Digital publishing doesn’t just allow us to connect with different audiences – it enables us to see what our readers are interested in.
When selling a newspaper, publishers are never sure if readers are buying a copy because they want to catch up on the sport, find out their local news, do the puzzles – or all three!
However, with digital publishing we can see audience behaviour much more easily – it clearly tells us what is attracting readers, and what isn’t.
Publishers everywhere have one thing in common, they want to make sure their content reaches its maximum potential audience. At PCS we’ve had five decades of working with publishers to help them increase their engagement with audiences. Our software solutions allow them to seamlessly publish individual articles to print as well as a variety of websites and social media platforms.
Here we look at how publishers can optimise their content and ensure each piece earns its place on their news website pages.
1, Define your target audience and goals:
Knowing who you are reaching out to and what you want to achieve will help you create more effective content, that resonates with potential readers. Finding the ideal balance between producing high-quality, relevant content which also achieves your goals is crucial for successful digital publishing. By establishing a clear target audience, understanding their needs and wants, and setting realistic expectations around what can be achieved, it becomes easier to craft content that will have a lasting impact in today’s ever-evolving digital landscape.
2, Research popular keywords and phrases
Finding the keywords that are driving traffic to content that’s similar to yours can be a great method for boosting your website’s performance. If you want to stay ahead of the curve, it’s important to constantly update and monitor your keyword research. By doing this it will help you identify new opportunities as industry trends change. To make sure you’re reaching your target audience, it’s vital to use keywords and phrases tailored specifically to them. However, you shouldn’t go overboard on this as overuse of any particular keyword or phrase can run the risk of being penalised by search engine algorithms.
3, Analyse competitors’ content
Understanding the content that your competitors are creating is key in helping you optimise your content for maximum reach. Knowing what topics and formats they are focusing on lets you create something fresh, different, and engaging, while staying close to trends that are clearly drawing in an audience. Monitoring and analysing competitors’ content gives insight into developing strategies that are used for attracting different audiences. Set yourself apart from the crowd and ensure that when customers are looking for trustworthy and engaging content, yours stands out.
4, Create engaging titles and headlines
When it comes to digital publishing, it’s important to create engaging titles and headlines. These must be carefully crafted so that they grab the attention of readers and draw them in to read the rest of your content. The title should focus on the keywords that are most relevant to your content. By finding a balance between making the title attractive to readers, while optimising it for maximum reach, you should find you have more people viewing your content.
5, Structure your content for maximum impact
Structuring your content for maximum impact is key in digital publishing. Whether it’s creating one-off stories or a continuing series of posts, it’s important to consider the flow and organisation of the content. Writers should focus on the most crucial components of their content – from grabbing attention with a catchy headline to optimising keywords for search visibility – and determine how they fit together most effectively. Planning ahead and mapping out an effective workflow strategy can help maximise reach and increase audience figures. At PCS we have the expertise to help you with workflow to ensure your content will not only reach readers, but will encourage them to carry on returning to your site.
6, Embrace visuals and videos
Photos, images, graphs, infographics and videos are some of the most effective ways to maximise content reach. They allow publishers to capture the audience’s attention more quickly and make complex concepts easier to understand. Taking advantage of these tools gives readers a better overall experience and encourages them to stay engaged with your content. With our content management system – Knowledge Publish, editorial teams are able to embed rich content into stories including videos, maps and social media posts. This flexible solution also allows users to publish online wherever the story is happening, so updates can be posted straight away – attracting more people to your website.
Creating content that captures the attention of online readers can be a formidable challenge. However, by implementing a few strategies, publishers can create powerful content that will attract the right readers for maximum reach. For more information on how PCS can help you optimise your content for maximum reach in digital publishing get in touch with us by emailing hello@pcs-publishing.com or by calling 01902 374757.
