How to use the 3 ‘S’ rule for effective website content creation
Hello, and welcome!
Getting your content to rank well on search engines is no mean feat.
It takes a lot of hard work, perseverance and commitment in order to produce quality content on a regular basis.
In today’s post, I will show you how to use the 3 ‘S’ rule for effective website content creation. These are tips and tricks that we use on this website and they do work.
Most of our articles feature on Google’s first page despite fierce competition.
Would you like to know how we achieved that? Are you ready for the journey?
Let’s start!
Rule No 1 for Effective Website Content Creation:
Creating content is like building a house. First of all, you need to know what type of house you want to build and make a plan. Then, you have to find a construction place or site that fits your design. Finally, when the building starts, you ensure that the house has all the basics: a strong foundation, a smooth floor, solid walls, several rooms connected by a corridor and a roof that does not leak.
The success of your project will depend on:
- the initial design.
- your research and prior knowledge.
- the site which you choose.
- the building materials (bricks, rocks, concrete, steel, sand, cement, tiles, wood, marble, paint, wallpaper, etc).
- the builders (carpenters, plumbers, electricians, interior designers, etc).
- the ability of your house to stand the test of time.
- your level of dedication.
- your sense of direction.
When it comes to creating content for your website, it is necessary to brainstorm ideas and create an outline. The next step consists in choosing the right media: article, story, poem, lesson, video, audio or illustration. Finally, it is important to have a firm introduction, a well-defined body with appropriate arguments and a resounding conclusion.
The success of your content will depend on:
- your initial outline (title/headline, introduction, main body, subheads, bullet points, conclusion).
- your research and prior knowledge.
- the media which you choose.
- the language tools (punctuation, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, phrasal verbs, active voice, passive voice, comparatives, superlatives, linking words, synonyms, antonyms, etc).
- your creative skills (writing, video editing, sound editing, drawing, painting, graphic designing, etc).
- the ability of your content to stand the test of time.
- your level of commitment.
- your sense of direction.
Mastering this first step will enable you to tackle the next step with ease.
Rule No 2 for Effective Website Content Creation:
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimisation. Creating SEO-friendly content ensures that you have strong online visibility. People do not need binoculars to see your house as it is located right on the first page of Google.
To avoid paying expensive rent in the form of advertising, create content that brings you organic traffic. This is a more consistent and reliable way of acquiring readers or viewers without being dependent on ads and social media.
What can you do in order to improve the SEO score of your website?
- Install an SEO plugin on your website such as Yoast. It will show you how to optimise your website.
- Use short titles as they work best.
- Choose a long-tail keyword and insert it in your title, meta description, headings, subheadings, tags, image descriptions, etc. Count one keyword for every 200 words.
- Have appropriate tags for your post.
- Write 300 words minimum. Contrary to common belief, your articles do not necessarily need to be very long in order to rank well. You will find good examples here and here.
- Include external and internal links.
- Use more active voice.
- Structure your content well.
- Vary your content (vocabulary, images, audio, video, etc).
Having SEO in mind forces you to think about how you are going to produce your content. Search engines actually prefer content that is well-organised and simple to use by visitors.
Rule No 3 for Effective Website Content Creation:
Simplicity is defined as the quality of being easy to understand or do. Content that is ‘simple‘ is clear and uncomplicated. When we create ‘simple‘ content, we do not dull it down. In fact, organising our content in a way that people can easily consume or access it, makes it more valuable. You can find a good illustration of this point here.
We can achieve simplicity by following a number of steps:
- Be concise in your written or oral expression. Go straight to the point.
- Write short sentences and paragraphs to facilitate reading.
- Know the difference between formal and informal language and use appropriately.
- Use plain language that does not require your reader or viewer to use the dictionary all the time.
- Avoid using the passive voice all the time. You should use more of the active voice in order to create a sense of action or urgency.
- Be specific all the time and stick to your subject.
- Remove words or content that are not necessary.
- Make good use of illustrations because some people prefer visual content.
- Use bullet points like in this post to make reading easier.
- Create subtitles in your videos for people who have trouble understanding you.
- Have audio transcripts for listeners who also want to see the written part of your audio document.
Conclusion
As you can see, effective website content creation is not hard to achieve. However, you need to think carefully about how you want to achieve your project even before you start creating the content itself. It is extremely important to have clear guidelines in terms of structure and follow them religiously. You also need to choose the tools that you want to use in a judicious manner.
As a matter of fact, there are two constructive quotes that I constantly refer to when I need motivation in terms of planning. The first one is by Benjamin Franklin, who is known as one of the Founding Fathers of the Unites States of America.
“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.”
The second quote is by another illustrious American statesman, Abraham Lincoln.
“Give me 6 hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first 4 sharpening the axe.”
Having a strong foundation is essential indeed. Afterwards, you can deal with other important matters such as SEO which enable your pages to rank well on Google. Use the right SEO plugin and apply its suggestions as if your life depended on it. Finally, make sure that your content is simple and easy to use for visitors.
I hope you found this information useful. Do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions.
Until next time!
Further Exploration:
Download worksheets:
Read:
- English Article: How to Increase Traffic on Your Website (3 Practical and Proven Ways), Learn English With Africa, May 2021
- English Article: How to Self-Publish Your Books (6 Golden Rules), Learn English With Africa, May 2021
Watch: The 3 ‘S’ Rule (Effective Website Content Creation)
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About the Author
Thandi Ngwira Gatignol is the founder of Learn English With Africa. She was born on June 11th, 1981 in Blantyre, Malawi. When she was 19, she left her country of birth for France. She currently lives with her two daughters and husband in Poland.
Thandi holds a Bachelor’s degree in English studies obtained at the Université Paris X Nanterre in France and a Certificate in Journalism from Malawi. She has taught English as a French Ministry of Education certified teacher both in France and in Poland. She speaks six languages fluently, including French, Polish and Italian. She is now learning Kiswahili, German and Spanish. Salt No More is her debut novel and you can find her other books here on the website or on Amazon.
English Article: How to Use the 3 ‘S’ Rule for Effective Website Content Creation (Level B1-B2)© Learn English With Africa, May 2021
