The secret to prolifically creating excellent content isn’t inspiration or brilliance. Instead it’s found in structure, planning, and research. Not very sexy sounding, I know, but consider these rules and you’ll be able to write much more compelling content…

Start with the audience and the angle

It all starts with understanding the people you’re writing for. Get as specific as you can and figure out what they want to read, perhaps by looking at what these types of people have responded to in the past. You can research this on relevant blogs and look at the most read, shared and commented on posts. Soon you’ll be able to see patterns within these. Then all you have to do is come up with an insight that you can offer on one of those hot topics. There’s your angle!

Use proven headline formulas (don’t reinvent the wheel!)

A really good headline is the most important part of your post. To get a really good one, one suggestion is to use a headline template. Or, even better, refer back to the things that work in the place that you’re writing for and look for patterns. A couple of common ones include:

• [NUMBER] of [SOMETHING] about [SOMETHING]
• What [SOMETHING] can teach you about [SOMETHING]

Hooking your reader

After the headline, the hook is the most important part. The good news is that it’s usually short and creating it is fairly straightforward. An easy way to create a hook is by describing the most frustrating symptoms that the reader is experiencing, using language that is as vivid as possible, and then pivoting to state that you have a solution to the problem.

After the hook, comes your body copy – but don’t start writing yet! Instead, just outline …

The 4 sections of awesome content

1. The Problem: Explain the problem that causes the symptoms you’ve described in the hook.
2. The Underlying Cause of the Problem: More detail about why this problem keeps happening.
3. The Solution — Your brilliant insight into how the problem can be solved.
4. Implementing the Solution — How the reader can turn ideas into actions, and what they should do next in order to apply what you’re teaching them

Don’t worry about writing the whole section at first, just write the subheadings, and jot down a really brief “reminder” about what information is going to go in each section. It’s pretty simple really.

Writing quality, compelling content doesn’t have to be complicated or frustrating, so long as you take the time to organise yourself, and follow the process.