Have you ever written an article only to be scared of publishing it? Or you are worried about the quality of your articles; you don’t know if they will go viral or not. Well, you are not alone. It has happened to us all.
Before you continue reading, I want you to pledge that you will give your 110% henceforth while writing your articles. You will soon find out why it is important that you make the pledge.
Having said that, let us delve into the ways to write 10X articles with high possibilities of virality.
The reason we made the pledge earlier is because, writing brilliant articles takes hard work; anything less than your best and your article will appear just as ordinary. But like everything man sets his heart to master, things gets easier with time and practice.
I am sure you are beginning to wonder what 10X content actually is. The idea behind creating a 10x content is very simple. It is simply content that is ten times better than any other content available on a specific topic or keyword.
So what are the qualities of a 10x article/content?
Visual Appeal
Content with relevant images gets 94% more views than content without relevant images, according to a research by kissmetrics. Also, in a Nielsen usability study, pictures of people are one of the most engaging forms of web content.
If you are a regular reader of wired.com or the moz.com/blog, you will understand what this entails. Once you land on their website or blog page, the pictures jump at you. In fact, you are most likely going to end up clicking on an article based on the pictorial caption of the title. More often than not, we are swept away by the beauty and attractiveness of the pictures.
Pictures they say are worth a thousand words. By taking their time to include relevant pictures to match the content of the article, they make it easy for the reader to visualize the story. It doesn’t stop there, it is also likely that people will hyperlink to those images due to their attractiveness. So, even if the articles were not destined to go viral, the pictures will easy come to the rescue.
Links/Facts
Have you ever read a McKinsey report? Or a well-researched Harvard Journal article. Or is it a research report from Gartner.com. What made you so glued? If I may guess the data, facts, logic and richness.
We all love facts. We love it when we can quote figures to back up our claims. It makes us look smart and professional. Moreover, people tend to take us more serious, especially in the business world. Because facts validate the hypothesis we have in mind.
Most times when we are reading, we are simply looking for similar facts to validate our beliefs. And when an author/writer does so well as to provide us with that fact or link to it, we jump for joy. Therefore, when the time comes to use the fact, we can easily share or link to the article we got it from.
Copy writers know this and that is why there is a whole industry for expert writers. Writing now entails more than sharing your personal opinion on a topic. Even if you are a though leader in a given field. More people will find your article captivating if you provide them with the necessary facts they want.
Stories
Stories have a way of striking a special chord of in our hearts. We all love stories. Right from our childhood, our thoughts and beliefs are molded by the stories we are told. Including compelling stories has a way of engaging individuals in ways we can’t imagine.
Ask any experienced marketer or salesman. Most great ideas have a story behind them. If you want your readers to be on the same page with you, you need a compelling story.
Legendary marketer Seth Godin emphasized the importance of storytelling in his famous book, All marketers are liars. The book highlights numerous examples of the techniques marketers use to attract customers by telling those stories that resonate with their lifestyle and personal taste.
Great stories are not easy to come by, but if you search well enough, you will find one. Like they say, every successful man has a story, and it’s mostly by telling that story that those people get to be appreciated.
Uniqueness
Always strive to make your content unique. Ensure your target audience will be treated to a unique treat every time you engage them. Your customers/visitors/clients should never feel bored. Your brand should resonate with fun, excitement and endless possibilities. Perform a market research to start with. By asking questions, you get answers to most things. What questions did the people that came before you ask? How were those questions answered? Where are the missing links? By performing a market research, you can definitely come up with a hole that needs to be fixed. Also, by reviewing other writer’s mistakes; and perfecting that mistake, you will set yourself apart and win the heart of your audience.
Checklist
You need to have a checklist of all the qualities I mentioned above. Research more ideas on the web and create your own customized checklist for your future blog posts. There is a reason Doctors and Pilots have checklists.
A sample checklist might go like this
- Research 15 similar articles
- Include a minimum of 5 hyperlinks
- Include a Minimum of 3 images
- Proofread 5 times
- Edit with Grammarly
- Remove passive voice
All I’m saying is you need to create a list of the things that must be included in your article before publishing it. To learn more about checklists, read, The Checklist manifesto by Atul Gawande. The book demonstrates the life-saving importance of checklists as it applied in the medical field. How to avoid errors of omission and ignorance. By doing this you won’t omit any of the critical elements of a successful 10x article.
In all honesty, writing a compelling article takes effort. It is a skill that takes practice and commitment. You keep trying and keep improving. You never know how close you are until you hit the jackpot.
Article By Kayode Omotosho @BigFieldDigital
