Win with these Best Practices for Online Content
It’s easy to post content online, but not everything you publish will get attention. To get attention online takes planning. These best practices for online content will help your content rise above the clutter.
Create an Awesome Title/Headline
The headline (or subject line in the case of email) is the first thing users read. If there isn’t a title, like there is for web pages and blog posts, the first sentence is the attention grabber.
Great headlines:
- Promise a specific benefit
- Use numbers
- Ask a question
- Create urgency
- Trigger curiosity or emotion
- Use a keyword that defines the content
Use Special Characters and Emoji
Special characters add visual prominence. Research shows that special characters and emoji that are relevant to the content enhance the communication of meaning and interest in the content.
Don’t overdo it. Too many emoji have the opposite effect and make your content look low-quality or spammy.
Hashtag on Platforms that Use Them
Some online platforms use hashtags to organize content. Examples include Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn. Use them when relevant.
Include Visuals
Images are critical. Research consistently shows that more visual social posts get more shares, engagement and clicks than other online content.
When picking images, keep in mind:
- Images with faces are powerful attention grabbers
- Pets also draw attention
- Original images stand out more than stock photos
- Limit video length to be within best practices of the platform where it is being shared
Mention Others
Mentioning others in your content is powerful, especially when those mentions link to their content. People are influenced by social proof of others liking something. Search engines take these mentions as a signal of authority in a subject area.
When you mention and link to others, they are likely to respond with a comment or share. This expands the reach from your audience to theirs as well.
Get More Engagement with Online Content Best Practices
Most online posts get almost no traction, while a small percentage of posts get huge engagement. Putting more effort into following online content best practices as you create your content improves your likelihood of getting results. Fewer posts that are well created will outperform a volume of poor quality posts.
