For creative content to flourish on an online space and have the desired impact, there must be a fail-safe Checklist to follow that guides the content strategy and takes the guesswork out of execution.

Inspired by general surgeon Atul Gawande’s The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right and certain benchmarks outlined by Colleen Jones, founder and principal at Content Science, the content marketing institute developed the Creating Valuable Content Checklist. The checklist is designed for digital content creators and defines valuable content using the following five benchmarks:

Findable content

When content is sent to users, they need to be able to find it. Even emails that are sent directly to a user’s email address get lost in the inbox! To ensure people can find the content they’re looking for, keep the following in mind:

For web page text

Use only one H1 and multiple H2 tags on your web pages as it helps search engine rankings and break up text on a page. Customize the metadata like title, keywords, and description tags so the content on the page is described according to your keyword research. Furthermore, include links to other pages on the site to increase the content value that search engine spiders assign to your pages. Additionally, include alt tags on your photos to ensure they appear in image searches.

For video

Add possible keywords to your title and post your video on YouTube or Facebook to increase the chance of it being seen.

For audio

Distribute your audio in different formats like MP3, WAV, and WIFF, so it’s available to different audiences and create a detailed summary and title of where the content can be downloaded. Make sure text and audio support each other in SEO efforts by housing each audio clip on a relevant content page.

Readable content

Text is the primary way people consume information. So, after users find your content, they also need to find it readable. Users will scan until they find the content they need and that’s why a good web article must respect the reader’s time. The following techniques can help enhance the readability of the text:

Inverted pyramid style: This style of writing places the most important facts at the top.

Chunking: This involves keeping paragraphs short and following the rule of three: a paragraph has a maximum of three sentences and a heading has a maximum of three paragraphs under it.

Bullets and numbered lists: Bullet points and lists are most useful when people want to consume information quickly and succinctly.

Consistent language: The usage of consistent language helps to avoid confusing Readers.

Understandable content

On certain complex topics, it proves a challenge to create content that users can easily understand. Often, even writing on an eighth-grade reading level might be too advanced for some readers. To create understandable content irrespective of the industry you are in, you must begin with choosing the right content type and creating personas for your different user audiences. You should also match the level of the content’s complexity to the user’s ability to understand it. It is also important to always provide context and explain the most basic concepts to readers even if it seems unnecessary and even condescending at times. With the help of market research, you should also apply a standard reading level to your content for each project based on your users’ personas. The use of metaphors can also help people understand complex concepts better.

Actionable content

The ultimate goal of creating content is to galvanize readers into taking action. To make sure this happens, you need to include an obvious call to action. You must also make it easy for readers to interact with you and ask you questions. You can do this by allowing readers to comment on your blogs and articles and redirecting them to your website or social media page in case they want to have a private chat.

Shareable content

It is common knowledge that people trust peers more than brands. If a client vouches for a brand to their friends and family, it is likely for them to trust the review as being authentic and give the brand a try themselves.

In order to get readers to share your content with others, you must provoke an emotional response in them and provide a noble reason for them to share. For instance, you can talk about how sharing the information with others helps them improve their life. Ask your audience to share the content by saying things like, “Please share this with people who might benefit from it” at the end of each article. You should also work with your IT staff to make sharing easier by researching which sharing widget is best for your organization.

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