How to Write Engaging Content

How to Engage Your Audience

Once you make yourself aware of what engaging content is and why it’s important, it becomes a natural part of the writing process.

First and Foremost, Formatting

Have you ever counted the pages left in a chapter while reading a book and rolled your eyes when you saw that you still had another 10, 20 pages to go? The same applies to blogging. If a visitor scrolls through a long post only to find a wall of text, they will quickly lose the motivation to keep reading.

Embedding images, videos, social media posts, forms, and other widgets are a wonderful way to break up your content. It also helps the reader visualize and better understand your article.

HTML separators can help you better format your content. On the other hand, the clever use of page breaks and drop down menus here or there can disguise the length of the article (to a degree, of course).

Take Yourself out of the Story

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Burgundy Bug

Source: My Brain 21| Penelope Peru Photography P³

If you find yourself using a lot of “I”s and “Me”s throughout your work, it’s time to take yourself out of the story. Of course, this also depends on the context of your posts.

If you’re sharing a story or personal opinion, by all means, be the star of your story! However, it should be clear that you are speaking from your own experiences and biases.

Informative articles , news coverage, and tutorials should be targeted towards the reader. It should feel as though you are speaking to them, not at them. If you were writing a programming guide, for example, this would not be the time or place to start talking about your dear aunt Sally. That would be as relevant to the reader as the price of tea in China.

Unless, of course, your dear aunt Sally made a major breakthrough in the Computer Science industry that was somehow relevant to the tutorial. That’s another story.

However, it certainly wouldn’t be a bad idea to mention and provide links to your personal posts in an informative article, if it were relevant to the content.

Keep Your Voice

Taking yourself out of the story doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice your voice; it simply means you should keep your bias out of your work.

Having a consistent tone throughout your blog establishes personality and makes your audience feel more connected to the blogger behind the blog (or in my case, the bug behind the blog. Hey, I just broke the first rule in my own guide). Your viewers will appreciate your voice and may even check out other content simply because they like who you are as a person or how you write.

Do Your Research

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Encyclopedia Britannica

Source: Knowledge is Power | Penelope Peru Photography P³

Google is the gateway to information, don’t take it for granted! Always do your research, especially if you are writing an informative piece.

The National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) and Statista will be two of your best friends. Just be sure to properly cite any sources you reference throughout the post! Steer clear of plagiarizing, as well (nobody likes a copycat, after all).

While Wikipedia articles themselves aren’t a reliable source of information, there’s nothing stopping you from using reputable sources linked throughout various Wikipedia pages.

Next comes the challenge of translating your findings into something that’s actually readable. Citing facts and statistics makes your content reputable, but going overboard is a surefire way to send visitors clicking away from your blog. Try your best to summarize the studies you use to support your content.

Edit, Edit, Edit

Think you’re ready to publish immediately after writing up an article? Think again. As monotonous as it may feel to edit your own writing, it is essential.

Proofreading gives you the opportunity to clean up lengthy sentences, typos, as well as any grammatical errors. No matter how interesting your article may be, semantic issues severely diminish the credibility of your work.

Make sure to give your post a read outloud, too! Read it aloud to yourself, your dog, friends, significant other, your family – anyone willing to listen. Ask yourself as well as the listener if the post flows and if it makes sense.

Encourage Feedback

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Lily the TRI Australian Shepherd smiling

Source: Lily the Beautiful TRI Australian Shepherd | Penelope Peru Photography P³

In addition to surveying anyone in your circle willing to listen, you should encourage your online audience to give a little feedback.

Having a comments section on your posts gives them the opportunity to tell you what they did or didn’t like about your content, which you can use to improve as a writer. It also opens the floor for discussion, building a sense of community on your website.

In addition to a comments section, it’s always a good idea to have a contact form readily available.