No matter how good your article is, if it’s not getting the traffic it deserves, it might as well be buried on the Internet. But how do you make sure that your articles will be read by your target audience? After going through the different strategies online, it all boils down to how well you practice content marketing. The success of your content is not derived from your industry, your writing skill or the number of keywords you include in the article. Instead, it has more to do on how well you thought out the content, created the headline, and used the right meta description and tags for search engines to pick up your article.

If you run a content marketing agency, it’s important that you know how to provide content that people are searching for. The reason behind this is so you don’t waste time and energy preparing a post that will not be read by your targeted audience. After all, this costs you a lot of money to produce. Here are some tips to help you create content that your audience is looking for:

Tip #1: Make use of content ideation

According to studies, consumers spend up to 79 days to check out their options before they decide to make a purchase, especially if it is a big one. They do so by conducting their own research of their other options and what they can do to make this decision better. This is why you need to have your content available to them and offer valuable information. In doing so, your consumers can trust your brand. When it’s time for them to make their decision, they’ll remember your company right away.

The best way you can do this is to conduct a research of your own. This means you should take advantage of social sites and keyword tools to help you get the information you require. Apart from searching for ideas online, you can ask other people to give you ideas on what they would normally inquire about a particular product they are interested in purchasing. With this wealth of information, you can already come up with some topics to write. You can compile these ideas into your editorial calendar so you can keep producing content consistently.

Tip #2: Make the most out of your headline

Sure, you may be using the right keywords for your article, but if your headline is not interesting enough, it might not get the notice needed. When coming up with a title for your article, you have to remember to be clear with what you are presenting in your article. You don’t need to have a witty title as it does not always get people to click your article. Remember, you only have around 65 characters to work with so make each one count. Here are a few tips for a clickable headline:

• Be descriptive. Include a bracket that summarizes your content, like [Infographic] or [Video].
• Announce if you have added photos. Include “Photo(s)” in your headline as these perform better.
• Use “How To” to solve a problem.
• Create a list. This will give your readers an idea of how many items they are going to browse through in your article.

Follow these tips and you’ll be well on your way to producing quality content all the time.