How to tell if your content is any good

Okay, so you’ve finished writing a piece of content. You read it through. It reads well to you. You’re sure there are no spelling or grammar mistakes in it. It must be good content, right?

Well, not exactly, no.

You see, you are not the target audience.

For words to sell, you need words that work

There can be no denying that words sell. However, you need the right words to tell your brand’s story. Only then will those words work.

Copy is everywhere… and copy is the reason people buy or subscribe to something.

From the subject header of an email to the headline of Facebook ad, or the text on a website or a landing page, it’s copy that persuades, stirs and motivates people.

Images and video are more important than ever. You probably don’t need to be reminded that content with images and video gets far more clicks online than purely text-based content. Everybody knows this.

And it’s true. It’s often a pic or vid that grabs somebody’s attention. But, ultimately, it’s not the visual images that trigger the sale. They simply lead the potential customer to copy of some description - in an ad, a website or landing page, for example.

And, if that copy doesn’t cut it and those words don’t work, you won’t get a sale.

It’s as simple as that.

Everything comes back to your target audience again. If your content doesn’t engage, entertain, and get inside the head of your target audience/persona, your content can’t be any good.

Top tips to tell if your copy is any good

Having reinforced just how important copy is, let’s get down to the nitty gritty: how to tell if your copy is any good.

Ask yourself these questions:

Is it written for a specific audience/persona?

Can you summarise the purpose or big idea of the content in one sentence?

Does it cover a problem that your audience has and offer a solution?

Is the content punchy and easy to read?

Have you made an emotional connection with the reader?

Does the content sound authentic and genuine?

Do you get the personality of your brand across?

The bottom line is this: if you can honestly answer ‘yes’ to these questions then you know you’ve got a great piece of content on your hands.

Final thoughts: Does it feel right?

You might have noticed that several of the questions above deal with ‘the feel’ of the copy/content.

Trying to capture in words how something ‘feels right’ or how you make content that does so isn’t easy. However, one way to think of it is this:

If your copy sounds natural and not forced, you are more than likely well on the way to creating great content.

And look at it this way… I like WordPress and use it a lot, but it’s easy to get hung up about Yoast and a bit Green Light-obsessed.

Yes, generally speaking, shorter sentences, concise paragraphs, sub-headings, active voice, etcetera tend to work well. Typically, a piece of content will be better for all things. But just because all the lights turn green on Yoast it doesn’t necessarily mean you’ve written a fantastic piece of content.

Content needs to feel right and sound natural as well to be any good.

Get in touch if you’d like some help writing words that work for your business.