Now is such a time when our kids wonder how these images are in anyway related to phones.
This is quite natural because the day they have opened their eyes, they have saw smartphones. And truly speaking, smartphones have nearly killed landlines. And what more? Very soon they would do the same to desktops and laptops. You can do everything on your smartphone. From emailing to your client to booking flight tickets for your honeymoon, from watching “How To” tutorials to cats & dogs videos, everything is on the tip of your finger, err… Smartphone. 😉
Desktops are rather becoming an obsolete chunk of a machine while most of our internet browsing time is being eaten up by smartphones. Every day, mobile searches are way more than desktop searches. As Statista says, smartphones have now surpassed desktop and laptops as our primary mode of Internet engagement. Our content consumption is getting dependent on our mobile devices more and more. And in this juncture, you have crafted your content and published it. But nobody reads it, no comments, no likes, no shares. Isn’t it enough to drain your motivation at once? So it goes without saying that your content strategy must possess a healthy dose of mobile optimized content.
Now, how can you focus on mobile content curation while creating your content strategy? It’s simple. You just have to understand how people use their mobile screens, and accordingly create your content.
Here are a few words of advice you need to know to create compelling mobile content.
1. Your Target Audience as always Active
You must plan your content in such a way that your audience can scan it through at any time. Remember, nowadays people don’t plan to sit for an hour to read any stuff on their mobile. Maybe they are commuting, maybe their dinner is getting microwaved, or maybe they are in the washroom.
2. Create a Mini Version of your Big Content
The length of any content is the foremost point of concern for any content writer. What would work best? A longer one, or a shorter? Well, research has found that while long or may be mid-length contents work best on desktops, shorter version of the same content clicks better on mobile devices.
3. Consider the Subheads
Break up your content with compelling subheads that entice your readers. A strong headline creates a solid premise for the rest of the content. We see this mostly in the newspapers where they make the most use of compelling headlines and subheads. Subheads are more like ‘Mini Headlines’ for people who are on-the-go. So ensure you reflect the gist of your actual content in the subheads. It will keep them going.
4. Highlight content strategically
Hold up the important concepts first. Let your readers pick and choose the most information at a glance. Segregate your write up in sections. As mentioned above, give suitable (read, compelling) sub-headlines. Programe the content as such that whenever a reader chooses a specific information he/she deem fit and clicks on it, he/she would get scrolled down or up to that particular section.
But yes, while you do this, don’t highlight everything, or you will botch it up. Only emphasize the key points strategically.
5. Ensure the content is mobile-friendly
Because after all, your are curating your content for mobile devices. If your readers are forced to zoom a content just to interact with, then you are offering them just a standard web page. Your readers are likely to get frustrated at this and leave before even reading the full content.
6. Interactive quizzes
Add some interactive quizzes that engage your audience. You may take help from sites like Qzzr, to create interesting quizzes that are specially optimized for mobile devices. Not only this looks great on mobiles, but also Qzzr gives information on the creator of the quizzes, the number of time taken, time spent, and completion rates, etc.
7. Add Short Infographics
Nothing is more exciting than Infographics in the world of Internet these days. So think about adding short, yet visually pleasing Infographics to your content. Mobile readers would find it easier to check the Infographics and grab the information instead of even delving deep into the content.
Don’t forget to give like and share buttons, and a backlink to your website. This way you can engage your audience, your Infographics will get liked, shared, and viewed, your brand recognition rate will escalate substantially, and also your website traffic will increase.
8. A Series of Posts
You may try breaking your content into a series of posts. In case your content actually covers a complex topic, then you might break it into a series of short but interesting posts, which will keep your readers coming back for more. This is an excellent way to keep your readers amused, since nowadays people love series. Be it a TV series, or a game series, engagement quotient sustains considerably for sure.
9. Don’t forget the CTAs
Don’t be shy to include CTAs at the end of your content. It is no shame to get liked, shared or commented upon. Rather if you are not doing that, it is odds-on that you would lose a great chunk of opportunities.
And remember, CTAs are not only meant to come at the end. You may embed them early in the text as well. Because we dare say, all of your readers will not make it till the end of your content.
A Few Last Words
So you see, as smartphones are outsmarting desktops and laptops as standard means of Internet browsing, don’t confine yourself to be a payphone! Curate your contents as per consumer demands. Well, I know this is sort of a challenge, but if you try a little bit and do it well, you are sure to get strong results. A majority of customers are looking for contents on their mobile devices, give them what they want, and don’t give them a reason to leave.
So what about you? How are you going to start your mobile optimized content curation? Any help needed, please feel free to contact us. And if you have any idea to share, please do so in the comments below, and keep the discussions continued.
