Great content gives your readers what they want and need, in the simplest way possible. Answer their question at the top, give them something extra, keep the article on one page, write for people rather than search engines, keep the language simple, and listen to what your readers tell you.
The phrase "less is more" applies well here. Needless complexity works against whatever goal your content has. So what can you do to give your readers what they want? Here are 6 ingredients.
1. Answer their questions
People come to your website or blog after typing a question into a search engine. When they arrive, make sure you actually give them the answer.
Where should the answer go? At the top. If you bury it under a long introduction, your readers will hit the back button within seconds.
2. Give something extra
Think about what else would help your readers. If, for example, you write for learners of English as a second language (ESL) and cover spelling and grammar, point them to a spelling and grammar checker such as the Spell Checker. It complements your content: learners can check their own texts and see how many mistakes they made, and where.
3. Stay away from multiple-page articles
Some websites split their articles into several pages for no reason other than to show more ads. Stay away from this practice. Readers find it annoying, and it will hurt you in the long term.
There are good reasons to split an article, though. One is a very long article of more than about 10,000 words. It is fine to divide such an article into several logical parts that are easier to digest.
4. Don't stuff keywords
Your readers come first, search engines second. People can tell when you treat them as an afterthought.
You want to rank high in search engines, of course, but remember that you are writing for humans. Use your keywords sparingly. If a keyword does not fit naturally into a sentence, don't force it.
5. Simplify your writing
As said above, give your readers what they want in the simplest way possible. Instead of jargon and fancy words, keep your language so simple that a 13-year-old could easily follow it. That is not talking down to your readers: a simple text is quicker to read for everyone. How to simplify your content and how to dumb down your writing show how to do it.
6. Listen to feedback and keep in touch
Mind reading is hard, so the best way to find out what your readers want is to ask them. Let readers ask questions and comment on your articles, and reply quickly, ideally within a day. That shows them that you are there and that you care about their opinions.
Don't skip this one. Listening to your readers tells you what content to create next. When you know your audience, you won't waste time writing articles that nobody reads.
These are the basic ingredients of great content. Treat them as guidelines rather than strict rules, and don't be afraid to add your own herbs and spices.