Content Writing: A personal story of love and indignation

Time to read: 3 minutes

Comms Crowd content creator Anthony McNamara takes a stand on content writing for your audience – not the algorithms.

Different professions attract people for different reasons. Law, for example, will attract those enticed by the potential earnings as much as it will attract those simply wanting to see justice done. Providing both parties do their jobs well, the motivation isn’t particularly important. Content writing, however, is a different beast.

For the love of words

For most content writers (and I make this claim with no supporting empirical data), the primary motivator is a desire to make a living doing what we love – writing.

The thrill of concocting a clever metaphor or constructing a killer closing paragraph is palpable when I achieve either. More so when I receive an emphatic “good job” from the client.

And yet, as my years penning words for cash pass, I am increasingly motivated by a sense of indignation. I still see so much content that isn’t written for the reader’s enjoyment or enlightenment, and it grinds my gears.

I should pause here to stress that I am not taking a potshot at my content-writing brethren. Most of what I see that infuriates me has not been written by a professional content writer. Or, it has, but clearly under the duress of stringent SEO objectives and anxious marketing managers keen for something – anything – to be published.

SEO at the price of coherency

Much content is still produced with only Google algorithms in mind and not the actual human beings who have to read ‘cheap, reliable laptop’ 17 times in a 400-word blog.

It’s not just SEO, though. Many businesses are shrewd enough to know that regular content output is good. But even when they have nothing much to say, they force their writers to say it anyway.

For example, I once read a blog about resolving office conflicts. One shard of wisdom contained was to “walk away and count to 10” in the event of an argument. Basically, lesson one from ‘Anger Management for Toddlers’ but for grown, professional adults with mortgages, lower back pain, and NutriBullets. If I’d been so enraged by this banality, how many others had been, too? How many of those were potential customers?

It’s true that writing with the algorithms as your target audience will get you high up on the results pages. It’s equally true that regularly updated website content will make you appear committed and active. But if the final destination is a hastily cobbled, anti-climactic piece, it will reflect poorly on your brand.

Of course, this should not be the sole motivation for wanting to produce great content. Motivation should also come from knowing that word will soon get around if you become a reliable repository of well-crafted insight. With the right strategy backing it up, regular quality content can elevate your brand to the position of influencer, aka Content Marketing Shangri-La.

Finding your content is one thing; enjoying it is quite another

The point I’m trying to make (and it’s a fair criticism that I’ve gone around the houses making it) is that your written content should always be an illuminating, engaging read. Even if your content has been written with SEO in mind, or because it’s been a fortnight since your last blog, always assume that someone, somewhere, will take the time to read it.

Speak to that person. Respect their intelligence and try to involve them in the conversation. If you have no new knowledge at that moment to share, revisit something old and put a fresh, entertaining spin on it. And if, for whatever reason, you’re unable to do this, pass it over to someone who can.

I’ll end this semi-rant with some advice: remember the following: When a potential customer is reading your content, you are in dialogue with them at that moment in time. You are giving them reasons why your services (and yours alone) are the ones they need.

The question is, how useful are those reasons, and how well are you getting them across?