The purpose of writing web content is to evoke emotion and cause someone to take some action. Persuasive content is more than just choosing words. It is using words as a strategic tool for driving business growth. In today’s post, we explore essential elements of persuasive writing to help you produce content that converts.
At Pressfarm, we create content as part of our PR agency services. Over 90% of our sales are channeled through our blog content, so you get the idea – content marketing is a big deal for us. We have learned what it takes to build out content page by page. Come along as we share some of the great tips we use to make our content persuasive.
1. Add proof to build credibility and trust
Claims that cannot be substantiated do not entice people to act on your content. If you claim something in your article, provide proof. This adds credibility to your content and builds trust with your readers.
There are several ways to add some proof to your content. For instance, you can link to third-party sources that validate your claim. You can also use examples, case studies, or quotes from leading industry experts and influencers.
You can also source proof on social media channels, blog surveys, or AI recruitment software.
2. Write for skimmers
Your blog most likely has readers who read your articles word for word, and those who skim through to get important points. According to research by Jakob Nielsen, only 16% of online readers read articles word for word. 79% skim through to check for important information.
Provide important information in the top sections of your writing. Journalists call this the Inverted Pyramid style of writing. It is best illustrated in newspapers.
You will notice that when you first start reading a story in the newspaper, a summary of the first paragraph has been created to ensure that you get the idea of the full story in that first paragraph.
Content marketers need to write like that as well. When you write for scanners, you ensure they can get the most important information early in the content. If they do not continue reading past the first paragraph or sentence, they still understand the bigger picture.
Additionally, here are some other things you should do when writing content that suits scanners:
- Use headlines in bigger fonts to highlight important points
- Use bullet points when possible – but don’t overuse them.
- Ensure your headline communicates what your story/article is about. Here is how to write better content marketing headlines.
- Use image captions to communicate the marketing message.
- Summarize your key points using subheadlines.
3. Write for readers
Your content readers are those who read your articles word for word. You need to find a balance and write for your readers too. Most of the time, if your content is good for readers it will be good for skimmers and vice-versa.
Writing for readers does not mean you bore them with unnecessary information. As a best practice, always keep your sentences short. Do the same with your paragraphs. Use simple words, not dictionary-level English. The goal is to make your content not only easy to read but easy to understand too. However, even with these best practices, achieving clear and engaging content can be challenging. This is where professional editing services come in. A professional editor can refine your writing, ensuring it is concise, coherent, and impactful. They can help eliminate unnecessary jargon, enhance readability, and polish your content to meet high standards. Consider utilizing editing services to take your content to the next
Occasionally when you want to stamp on your credibility and industry knowledge, you can use technical words. However, be careful not to overdo it.
More tips for writing for your readers:
- Avoid passive tense – be direct
- Avoid unnecessary repetition
- Address your web visitors directly – use the word ‘you’
- Shorten your text and save everyone some time
4. Design your blog pages to draw interest
The visual look of your blog can sometimes dictate whether your articles will draw interest. Visual elements contribute to how people perceive your content, how they read it, and whether they take any action after reading it.
To begin with, always alternate between text and images. According to Search Engine Journal, articles with images received 94% more views than those without. If you are not using images in your content, you are missing out on increasing your blog readership.
Highlighting your calls-to-action (CTAs) in your articles will also increase your blog’s appeal. It brings the CTAs into focus thus persuading people to take action on them.
A blog page with content and banners on every side doesn’t make for a very persuasive content article. You need to ensure that you have a lot of white space. This creates a good balance between text, images, and free space. Avoid clutter like banners and too many CTAs that distract readers from the actual content.
To make your article more persuasive, leverage font sizes for headlines, subheadlines, titles, and quotes. Interchanging font sizes makes your articles visually attractive and more organized.
5. Make it easy to find information
Website visitors always go to read articles when looking for information. Your goal as the provider of this information is to make it easy for them to find it. Both the readers and skimmers are hunting for information and need it quickly.
To create useful content, ask yourself whether you offer what your readers are looking for and if they can find that information as fast as possible. To know what your potential readers are looking for, do keyword research.
We have found Mangools keyword finder to be very useful for this. Even without using a keyword research tool, you will find potential readers asking questions in your comments or on forums like Quora.
Master the art of listening before making content. This involves you giving your readers what they want by doing the following:
- Read comments and understand your customer’s pain points
- Do keyword research to inform your content production – using these keywords and phrases in your content enables readers to find you easily.
- Link to relevant websites and resources that may help your readers find the information
6. Avoid marketing noise
When doing content marketing, you need to put real statistics out there. Stay away from ambiguous statements. This falls in the same category as giving data without proof. In this case, you need to be specific for your content to be more persuasive.
For instance, read the following three statements:
- Our email opt-in plugin helps you increase email sign-ups
- 125,675 websites use our email opt-in plugin to increase email sign-ups
- Our email opt-in plugin will increase your email sign-ups by 25%
Which statement is likely to be more persuasive? The second and third statements.
Generic statements only make you sound lazy. Specific statements with numbers to back them up to boost your credibility and turn your argument into a very tangible proposition.
However, avoid too much self-promotion in your content because people start to think that you are not honest and are only focused on the agenda of selling something. Communicate precisely. Market yourself briefly and in passing.
Do you need help developing quality content for your brand?
PR agencies like Pressfarm help you create newsworthy content that captures attention and inspires audiences. With a professional press release, compelling guest posts, and an eye-catching media kit from Pressfarm, you can create content that stands out in your industry. In addition to helping you create content, the team at Pressfarm can also help you to put it in front of the right audience.
By submitting your content to the right media outlets and startup directories, Pressfarm can boost your online visibility and ensure you rank in relevant search results. They also go the extra mile by providing companies access to their PR database of over 1 million journalists. You can filter these contacts to find your perfect media match easily.
Pressfarm’s PR specialists, expert writers, and certified designers have what it takes to help your brand capture the attention of the right audiences.
