your audience, your audience knows.”
When it comes to creating content, there are some key differences between writing for online audiences and offline audiences.
As a copywriter, journalist or PR agency, you should take note of the particular style.
To capture your online audience’s attention, you’ll need to adapt the way you approach writing. Style, length and structure, all have a big impact when it comes to writing for different channels.
Reading habits can also vary a lot as online readers are constantly flooded with information. So, they have shorter attention spans.
Keeping this in mind, here are a few best practices for successful content writing for online audiences:
4 tips on writing for online audiences
- A good hook
Start with a good hook that clearly explains to the reader what they can expect. A great hook or opening sentence is important to draw in your audience.
This could be a statistic like: 70% of people say bad traffic reduces the quality of their lives by over 90%!
Make sure that as you’re writing, you always keep your target audience in mind and focus on what you can offer them. Try to read your content through their eyes and don’t be too promotional. You want to engage your audience not bombard them with too many sales messages.
- CTA (action)
Another valuable tip is to incorporate a call to action or CTA. CTA is a short statement designed to entice a website visitor to take a specific action. So, you should make them as creative and persuasive as possible.
It could be start now or sign up today. Or it could be a phrase directing your readers on a specific action they need to take. Tailor your CTA to your strategy and make sure it helps you achieve your objectives.
- Consistent content creation
Creating content regularly means it can be tough to stay inspired. So here are a few ways to come up with engaging topics.
Try researching your competitors to see what topics they cover. As you research, keep a list of potential topics and refer back to it when it’s time to brainstorm new content.
In addition, tools like answer the public allow you to type in a specific subject or key term and receive a list of some of the most search queries involving those words. This is great for creating content topics that respond to real user demand.
Other tools to help you get an idea of how popular a topic is includes Search Console, which can help you see terms people use to find your website and Keyword Planner which shows you how many people search for a specific term.
- Tone of voice
Finally, make sure you’re consistent in your writing style, so that when readers read your content, they immediately associate your brand or business voice with it. A clear and recognizable tone of voice will help to establish a relationship with your audience and differentiate you from competitors.
Try writing down the attributes you want readers to associate with your brand, such as honesty and enthusiasm, and always write with these qualities in mind.
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