Let the 4 ‘friendlys’ be your content creation guide

Is your content friendly, or hostile?

It doesn’t matter whether your audience is external or internal. These four “friendlys” are musts as you craft content for today’s reader:

1. Mobile-friendly

In 2011, more than one-third (35 percent) of all U.S. adults had a smartphone. Today, that number is closer to 70 percent—though for younger adults (18–29) it’s a staggering 86 percent.

As smartphone use skyrockets, so does content consumption on those little magical machines. If you want your content to get read—by internal and external audiences alike—it must be mobile-friendly.

Google is increasingly prioritizing this metric. The search giant has made tweaks to its ranking algorithm in recent years to reward mobile-friendly sites and penalize those that are not responsive. Take Google’s mobile-friendly test and tinker with its mobile website speed tool to make sure your content displays seamlessly on mobile devices.

Making your content mobile-friendly is about getting read, but there are huge SEO implications as well.

2. User-friendly

All your content is created for some audience. Everything you craft should be tailored to their preferences, affinities or interests.

Audiences differ, but consider this list from Buzzsumo about the types of content that tend to excel in marketing contexts:

1. Practical guides and helpful content

2. In-vogue and hot topics

3. Research and insights

4. Case studies

5. Infographics

6. Authoritative industry news

Whatever you create, make sure it loads quickly and is easy to navigate. Also make it relevant and practical. Making your content user-friendly is about respecting your readers.

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One notion to consider is personalization. Customized messages—sent via email, direct mail or social media—stand a much greater chance of being read. Thoughtful personalization is the apex of user-friendly communication.

3. Time-friendly

Time is money, right? Respect your audience’s time by keeping content concise. Prioritize tight writing and complementary graphics.

When reading online, we scan, often favoring the left side of the page and following an “Fpattern.” It’s how our brains process information quickly.

Distill your key points into bullets. Numbered lists, bullet points and subheadings make for easy, swift scanning.

4. Regular ‘friendly’

Don’t be a sales robot. Let human personality shine through.

Be generous and genial. Whether you’re communicating online or among co-workers, use your content to promote goodwill and create genuine relationships.

Of all the fundamental “friendlys,” old-fashioned, regular friendly might be the most important.

A version of this post first appeared on the Randall-Reilly blog.

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