Writing is a funny thing; most of us will read and write millions of words in our lifetime, and despite the growing preference for static and moving images in social media and advertising, we are constantly surrounded by text. Literacy is one of the first things we learn at school, and it is a skill we will spend much of our academic lives practising and refining. And yet producing high-quality written content remains elusive for many of us. This is one reason so many businesses choose to outsource content writers, and at Agency Stack, we go the extra mile to generate outstanding written content that you will be proud to hand over to your clients.
Many of us, also, can recognise a good piece of writing when we see one but would be hard-pressed to explain exactly what makes it so effective. Like a good photograph, video, or piece of music, there is some ineffable quality to a good piece of writing that means it connects with us without us being able to put our finger on what that quality is. In reality though, there are principles that content writers follow to ensure their work achieves what it intends to. In this blog, we break down some of the underlying elements of good content writing.
Tone of Voice
The tone of voice you use is hugely important to the overall effectiveness of the finished piece. For starters, it needs to be consistent. If your piece starts off as technical or formal, then slipping into a conversational tone midway through will baffle the reader. Even if they can’t put it into words, something will just seem off. Tone of voice is composed of many elements, like the kinds of words and sentence structures you employ, use of humour, imperatives, and much more. A good content writer will be able to closely match or create the tone of voice that best suits the company they are writing for, keeping in mind their brand image and intended audience.
Cohesive Structure
Having a clear, logical structure will help guide your reader through the piece. For argument’s sake, imagine we’re talking about a longer piece of writing like a blog or an article on a website. The most basic structure – the one we all learn in school – is introduction, body, and conclusion, and this actually holds true for most types of writing. But within that basic structure, there is plenty of room to play around. Breaking the body down into smaller parts and using headings to differentiate them will go a long way to making your piece digestible and easy to read.
It Tells a Story
We use the term ‘story’ somewhat loosely here, but it’s essentially another way of thinking of structure; rather than introduction, body, conclusion, a story has a beginning, middle, and end. Even the smallest units of content are usually most effective when they tell some kind of story. Think of the last meme that made you laugh: what we tend to love about them, even if it’s only on a subconscious level, is how cleverly they can suggest a whole narrative with just one or two images and a few well-chosen words. The same is true of social media posts and blogs.
Good Editing
As we’ve already mentioned, much of what we feel about a piece of writing happens at a subconscious level. If your content is full of spelling and grammatical errors or unwieldy sentences, your reader is less likely to think of you as professional and authoritative. Good editing is key to good content writing.
How Agency Stack Can Help
Improving your written copy is one of the best ways to enhance your clients’ overall brand image and your own in the process. Our professional content writers are Australian-based and speak English as a first language. Their skill, experience, and dedication mean they can write on any topic, to any length, and within tight deadlines. To talk to us about our white paper content writing services, get in touch today.