Why Is Your Content So Crap?

December 15^th 2015 Sally Ormond content creation, copywriter, great content, ranking content

Questioning - copywriting brief

Oh dear, come on, take a seat and let’s talk.

Why do you feel that way about your content?

Is it because someone said that if you’re not getting at least 8 social shares it’s failing?

You know what? There’s loads of excellent content out there that doesn’t get that many shares and it’s not failing. Let me tell you why.

Social sharing is just one way to measure content effectiveness, but it shouldn’t be taken in isolation.

You might hit the jackpot every so often with a post that spreads like wildfire. Then again, your next post may well bomb. But just because its not being widely shared doesn’t mean it’s useless. There are several other things you need to take into consideration too.

I like what you’re doing

How many times have you spoken to a client who’s said that? Perhaps it was a blog of yours they saw that prompted them to check your company out. That type of feedback is worth its weight in gold. Not everyone will share stuff.

Does it rank?

Google visibility is still the most important thing when it comes to being found in the search results. If your content bombed in the social sharing stakes, but is still ranking well in Google, that’s a great result.

Match your customers’ needs

Is your content matching the needs of your customers? Perhaps it’s not being shared because it’s irrelevant.

The problem is, there is so much content out there now people are feeling bombarded. Your stuff has to be exceptional if you want it to be shared, or humorous, or something that strikes a chord with the reader.

So, is there anything you can do to boost your social sharing chances (if that’s a metric you’re really hung up about?

Well, you can:

Research your topic thoroughly before writing your piece of content. If you use a copywriter, this will mean a lot of (billable) work, but will result in an exceptional piece of content.
Promote your post through your social media channels, perhaps target influencers in your industry, in a non-pushy way, of course
Be on trend with your content
Optimise your writing, but keep it natural

Above all, don’t get hung up about one metric. Look at the bigger picture and adjust your strategy accordingly.