THE BASICS OF CONTENT WRITING
THE BASICS OF CONTENT WRITING
THE BASICS OF CONTENT WRITING
We’ve compiled the five key steps to consider when curating content, to ensure that it meets
the needs of your audience and captures your unique brand and tone of voice.
RESEARCH & AUDIENCE
Any article you write, or engage someone to write, should be informed by research. This can
come in a variety of forms such as audience insights from Google Analytics and social media,
shopping and sales habits from your customers, keyword research, Google trends and even
feedback, questions and queries from customers are a great way to understand their needs
and behaviours. Consider questions such as:
What is your data about your customer telling you?
Do you know the popular search terms people are looking for that leads them to your
business?Have you considered current travel trends and how your business might fit into this?
Does your page or blog have a clear focus topic? Why are you writing this?
Keep your finger on the pulse by actively making a habit of looking at what other travel blogs,
websites or tourism operators are creating and writing – could this be adapted to fit your needs?
Audience & Purpose Before you begin writing, it’s important to consider who you are writing for and the purpose
of the piece of copy being produced. Remembering, copy and content are produced to meet
the right audience at the right time, on the right channels.Knowing who your audience is and who your target audience is, will help identify the tone
and words used, so consider:Who is your target audience?Who are you trying to reach?
If you’re looking to start a blog, is that blog for existing customers, for potential
customers, or both? Who is going to read it and how regularly are you going to post
content?Social MediaWhen writing content for social media, consider the demographics of your account. If you
have a business account, you can see insights to give you more information to see who is
engaging with your content, from where in the world and when.
Copy writing on social media
Content writing on social media
DEFINE YOUR TONE
To build a continuous relationship with your customers, one that has an emotional connection
and makes them feel like they know you, your business and what your business stands for
(known as your business personality and soul), you need to ace your tone of voice.
Not how loud you are speaking, but the style with which you write. More often a casual, to
the point tone of voice suits most small businesses ie. Writing from the perspective of a close
friend giving advice. Want to be an authority on a certain topic? Don’t be afraid to make statements, but back them
up with your research.The tone of voice helps define your business personality and what the business stands for, the
The same way your personality traits define who you are as a person.
ANSWER THE QUESTION
Every piece of content you write should be answering a question for someone.
If you offer a tour or experience, maybe that is ‘what you can expect during a tour with us,’
or if it’s accommodation, maybe you are putting together a ‘top 10 things to do in region
while staying with us.’The information should be additional to the copy you have already provided on the website
and should be written for the consumer/customer and not for your business interest ie. You
are not trying to obviously sell them something with this, but rather help them out. Think of it
like the difference between going to a car salesman for help with selling your car (copywriting
on your website – clearly trying to sell you something, give you information about a particular
product) and asking a close friend who collects cars their opinion on the best way to sell your
car (More impartial, the best interests of the reader is being considered – this is content writing).
Blog content that works well:ItinerariesTop 5/10 lists Bucket list trips and must dos!If you’re stuck for blog ideas, often a great source are the questions that consumers are
regularly asking – ‘Hey, where’s the best place to grab coffee around here?’ ‘We’re staying
here for 3 days, is there anything you recommend as must dos whilst we’re in the area?’
Answer the public is also a free resource that allows you to discover what people are asking
about different topics. This paired with your own keyword research and insights is a game changer.
ENGAGING HEADLINE & FIRST PARAGRAPHS
All your headlines should be intertwined with keywords that will help your content appear in
search.Keyword research can be undertaken with a marketing company, and helps you learn what
people are searching for it on search engines such as Google.The first paragraph of your blog should get people hooked and give them a reason to keep
reading. Answer the basics in the first three sentences – who, what, where, when and why.Or as many of them that are applicable.Break up your blog with subheadings to make the journey of reading and consuming your content
easier. This will also help optimize your content for search engines. Content also performs
best when accompanied by high-res imagery that gives people a sense of place and character.
These methods are called ‘content delivery variation’ and help optimize your content in a
digital space.Consider the below when building your content: Try and use the target keyword throughout your writingKeep your title between 40-60 characters long
Keep the description section of your page / blog to 120-155 characters long
To best optimize your content for SEO, try and reach at least 600 words
PROOFREADING
It is always best to proofread your work, and/or have someone proofread your work before
putting it out there for the world to see. Spelling and grammar mistakes will undermine your
professionalism.Word comes with inbuilt proof-reading software, or there is an online writing assistant called
Grammarly that will proof your document and give you tips on clarity, correctness, and
engagement. This is a digital tool and is not going to know your audience and tone of voice
the way you do, so take the suggestions with a pinch of salt. Quick questions to guide youWhat platform am I writing this content for? A blog? Social media?Why am I writing this content / do I have a clear focus topic? Is this topic answering a question for my audience, tapping into a current travel trend or otherwise adding value to what I am doing as a business?Do I have a clear focus audience? Who are they?What do I want my tone of voice to be? Am I going to achieve this by hiring a content writer, or having the same person writing my content consistently to maintain this tone of voice across my content?Have I researched search trends, terms and keywords? What keyword am I going to use.