Content is certainly important for your blog. In fact, it’s the king. If the king, however, dresses like a servant, the real value wouldn’t ever be known.

I am not talking about the blog design or decoration here. You blog might look simply gorgeous, but if your content isn’t compelling, not a single reader would subscribe, unless you request your friends to do so. Don’t write content that doesn’t even get noticed, let alone making a difference.

On the other hand, if you have good content, coupled with good design and SEO strategies, your blog would certainly be one best on the web.

You might have the best idea in your mind, but only because of few grave mistakes, you cannot be the top blogger. So, what are these mistakes, and how to avoid them?

Mistake 1: Not Being Relevant and Precise

Before your make your copy, make sure you know who are your readers, and what are their needs. Unless you don’t know this, how do you expect your blog to solve their problems and become their favorite.

Hence, be very specific while writing your blog posts. Make sure you point out the problems and provide solution very precisely. Besides, keep it short. People are always too busy to read online essays.

Mistake 2: Your Content is Hard to Read

Do not write huge paragraphs. If you have much to write, insert bullet points. Use sub-headings, whenever it’s possible. This will help reader to glance through your post quickly, and help them stop at the right piece of information.

Do not have a colorful blog. Ideally, have light background with dark fonts. Make it simpler for people to read your content. Also, keep font size large enough that can be easily.

Use simple words. Your readers don’t have a dictionary while they are browsing your blog. Even if they do, they wouldn’t bother trying to search meaning for each words, which will eventually kill the idea of your content.

Mistake 3: Your Content is Not Interesting

Use attractive headlines. Remember, your headlines serve only one purpose i.e. to pull readers to read the first line of your blog post.

Use appealing headings and sub-headings that scream out the idea of your content. Besides, use bold or bigger font for sub-headings.

Write posts that people want to read. If they are interested in your articles, your blog is a success. Hence, before you write any post, make sure the topic is interesting.

You will find all kind of blogs and posts on the web, but people subscribe to only few of them. Most readers want entertainment, rather than dull boring information. Try to add humor in all your posts.

Mistake 4: You have Over-Decorated your Blog

People are generally excited about their blogs. But make sure you don’t overdo. Keep your blog simple, with modest design, and soothing colors. Remember, readers aren’t looking for art in your blog, they want entertainment and information.

Mistake 5: It’s Unbelievable

Write content that’s practical and real. Do not exaggerate your statements. Keep it short, original, and relevant.

If you intend to write about an idea that seems unreal (but it’s not), make sure you explain it step-by-step. Don’t assume people to know, only because you know it. Even if it’s very obvious, mention the details. You don’t know who your readers are.

A blog that has good, simple design, and remarkable content, naturally attracts visitors, irrespective of the niche it covers. The more you optimize you blog for search engine, the more loyal readers you will attract.

Whether it’s a tweet, a facebook message, your resume, a sales pitch, or a business presentation, you need to create a copy that magnetizes people instantly. For this, you will need a unique, interesting, and exciting copy. You will need to know how to write effectively. Don’t fret if you don’t know. Here are few ways to be a superman at content writing.

1.    Be Casual

You don’t have to write every article as if you are writing for Wall Street Journal, which very few readers understand. Write in a way we talk to our friends. Message would be same, only people will understand it more precisely. I personally hate bloggers who write very professionally. Get some life…

2.    Cut Out Useless Adjectives

Many adjectives used by us are really useless. They, most of the times, don’t make any sense or add any value to your content. So, why unnecessarily waste space. Write good, useful words instead. Only use it when you want to create a greater impact, and this should not be done with every sentence you write.

3.    To the Point

I have seen many bloggers, before coming to the point, will explain the importance of the topic, how it was derived, what relevance it has to everyone, and so on. Why the hell they don’t come to the point directly? People searching for information don’t want your crap, they want precise information.

