If you want to learn how to write shareable articles that are interesting and easy to read, our content experts are here to guide you. Together, we will go over each of the 8 steps you need to take to write share-worthy blog posts and publications.
What Makes Content Readable and Shareable?
Let's be realistic. When people read online content, they rarely go reading word by word. Usually, users scan the text and concentrate on the parts which are relevant to their interests or specific query. Naturally, the most readable and shareable copy is the skimmable one.
Here are the main factors that make content easy to skim:
Structured headings
Numbered headings
Bullet points and numbered lists
Short sentences
Short paragraphs
Easy-to-read font
Relevant font size (bigger for mobile, smaller for desktop)
Bold, underline, and italics formatting for emphasis
Visuals (pictures and videos)
Infographics
Tables and charts
Links to relevant internal pages
Links to relevant external pages and websites
White space
Another thing to do to ensure your content could be skimmed and easily read is to proofread and edit before uploading. A few minor grammatical or syntax errors might make a text hard to read and understand.
A mobile-friendly website would guarantee your content would be easily readable on any device. That is not only highly essential when it comes to readability, but is also a crucial SEO factor that determines how your website ranks on search engines.
As a final note, make sure the text makes sense. When a user reads it, there should not be any confusion as to what the writer meant to say. To ensure that, always work with fluent content writers that won't come up with random phrases and sentences that make no actual sense.
8 Steps to Write Share-Worthy & Readable Articles
1. Topic Choice
First and foremost, you need to decide on a topic you want to cover. You should start by identifying an issue or interest your readers have and address it in your blog post. Think about their pain points and problems they want to solve by using your services or products.
Meaning you should choose topics that provide answers to the most pressing questions your audience could have. They could be about your company, your products, and their features, your services, as well as the market and industry you operate in. It’s always a smart move to start thinking broadly, and then niche down your articles to make them specific and shareable.
Furthermore, try out different kinds of topics and see which ones are better performing. Once you have that information you could easily come up with similar-topic articles and they will always be successful, readable, and share-worthy. It is also useful to check out the latest Google trends and observe what type of content goes viral on social media in your field of business.
2. Keyword research
Once you have the topic, you need to find and implement relevant keywords in the text. This could be done with simple keyword research. The good news is, that most content writers collaborate with SEO professionals who can do the research in 2 clicks and provide the best keywords, LSI, and key phrases to craft shareable articles.
In case you do not have an SEO expert on your team, you can also do the keyword research by yourself. Tools like SEMrush and Ahrefs are quite useful for this job. But if you do not want to get deep into the research, you can use a tool like Answer the public. It provides the most searched related keywords and presents them in a user-friendly and structured way.
After you conduct your research, identify the main keyword, and select 3 more short and longtail keywords. The density for your main keyword should be ~3%. The free Keyword Density Checker by SEOReviewTools can help you keep track.
3. Topic research
As soon as you have determined the topic and selected your keywords, you can begin gathering information on the subject. To write a compelling blog post, you must first understand the topic you are discussing and know what you are writing about.
Therefore, it is vital to find reliable and authoritative resources to expand your knowledge on the matter before you start typing. While you might have an idea of what you are going to write, it is always advisable to get expert input.
Ensure you have your facts straight and the information you are sharing in the article is accurate and authentic. Adding links to quality resources, reputable sites, and real statistics, studies, and surveys, is a great way to back up your writings.
4. Heading outline
Outlining your headings before you start writing is key to creating readable and shareable articles. By doing that you give your blog post or publication an easy-to-read and skimmable structure.
Such a thought-out structure makes any text easy to follow both as you are writing it and afterward as the reader goes over it. Proper outlining of the headings lays out all the things you have to share. And gives you a plan to stick to. This way you could never lose your focus nor get stuck on what to write about next.
5. Draft writing
After the blog post is outlined, it’s time to start working on your rough draft. Creating the first draft should be a breeze if you follow your outline. It's inevitable that you'll get weary while writing a long article. Before you resume writing, give yourself a break. To write an excellent and shareable article, you ought to take your time, do your magic and use your creativity to create content worth reading.
6. Editing and proofreading
Once you are done with the initial draft, the next step is editing and proofreading. Nobody expects you to make the perfect blog post from scratch. Sometimes you just have to get back to it, reread it and find the particulars where you could improve.
There is always some spelling, punctuation, or grammar error that you may have missed. Semantic errors are also prevalent if you are not native to the language you write in. For those reasons, editing is an essential part of the process of creating readable and shareable articles.
To make proofreading easier for you, there are content scanning tools like Grammarly which can allocate all the mistakes, wrong spellings, redundancies, etc, and give suggestions to improve your text. With just one click on the suggestions, you can fix errors and improve the clarity and delivery of the article.
7. SEO & Readability check
And there you have it - a complete article. Now you just have to make sure it is optimized for search engines (SEO-friendly) and easily readable. Here are a few extra tips that will help you create shareable articles that are SEO-friendly, and with a high readability score:
Create catchy headlines and headings
Use the main keyword in your headings, meta description, and slug
Have a 3% keyword density, avoid keyword stuffing
Use short sentences and craft short paragraphs
Avoid passive tense
Avoid using adverbs too intensely
Do not overcrowd your text, leave some white space
Add bullet points at least once in the article
Add alt attributes to your image
Avoid uploading large files and images
Have authoritative internal and external links to relevant resources
To perform this SEO & Readability check, you need appropriate software and tools that will pinpoint the areas where you need to make improvements in your content. For optimization purposes, we recommend the plugins YoastSEO and RankMath, and for readability the HemingwayApp.
8. Final review
And finally, all the steps are completed! Apply the recommendations of the SEO & readability checkers and give your text one final review to make sure it is skimmable and shareable. If everything looks fine and your publication looks interesting and engaging, you can submit it for review to the client or upload it upon their confirmation.
These are the 8 essential steps to writing articles that are share-worthy and easy to read. VEEL Content's digital specialists have already mastered this 8-step strategy. We can help you put out authentic and SEO-friendly content on your blog or website. All you need to do is get in touch to get started! Follow the Content Us button at the top of the page to send us a message.
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