First of all, let us define what cornerstone content is. A cornerstone content (also know as evergreen content) is content that provides real added value to the knowledge of your readers. These types of articles will leave a lasting impression on your readers that will make them want to come back for more and, more importantly, remember your site. Readers will want to further be influenced by what the author says. Cornerstone content empowers readers without necessarily forcing them to share and recommend the website to other people.
In this article, we will talk about ways on how to write this type of articles in less than an hour.
How to Write a Cornerstone Content
1. Know Your Target Audience
You won’t reach your audience’s minds if you do not know who you are writing for. Your blog has to cater for the type of people that you are aiming for in order for it to get noticed. Viewers will always look for helpful, interesting and insightful content. They are searching for an expert or authority on a particular subject, so when they find it on your site (via one of your cornerstone content articles), they will be more likely to treat your content as one that is fitted for their needs and interests. Analyse what makes your audience tick and know their preferences.
2. Research for Keywords
Users on the web are rational individuals who use common sense or simple terms when they perform a search. So it is key to use the right keywords to capture readers. You are responsible to optimize your articles with relevant keywords or keyphrases with meaty content for your audience.
If you are writing a post in a hurry, it can be best to just write the first thing that comes into your mind, and then go back and optimize your post with relevant keywords where appropriate. In less than an hour, with the help of analytical tools and keyword estimator tools, you can determine which words are worth your effort to include in your article.
3. Plan Out Your Post
You can’t hope to sit down and write a good quality post quickly without first planning it out in some way. This could be a simple as jotting down some key points that you want to cover or perhaps structuring out your article so that you know what you want to say.
You may not be the type to plan out your posts before hand, but it does help, especially when you need to write an article quickly. Think about;
- What do you want to say in your post?
- What questions are you trying to answer?
- Does it link in anyway to your previous posts? (internal links)
- Does it relate to any other posts that you have read? (external links)
- What pictures or videos do you want to use and where do you want to include them in your article?
By answering these before you start writing your post, it will make it much easier and quicker to sit down and complete it.
4. Personal Tone
Cornerstone content should not sound too technical for readers to comprehend. Rather, it should sound like you are talking to them casually. Clear explanations should be used with your personal touch to make your articles more accessible to your readers. Strive to connect to your audience with content written in an appealing manner.
5. Include an Eye-catching Title
A cornerstone content is never complete without a great title to match it. This title should be bold and interesting enough, also one that consists of related keywords presented to make it intriguing at one look. Titles can be thought of in less than 15 minutes and you can write it after you make the body of the content so you will have a better overview of the entire picture by then.
6. Define Who You Are
Every post that makes up your website should be pieces of your personality and brand. Put in the effort of communicating a consistent message all throughout and remember to answer a significant question for your readers’ satisfaction. Remember that cornerstone content should be useful to them. Make sure to sensibly project your own voice to make the post unique and let them know you better through your writing.
Attracting visitors to your site is important. Making them appreciate your content is another. If you are successful at these, you can pro-actively get more traffic and pageviews in no time. How to make readers be compelled to explore and know more about your website is to answer their needs by writing cornerstone articles.
CommentLuv vs Disqus – Why I Don’t Use CommentLuv!