30+ little tips to improve your content

A Portent U thing By Ian - @portentint

30 (or so) things to make your content better

DISCLAIMERS AND STUFF

LINK AT THE END

Got questions? Ask ‘em here Or tweet @portentint with the hashtag #portentu

I’ll answer at the end

ALL TACTICAL

I WILL NOT USE THE WORD ‘STRATEGY’

i’ll stop saying it when we

start doing it

there’s so much content fighting for attention…

“be unique” just won’t do it.

THESE ARE THE LITTLE THINGS THAT BOOST YOUR CONTENT

1. It’s all content

3E6699Content = Any communications

Yup. Content.

2. Remember content is a product

My first investment with you is time

3E6699You must deliver in return

3E6699That’s what this is all about

3. Remember the ripple effect

PAID EARNED OWNED

CONTENT

ANALYTICS

INFRASTRUCTURE

CoolsocialiconsfromAzmidh5p://portent.co/1Sxb6EP

The ripple effect

$


The ripple effect

$


The ripple effect

$


The ripple effect

$


The ripple effect

$


The ripple effect

$


The ripple effect

$

3E6699Content always generates more content

Grammar and writing

3E6699

You are not James Joyce

PublicDomain,h5ps://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2379544

Thank the gods

4. Edit

My process

 Read forwards

 Read backwards, a paragraph at a time

 Read backwards, a sentence at a time

 Read backwards, a word at a time

 Get someone else to read it

i’d freak out, except I

know Ian never gets to do it

this way.

here are some tools, instead

Grammarly

3E6699Wordy.com (proceed with caution)

3E6699Think it’s just for blog posts?

CREDIT: ZEKE MILLER, TIME REPORTER

Think again

5. Brevitimate (Be concise)

Hemingwayapp.com

6. Reduce the adverbs. Literally.

3E6699

I am emphatically opposed to painfully overusing adverbs. They make it really hard to read even the most carefully written text.

3E6699

I am opposed to overusing adverbs. They make it hard to read even the most carefully written text.

7. Learn to use commas

3E6699

Our planes have great restrooms flight attendants and seats.

3E6699

Our planes have great restrooms, flight attendants, and seats.

8. Use active voice

3E6699

The house was painted by me.

I don’t think my writing is liked

by all.

3E6699

I painted the damned house.

If you did it, just say so.

9. Know how to use : and ;

3E6699

The first places they looked were bare; there wasn’t anything in them.

3E6699

Learn these skills: HTML CSS PDQ AOK

10. Eliminate plague words

3E6699

end result result indeed omit regardless omit simply put omit obviously omit beyond a shadow of a doubt definitely

http://portent.co/plague-wordz

3E6699under no circumstances never

Learn a little formatting (and) HTML

3E66991960 called. They want their skill set back.

3E6699

Hi jane. can you do the layout

for this blog post…

can you just learn what a

#**!!paragraph tag is

already?!!!

11. No more than 4-5 lines/paragraph

12. <p>, not <br /><br />

Bad

Good

Better formatting in most templates

Better for later redesigns

Greater versatility

13. <h>, not <strong>

Bad

Good

Better formatting in most templates

Better for later redesigns

Greater versatility

14. No more than 13-15 words/line

Terrifying

Easier to read

3E6699(May require a little design time)

3E6699(But at least you can ask)

15. 3-5 paragraphs between headings

16. Use real lists

Bad

Good

17. Use smart quotes

To get this smart quote Type single right quote ’ single left quote ‘ double right quote ” double left quote “

Bad

Good

Aaaahhhhh

18. Use the other entities

ellipsis … & (ampersand) & em dash — en dash –

19. Don’t be afraid to point

3E6699

One writes better when one gives the audience their personal attention.

3E6699

You’ll write better when you give the audience your personal attention.

3E6699

Sites perform better.

Your site performs better.

Visuals

how ya like this visual, huh?

20. Don’t use stock photos

3E6699You know it’s a stock photo if…

Identical water levels

Five happy people in a meeting

Why Is she laughing?!!!!

21. If you must use a stock photo

3E6699…do something with it

buuuuuurppp

castle ain’t what it used to be. i’m crying in

side.

22. Don’t use images as white space. They’re content.

3E6699Images should have a purpose

3E6699(feature images may just get attention)

(feature images may just get attention)

(and some are too good to pass up)

23. Compress images

700kb png 64kb jpg

1.1 megabytes

227kb

Imageoptim (mac) ww.imageoptim.com

3E6699On the PC, try Caesium

www.saerasoft.com/caesium

3E6699I will stop saying it when we all start doing it

Conversations

24. Comment on posts in social media

25. Answer comments in social media.

26. Answer comments on the blog.


The ripple effect

$

General tips

27. Link when it makes sense

3E6699

This is the best dang bicycle you’ll ever ride. It pedals itself, but somehow burns calories at the same time! And it has a built-in umbrella! We wrote about the Capybara 200 and said it was the best. But it’s not. The Pangolin wins. As reported by Bicycling Magazine.

3E6699

This is the best dang bicycle you’ll ever ride. It pedals itself, but somehow burns calories at the same time! And it has a built-in umbrella! We wrote about the Capybara 200 and said it was the best. But it’s not. The Pangolin wins. As reported by Bicycling Magazine.

3E6699Don’t ask:

“How many links?”

3E6699Ask:

“Will someone click this?”

28. Avoid the ‘duh’

3E6699

We’ve all done this.

3E6699

“Content is really important”

3E6699

Just delete it.

29. Avoid the bandwagon

3E6699

Blog post the blog posts of the blog so we get more posts with keywords oh and how about the blog posts please with some more blog posts. Thanks for all those blog posts.

3E6699

Infographics OMG Infographics!!!!!!

30. Remember: There are other formats (and places)

3E6699

Slideshare Vine

Instagram Scribd Kindle Audio

3E6699

Medium LinkedIn Pulse

Quora Reddit

Why publish elsewhere?

My audience

Their audience

1 PIECE OF CONTENT IMPACTS EVERYTHING

PAID EARNED OWNED

CONTENT

ANALYTICS

INFRASTRUCTURE


The ripple effect

$

WE GET TO DO ALL THIS 1/100 TIMES

31. Remember: 10x content doesn’t mean 10x effort

32. Ship it

[email protected] @portentint Slides & links www.portent.co/30littlethings

Small, unmarked bills, please

Marketing

30+ little tips to improve your content