How To Design Content That Captures Attention

By Author: Victor Rodriguez
Total Articles: 35
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It's easy to start a blog, write posts, and build a website; anyone can do it.
What's hard, on the other hand, is creating a truly innovative, content-rich, valuable website that readers want to come back to again and again.
But here's the thing:
It's NOT all about the content.
I know this goes against the whole "content is king" idea circulating around the internet.
But I've got a question for you:
What makes great content?
If you're like I used to be, your answer is probably something along the lines of, "it has to be the most useful content, and give the reader what they're looking for".
But what is a reader actually looking for?
Here's what I mean... think about this:
Why was Skinny Bitch, a weight loss book written by a former modeling agent, on the New York Times bestseller list, while THOUSANDS of weight loss books that were based on years of research, clear, simple to read and apply, and concise, also never seeing the light of day?
Obviously, you'd assume a book written by someone with 8+ years of college, years of research, and a formula developed based ...
... on all of that would have the best, most valuable content, right?
So what's the problem; why didn't the genuine best content win?
Well, the good news is I can sum it up in on sentence:
The content was BORING.
It's the same reason people would rather watch sports than a documentary (well in general anyway).
Good Marketing is Entertainment
While people are looking for results, they're also looking for much more in a good blog post, especially with all of the competition today; they're looking for an EXPERIENCE.
You don't just want your readers to feel like they're reading a dissertation for a college class; you want them to get engaged, wrapped up in the content, and to really feel like they're a part of the experience.
Writing a good blog post involves storytelling, passion, and an ability to create an emotionally powerful, memorable experience for your readers.
So how do you create great content?
Let's dig into that right now:
If you look at anything we like doing; whether it's socializing, listening to music, watching television, or reading books, they all have one thing in common:
They're all about creating EMOTIONS.
Think about this:
How many times have you seen an informative book on a topic that used words like "communication or "productivity"?
It may have been the best book in the world, but chances are if it didn't get your imagination and emotions engaged, no matter how much you might have wanted, or needed, to learn about the topic, you just couldn't bring yourself to focus.
One example from my own memory was school textbooks; I couldn't get involved in the descriptions of anything, and I frequently would up on MySpace (yes, I'm 24 years old, and MySpace was the big thing when I was in high school).
Anyway, if something isn't interesting, no matter how much logical motive you have (such as graduating high school with good grades, and getting into a good college), you always get drawn back to whatever stimulates your emotions.
Is this a bad thing?
Not at all!
Actually it's very good for you, because if you understand how to implement and apply these tactics, and you have the best content in the world on top of it, you can capture your readers, gain attention, build a relationship and loyalty with your readers/customers, and really stand out in your niche.
When you understand what makes people really think and feel in certain ways, you're able to direct them to think and feel the way you want them to, and are also able to build a connection and really make them feel a relationship with you that makes you really stand out amongst all of the other people you're competing with for their attention.
When you really want to get noticed, what you must do is be able to successfully paint a picture in a person's mind of the image and idea you want them to focus on, so that they're fully able to connect with that image, and relate it to themselves, and see themselves in it; almost like looking into a mirror, feeling like they're seeing themselves, and seeing your content as the solution to their problem.

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