4.    Be Different

Even if you don’t know anything new, be different. I would, however, suggest this tip only for people who want to attract enough traffic to their blog or website. You can do this by challenging basic norms, being weird, thinking out of the box, and so on. Rather than being creative, all it takes to be different is to look at things from various perspective.

5.    Start with a Phrase, Question, or an Assumption

This will make people stop and think over your question , or assumption, or whatever it is. After thinking about it for a while, they will read the whole post to seek answer. This is a very effective way to magnetize readers.

There are several other ways to make your content magnetic. You will have to, however, take some time and sharpen your skills. What other tips do you suggest to be a superman at content writing? I would really appreciate if you can comment and help us all improve our writing skills.

Recently, I posted an article emphasizing the significance of posting good content. Prior to that, there were many other articles that talked about content. However, I realized that we have missed something important about good content.

In short, I forgot to mention about the value addition it does for the readers. A good post is something that actually helps people to learn and not just attract traffic. I hope you understand the difference between the two. Along with efforts to collect facts, the blogger should have spent much time thinking about the facts and his opinions on the topic.

Overall, a good post is something that has been fabricated with extensive research; intellectual thinking with ease to understand which ultimately adds real value to your blog and teaches something important. However, this isn’t a perfect definition. I am just pointing what we missed in our previous posts.

I felt pointing out the missing parts was quite necessary because lately the blogging quality seems to be just pathetic. Instead of focusing on traffic, I tried assessing the quality of many blogs and the results were quite disappointing. Here are some general observations:

Regurgitated Thoughts

This is a common trend among bloggers these days. Instead of bringing in new thoughts and sharing it with people, bloggers seems to dump repeated ideas that have been used by 50 other blogs. Sometimes more. Here is a tip for serious bloggers. If you really want to succeed as a blogger and want to attract regular traffic for a long period, develop your own content. Do not copy material. May be your reproduction might not be noticed initially. Slowly but surely, your readers would know that the content is not original.

Many Subscribers = Good Content?

1500 RSS readers doesn’t mean that the blog provides superlative content. That’s the generally tendency we have acquired these days. Whenever we see a blog with huge traffic and several subscribers, we assume that the site contains very useful information. Though it’s true in most of the cases, it’s not a rule. I know many sites that have over 700 subscribers but the quality is diminishing every week.

And what’s the reason for such an irresponsible behavior? This is what usually happens. You work hard to post the best quality content in order to attract traffic and compel readers to subscribe. However, after few months, you don’t feel the necessity to write genuine articles because you have enough subscribers with you.

Get Quick Clicks By List Posts

This is a simple way owned by bloggers to get huge amount of clicks. For instance, post articles like 102 ways to become a better blogger. This post will further have 102 links. So, your blog eventually gets numerous clicks. Yes, it is really a very good way to attract traffic. However, as a blogger my aim is to educate people and teach them some significant lessons everyday, not just attract traffic. I guess, most of the bloggers have lost the essence of blogging.

We do this to attract traffic, even if it means depleting the quality of our posts. What else does the list posts suggest? Is there any value addition done by such posts? You are providing an article that just has links to your other articles. Is this a post?

Test and Grade Your Content

There aren’t many measuring devices to gauge the quality of our content. Hence, I thought of coming up with a grading system. This isn’t to compare your quality with others. It can be considered as a tool for improvement. This grading system is highly depended on the nature of your comments.

• A+:
  The comments under you post include discussion among readers about the things mentioned in the post. People answer to other’s questions. They suggest ideas and appreciate views of other readers. They don’t totally agree, however don’t totally disagree as well. No or minimum “Good post” type comments.
• B:
  This grade is acquired when many people post comments under your article. Majority of them agrees with the writer. Mot many “Good post” comments.
• C:
  There are some comments with few discussing the idea. Others just suppot you in a sentence.
• D:
  Most of the comments are “Good Post” type.
• E:
  No or very few comments with “Good post.”

I guess this grading system is quite interesting. I had great fun coming up with such gauging system. Why not have a discussion and let each other know about their own grades. Let’s have some debate, suggestion, and rating here.