Content quality was often viewed as an afterthought for website owners in the past. If search traffic was directed the right way through having enough keywords inside the copy, what the article was about didn’t really matter. Creating high-quality content isn’t optional anymore these days.

Content marketers and businesses can invest their effort, resources and time to get results from the creation and distribution of high-quality content. Writing mediocre content, the path of least resistance, is ultimately a waste of time as well as resources.

Here are six steps to help you create incredible, high-quality content that will bring your website traffic.

1. Create reader personas and identify audience before creating your content

Compelling content cannot be written unless you understand who your audience is. Creating personas is one of the most effective ways to clarify your audience. These personas represent identities of your audience members, including their characteristics, interests and problems that will be solved by your content. Start by reviewing the analytics of your website and answer these questions:

  • What type of subject matter and content are the most popular? What qualities do they share?

  • What is the least popular content and what does it all have it in common?

  • What demographic characteristics are most common throughout your target audience?

Valuable insights can be provided by the analytics of your key social media accounts. Create an overview of the most common characteristics of your ideal and typical customer using all of this information to curate the most suitable content.

2. Curate content that tailors to your frequently asked questions

A relevant topic is the foundation of strong content. Questions your company encounters every day is an excellent source you can never exhaust if you struggle to come up with topic ideas for marketing campaigns of your content.

Confer with your sales representatives, support team and staff to identify the most interesting queries that come from clients. Study the results to see what is troubling your customers and it will result in enough questions and create content on an endless stream.

3. Keep up with the current industry trends

There are two types of topics that you can write about. Topics that will bring you always bring your traffic, and those that may be interesting right now, but will burn out in a few days, sometimes weeks, better known as a trend.

Though it may be good to focus on content that will be useful for years, but following a trend and benefit from the surge of interest while it lasts won’t hurt. Following a trend can bring traffic that doesn’t normally come to your site, with those users coming back regularly if the content motivates them.

You can find trending conversations on both Google Trends and Twitter.

4. Create headlines that draw in the reader

Headlines should include a powerful statement regarding what’s written in the article. Without that, writing the content would be a waste of time. Making an impression on the vast majority of people who come across culminates at the headlines, as only 20 percent of people will read further without question.

5. Create content your readers can act upon

One of the most-read types of content on the internet is “How To” articles and step-by-step guides. If your content doesn’t have entertainment value, people want to read it to get better at something and learn. Your content shouldn’t just be giving your readers information, but giving them data to put into action. Readers want to read the tips you give them to use right away with no further preparation needed.

6. Distribute your content the right way

A large part of any serious marketing strategy is guest posting as part of distributing content. This helps build your credibility within your industry, as well as awareness and influence. Through guest posting, you will reach a wider audience, establish connections, and build your reputation in your line of work as an authority.

Before you can enjoy all of the advantages that come from guest posting, you have to persuade the editors of targeted online platforms to accept your content and allow guest to posts about it. The more popular a media property is within its niche, the more difficult content distribution can progressively become. Many brands use sponsored content or hire a guest post service to handle this, allowing you the time to study and find the best online platforms to pitch to.

Even with all of these tips, you or someone on your team should be well-versed in writing articles. If enough traffic isn’t driven to your website after you have applied all of these content creation tips, you should probably rework your plan and approach. If you make it to this point, think about outsourcing your content marketing needs to a freelancer or agency, or consult a third party.