Five Ways to Make Your Content More Credible

So you’re designing content. Whether for a website, blog, or e-mail you want this to create credible content. This is the type of content people enjoy reading and comes across as sincere and trustworthy. Through my research and experiences, I have found a few tips to get content recognizes and engage readers. Having quality content that is well thought out and focused encourages readers to engage in your post and continue to read other content you’ve produced. Using these tips have made my content easier to be found and consumed.

Know Your Format

Don’t write down all of your thoughts and hope for the best. When crafting content, you want to have a plan of attack and design your post in an orderly fashion. This means knowing which post format you should use. For instance, a list post will work well for this blog post. I could write an essay, but it would be less likely to be read in its entirety and would bury my points. A list post will allow viewers to easily skim through the post and ignore content they deem to be unnecessary. If I was writing an opinion post or an essay, I may not want to use a list format. In those style of posts, each sentence should have a role in building your argument. In this post I have five isolated points that could stand alone.

Have a Point

When you write, there should be a message in your writing. If you find yourself rambling, you’re probably not going to be supporting point. It’s also important for posts to remain consistent with the messaging throughout your site. If you contradict a prior post, you’re doing to lose credibility due to your lack of consistency. It OK to change your mind, but if you do, address the prior post and explain why your view has changed. A well thought out post can be completely discredited if a prior post you’ve written contradicts that post.

Consider Alternate Opinions

When you use the Internet to search for information, it’s really easy to search for articles supporting your point of view. There’s a lot of information out there and almost any claim can find some support. A truly credible writer will take a step away from the post and consider counter arguments. If you consider these alternate points of view and address them in your post, you’ve demonstrated an added layer of knowledge on the topic.

Use Pictures Strategically

Pictures are fairly standard in blog posts, but they can serve a bigger purpose than just illustrating your topic. Pictures draw the eyes of the viewer to a specific point in the post and encourage the viewer to keep scrolling. So, if your main point is lower down in the article, place a picture closer to that point. You’ll always have readers who opt to skim the post. If you get these readers to see the point in the post, they’re more likely spend more time on the post or dive into your other writings.

Use Backlinks

If you don’t know what backlinks are, they’re links from external sites linking to your site. While you may be able to ask other people to link to your site, it’s not always possible get many backlinks when you’re starting out. You can, however, cite your sources and create links to other websites that support your claims and provide supporting information. Another idea is to briefly reference a topic you’ve written about at length. Then, link to the full article. This will allow a curious reader to know you have more knowledge on the topic and to dive deeper into your site.

Next Time You Write

Remember, not every piece is going to call for all of these methods to be implemented. What is important is remaining focused on the quality of your content and supporting your writing. With this focus, it’s possible to find ways to improve content that is already strong. This will build a better brand and content the reader can trust.