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vangogh
05-12-2009, 02:26 AM
I found this article at Search Engine People, Intelligently Crafting Content (http://www.searchenginepeople.com/blog/intelligently-crafting-content.html), and thought it a good way to create content.

You can read the article for the details, but the basic idea is to

1. Discover the questions people ask about your topic
2. Organize those questions using standard outline or mind mapping tools
3. Determine relationships between topics by tagging them
4. Write content
5. Present list of related content at the bottom to further engage visitors


This entire process will create content users are looking for, and nothing has a better chance of garnering attention, buzz, links, and rankings than content that people want.

The idea is to research and brainstorm as many articles/posts as you can in order to build a content strategy.

Do you think this could work for you? Do you like the idea?

KristineS
05-12-2009, 01:14 PM
I like the idea of how to research for topics. I think there are some good tips there about where to find potential topics and how to research them. After that, I get lost a bit. I tend to be a seat of my pants writer. For me, too much planning is a bad thing. Still, I can see where this advice would be useful and it might be worth trying a few of these tips and seeing how the change or effect my process.

vangogh
05-12-2009, 02:32 PM
I think the planning here is less about planning out the specific post or article and more planning out how you would approach writing about a topic in many many posts or articles.

The idea behind the planning is also to gain the benefit of search traffic and increase the probability your content will do well on social media and generate buzz. You can still write from the seat of your pants, while planning an overall strategy and planning out some tactical details.

Paper Shredder Clay
05-21-2009, 06:00 PM
I tend to write my mind, not from notes. Do any of you use Google Blog Search to research other people's take on similar subjects?

vangogh
05-21-2009, 06:28 PM
I don't specifically use Google Blog Search, but I'm subscribed to a few hundred blogs related to my topic so I do get a lot of other people's takes on different subjects.

Sometimes notes can be a good way to organize your thoughts in advance. I don't do it all the time, but I might write down a few quick thoughts on a post as an outline and then when I have the time to write just flesh out the outline.

phanio
05-21-2009, 07:01 PM
I tend to just write like I talk - which causes a lot of problems - I know what I want to say and the lesson or information to pass - but when I try to write it down, it all comes out wrong. Plus, while I write - I get side tracked with details or then think of some much more to say - then find it hard to get back.

Thanks for the tips - I would to find a better way to get organized.

vangogh
05-21-2009, 10:34 PM
Sounds like you might be letting the editor get in the way of the writer. Have you ever tried free writing? It's a good exercise to keep the editor in you away while writing.

KristineS
05-22-2009, 12:43 PM
I'll second what Vangogh said, sometimes you just need to write and not worry about how it comes out. Follow the digressions, write everything down and then you can go back later and try to make it coherent.

Maybe you need to try starting with an outline to give some structure to what you want to say.

vangogh
05-22-2009, 02:58 PM
sometimes you just need to write and not worry about how it comes out

So much easier said than done. I probably need some free writing practice myself to keep the editor away.