How to Write Interesting Content (Even If You're Not a Natural Writer)

For bloggers out there it is important to step back and reflect on the content you are putting out and consider is it actually interesting? You’ll have an idea how interesting content is from your Google Analytics, but in addition to that feedback it essential for you to reflect on how you are writing your content and whether you can make it better.

What is People-First Content and how can I perform better in search results?

Thankfully Google has numerous guides to help you perform better in search results without going out and dropping numerous amounts of money on a SEO Specialist.

The goal of Google as a search engine is to provide helpful and reliable content to users on the web and so the more you are able to guide users to a destination or a solution the better. This is what is called People-First Content and I encourage you to self-assess your content with Google tip’s.

How do people search on the internet and how can I better target their needs?

People on the internet are looking to answers to their questions. People on the internet often write in long-form questions rather than typing keywords (short-form search). Attempting to use keywords to manipulate your appearance in search rankings is actually known as keyword stuffing and you can actually be penalized for it.

Lets do a simple exercise.

1. Type into the search bar “How to prepare for college?”
2. Within the search results scroll down until you see the “People Also Ask” section
3. Review the questions in the section

For me I see questions like

• What is the #1 Top College?
• How to best prepare for university?
• What do colleges look for the most?
• What to pack for college?

You might find similar or different questions based on your location and multiple other factors.

Use the “People Also Ask” section to perform better in search results

The People Also Ask section exists because I repeat a search engine’s goal is resolve people’s problems and questions. Often people have all sorts of questions around a certain topic such as preparing for college. With this in mind you want to write you blog posts answering questions with your own voice. While you don’t need to copy the People Also Ask you can use it as a guide to get a better understanding of what people actually are interested in and consequently make your content interesting. Content is only interesting if people find it interesting. It sounds obvious but a lot of clients I have worked with would right content as if it was a school textbook either being too technical, too broad, or too basic. That content failed to be considered from the web searchers point of view.

I find Google’s People-First Content guide pretty straightforward and hope you do as well. The key is to write content in your own voice, have fun with it, and be helpful.

Examples of People-First Content

• Do you have an eCommerce business? Write about why this jacket is selling out fast and keeping people warm over another.
• Do you have a your own law firm? Write about about what to expect when applying for a visa.
• Are you a self-employed web developer? Write about web hosting and demystify the complexity.

Think about people’s problems, write in your own voice (not LLM), and write solutions that help people get one step closer to their solution.