Creating compelling content

October 2009Source: Copyblogger.com

Try to remember the last time you visited a site that had good, solid content but read like a technical manual... Factual and helpful But not terribly compelling

You got what you needed, and then moved on...

Create synergy through a 'jam session'CollaborationsGuest postsQ&A Sessions

Some of the other person’s interestingness

will rub off on you, and yours on them

Now think about the last time something on a site really caught your interest...regardless of the topic.Insightful oddball, saying all kinds of peculiar things that made you thinkMade you laugh outloudWrote an emotional piece

Did you return to that site?You came back because the site was intriguing

4 things to keep people coming back...

Insert yourself......into what might be otherwise a purely factual lesson or set of step-by-step instructions

Simply adding personal touch...can be enough to create a sense of connection between you are the reader

Conventional advice: Our readers will abandon us if every word and thought isn’t about the central topicNot always true!

A bit of off-topic rambling now and then shows that your site is human, rather than a how-to manual, and will make readers more likely to be intrigued by you and what you do

The internet is big. Very big.Because of this it’s easy for your blog to feel anonymous to your readersAnything you can do to create a sense of 'inside' versus the faceless internet 'outside' will make your site feel more intimate to readers

A great way to do this is to have regular, recurring events

E.g. Caption contests on photos, where you declare a winner...and more importantly, track winners over time

If you want those readers to stick, you’re going to need more than facts and lessons. Try infusing your topic with some human interest and you just might find those folks coming back for more.

More tips of how to be interesting:http://www.copyblogger.com/how-to-be-interesting/

Copy of this article:http://www.copyblogger.com/be-more-interesting/