3 content myths you need to stop believing in
It's so easy to get carried away with the conventional advice out there.
“Be careful out there, there’s a solar eclipse tomorrow,” I heard someone tell their friend while I was waiting in line to pay for the mint leaves and hummus dip I had bought yesterday.
Although simple, those words transported me to my childhood when I heard so many other kids share myths about eclipses.
Fantasy novels also often link eclipses with tragic events. Children born paralyzed. Men turning into wolves. Poison in the food being prepared during an eclipse. The list goes on.
But you grow up and you shrug it all off — sensible enough to understand you can't believe everything you hear.
Even so, myths are widely dominant. And people seem to enjoy spreading them. Which brings me to 3 misconceptions (call them myths if you will) that plague the content world.
Let’s talk about them today:
Myth: Follow the subheading structure ranking pieces adopt.
Fact: Yes, but not always. Focus instead on value, depth, and finding a unique angle.
For depth, go through questions ranking in the People Also Ask and Related Search boxes. You can also use AnswerThePublic to find out questions people are asking.
Not all ranking content answers all questions. So, make sure you search for them and answer them in your content.
Pro tip: If you’ve a community of target readers or regular blog readers, ask them what questions they have.
For value, tap into your vault of experience and/or talk to (internal and external) subject matter experts for their insights.
For a unique angle, study the SERPs. Review what’s missing and could make an interesting angle.
For a best practices piece, for example, my client and I agreed to take the following angle: sharing what was wrong with the prevailing best practices on the topic and what to do instead of simply listing out a handful of best practices.
Myth: Play it safe. Explain both sides of the coin and let the reader decide.
Fact. This works but only in certain cases. For example, when you’re creating product listicles, writing product reviews or comparisons, and similar.
For other content, you need to have a point of view (POV). Without it, you’ll likely add to the noise and leave no impact.
If you’re serious about building content loyalists, don’t be afraid to share your thoughts.
Myth: Creating content is as simple as writing the best quality draft.
Fact: Yes, but also no. Because content production isn’t limited to good writing.
Instead, it stands on a foundation of clear thinking and extensive collaboration.
Good content is a result of internal coordination on understanding questions customers have, topics to target, and so on. Externally, you need to coordinate with freelancers on the direction for the piece, a good angle for it, sharing feedback, and so on.
This collaboration is why I looove solid content workflows. But that’s a topic for another day.
For now, what’s a content myth you hate and want to expose? Hit reply and tell me — perhaps I’ll do a part 2 for this letter.
Good day,
Masooma