The only reason to post articles is to get people to read them. Right? I mean, that's sort of the whole idea.
But what lots of people do is push out quantity over quality. The problem is, if the content isn't good, no one reads it... no one visits your website, and no one thinks, "hey, that person knows what's up." Or, "Hmmm, actually I do need a new contact lens replacement that's painless and only costs $19.99 in 12 payments." In fact, your audience won't think about you at all, because they won't know you exist.
And that's no good.
Quality content makes a huge difference.
To get your content read, it needs to pull people in and be well, good. But before we go there, see these 2 articles that an advisor posted around the New Year. One got 300% more views than the other. (I blacked out some info for privacy reasons).
There are 3 reasons:
1.) The headline
Often, it's all anyone will ever see. It has to have STOPPING POWER! In the loser article the headline reads: "Do you know where your retirement savings are?" It's written in financial-ese. Normal people don't talk like that. A better headline would have been, "Will you have enough to retire?"
2.) Good timing
Any chance you can take advantage of trending topics, do it. The winner article plays to the New Year. Keep that in mind, is your content relevant in terms of popular culture? If it is, you'll get more clicks.
3.) Written for 7th graders
People prefer reading at low grade level. It's easier and faster. Books on the best-seller lists are written at a 7th grade reading level. That means short sentences and simple human language.
(The Old Man and the Sea, written by Earnest Hemingway, a Pulitzer- and Nobel Prize-winning novelist, was written at a 4th grade reading level).
I ran the losing article through a reading comprehension website, and it comes in at 13th grade level. Way too high. Look at the wording, it's financial gobbly-gook.
The winning article came in at a 7th grade level.
Takeaway
Hey, maybe this whole exercise is just a humble brag because we wrote the winning article. But we work hard to create highly-read articles. And you can too. With the ability to test headlines and test body copy, you can tip the scales of quality over quantity.
If you'd like helping creating better content, let's chat. Email matt@captainsofcontent.com