Just like other industries, new trends emerge and the old ones fade away in the world of content writing. The rise of mobile indexing, for instance, means content now also needs to be accessible and easy to read on smartphones and tablets.
Moreover, the content needs to be SEO-optimised and consequently, rank high in search results. These requirements are in addition to the post or blog providing informative content to readers.
Website owners and SEO companies need to be aware of all emerging trends and disruptive ideas that will define how content will work in the days to come. Here is a look at 5 such content writing trends that are likely to define 2017 and beyond:
Mobile Content is Now
Search engines such as Google have indicated that they will give preference to mobile-optimised websites. This has already led to a greater demand for mobile-optimised website layouts and themes. There has also been a rise in the demand for mobile-optimised content. Long-form content does not fit the mobile platform effectively and more and more firms are looking for content that is easy to read on mobile devices. Mobile content is also more likely to be shared by visitors on social media, thereby bringing more traffic to a website.
Quality content writing service providers have already moved this way and are offering SEO-optimised mobile-friendly web content that also works well on traditional larger-screen desktops or laptops. The content that they are writing is smarter, funnier and easier to read.
Targeted and Personalised Content
Users will only click on a story and go to a website that connects with them. With so much content being churned out every minute, it is important that the reader identifies with your content and feels inclined to read some more. To accomplish this, you need to know your target audience and provide content based on their tastes and preferences. For instance, if you are writing about fashion trends for the upcoming fall season, talking about last year’s spring collection is not going to help much.
Let’s take another example. Suppose you run a sports trivia website with a majority of the readers from say Australia and South Asia. Your content needs to be targeted separately for each audience. Australians are into quite a few sports besides cricket while most South Asians are unlikely to watch any other sport while a cricket match is on. As such, your SEO and SMO content writing should focus on cricket for South Asia first while you have to provide equal amounts of trivia on sports such as rugby, football, tennis, etc. to get the Aussies to take a look at your site.
Targeted and personalised content have been in focus for some time now and will continue to be so for some years to come.
Junk-free Web Content
Junk content has been gone for some time now. If you have irrelevant information and links on your site, expect your bounce rate to increase as customers move to websites they find more relevant.
The strange thing is that despite junk content being outdated and unpopular (and downright unethical, we believe) you will still find sites that stuff themselves with irrelevant data or opt for questionable SEO practices.
If you want your site to rank high on Search Engine Results Pages (SERP) in 2017, then focus on putting high-quality content on your website. Do not follow a strict formula for keyword density, keyword frequency, or keyword placement – these are irrelevant terms of an era long gone. Add the right keywords to the content only where they are relevant.
Also, in case you did not know, since search engine crawlers cannot comprehend the content like humans, they look at factors such as bounce rate to sense how much of the content is relevant for your visitors.
If your visitors are spending a lot of time on the website and reading multiple posts, the crawlers assume that you provide high-quality content and consequently, rank you above websites with junk content. If the bounce rate is high, the crawlers flag your website assuming you have low-quality content and penalise you by demoting your website in search results.
Social Media Relevancy
People on social media platforms tend to look at content that is relevant to them and ignore everything else. If there is one skill set you need to learn in 2017, it should be how to use social media smartly.
Leverage the power of social media by setting up profiles on popular platforms where the majority of your customers interact regularly. It is advisable to build trust and address the concerns of your customers instead of plastering your “product advertisements” and website links.
If you are unsure, you can talk to a representative of a firm providing digital marketing services in India, and get a good sense of which social media platforms work for you. For example, if you are a finance broker, social media sites such as Facebook, Google Plus and LinkedIn may be more relevant for you to post updates. If you are a photographer or a travel company, then Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter should replace LinkedIn.
The Rise of Visual
One of the most significant trends of 2017 and which will continue well into the future is the rise of visual content. Irrespective of whether you are sharing content on your website, a forum, or on social media, the content must look good. It must grab the attention of the customer and convey your message in an engaging and concise manner. The reason for the rise of graphically pleasing posts is the overabundance of web content.
Unfortunately, most content on the web is bad. But, the fact remains that it exists and it is competing with you for the attention of your readers. Visual content gives you the edge over these inane posts and pages that are filling up the web in search of backlinks. So, play smart and make your posts appealing to readers.
Some common-sense advice at the end – focus on the best interests of your customers to get the maximum out of your content. Write relevant stuff. Think of ways to best represent what you have written. Simply dividing the content into paragraphs or bullet points sometimes works wonders.
This post originally appeared on our earlier website: ihusresearch.com