Engineering Copywriter Blog

How can your blog posts build trust among your audience? What makes your blog a good marketing tool? While your website’s content and tone may be simple and professional, a blog allows you to engage with customers and provide updates in a way that reflects who you are rather than just what you do. It also helps to boost your brand’s visibility. Simply put, the more blog content you produce, the better your chances of appearing in search engine results and driving organic traffic to your website. Blogs are the ideal medium for improving your SEO strategy. Consider your blog a direct line of communication to potential customers.

Here are the key concepts that can make your engineering blog content attractive.

1. Choose engineering topics to write about

Select a subject that captures the attention of your engineering audience. You will have a difficult time engaging the reader otherwise. Most effective bloggers keep a running list of topics they intend to explore.

Your customers look for solutions using search engines, so they have access to any online information that appears to offer answers. Your blog must solve their problem in a way that also compels readers to engage further with your firm. Write quality content that makes your readers want to learn more about the subject. That is the key to engaging them.

Examine your own existing blog posts as well as your competitors’ posts to learn what your target audience finds interesting or useful. Analyze your products to ensure that your posts tie into them. List writing ideas on a spreadsheet and keep an eye on analytics so you know which published posts resonate best with readers. That data should inform your subsequent marketing decisions.

2. Choose a blogging format for your post

Before you begin writing a post, decide on which format you would like to use. This will help you organize your thoughts and give you a better start. Each format has its own inherent advantages:

•      –  Question-based blog posts: These answer the “What,” “Who,” and “Why” questions. Each article should pose a question (i.e. “What 3D printing technology is best for functional prototypes?”) and then answer that question in detail.
•      –  Listicles: A listicle, as the name suggests, is formatted as a list with a common theme. For example: “Ten replaceable parts of an automobile.”
•      –  How-to guides: This is one of the most popular blog formats. For example: “How to fix broken car brakes.”
•      –  Infographics: These are simple to read, informative, and interesting, but might not be the most effective lead generation tools.
•      –  Narratives: Compelling personal stories can grab the attention of your target audience.

3. Create an outline for your engineering blog

Create a basic outline for your blog post before you start. This will keep you focused and prevent you from wandering off on tangents. Start with the main heading and then flesh out sub-headings or subsections based on your targeted keywords and phrases. This may need to be done in tandem with the research unless you already know the topic well. Don’t be afraid to have a professional take a look at your outline. Getting outside assistance can be very beneficial to your engineering blog content.

4. Research

Your background research is perhaps the most important aspect of the project. Make sure you find credible and authoritative sources. Remember, most of your readers are professionals in this field, so they’ll recognize if you don’t understand the topic. When you get it right and produce high-value content, you build trust among readers, so they’re more likely to return again and again. Many of the best sources take the form of

•      –  Research papers
•      –  Industry experts
•      –  Government websites

Don’t forget, the type of people who read technical content expect to see references. Include links or a bibliography with your post.

5. Create a thought-provoking headline

Your headline must entice your target audience. Few people will even see your engineering content if the headline isn’t compelling. But your title serves dual purposes; it should also meet the requirements of search engines. Craft your headline to drive the most traffic to your company website. Try tools like the Coschedule Headline Analyzer to measure how well it will grab readers’ attention. This online tool scores your headline and lets you refine and test options until you find the perfect one.

6. Introduction

The first few sentences are arguably the most critical. Readers’ interest in them will determine whether they continue reading or click away. Draw your reader in and inspire them to read more. Begin with some intriguing information, brief statistics, or a question.

7. Evaluate your communication methods

Your careful research only pays off if you communicate effectively. Keep a clear goal in mind and work from your outline. Your rhetoric should match your audience’s education level. If you dumb it down too much, you’ll sound patronizing; if it’s too complex, your content won’t be accessible enough. Make sure your content is easy to scan – attractive headings and bulleted points can help in that regard. 

Tips for good engineering writing:

•      –  Your content must be simple to read
•      –  Write as you speak
•      –  Write short sentences and paragraphs
•      –  Make use of bullet points
•      –  Include images that are relevant and attractive
•      –  Give answers to questions your target audience might be asking

The attention span of many readers is quite short. Your target audience might click away from you if you give them a wall of text that is difficult to read. Break ideas into small paragraphs, and keep things short and simple. Long explanations and descriptions bore readers. Fill your blog with relevant information, not superlatives. 

Real-world narratives make for great reading. Try to incorporate relatable stories that will hold readers’ interest. Along the way, sprinkle in calls to action to encourage further interaction from your readers. The interactions should be simple and minimally distracting. Ask readers to subscribe to your newsletter or fill out a questionnaire, for example.

8. Add images to your engineering content

Using images to split your blog post into organized pieces is a very good idea. Images capture the audience’s attention and break up the boring text. They can also help your readers understand complex concepts at a glance. However, your pictures and illustrations must be relevant and add value to the content. For example, a graph can provide a strong visual impact, present complex data visually, and doesn’t need much explanation. Shutterstock, meanwhile, is a good place to go if you’re seeking high-quality photos for generalized ideas.

9. Optimize your engineering blog post for SEO

Engaging, high-quality content will hook customers once they’ve read it, but attracting them in the first place takes a different skill set. Search engine algorithms will ignore your content if you don’t incorporate the proper keywords. If you fail to rank highly on search engines, your online business will get lost in the crowd. Finding the perfect keywords may be a difficult and time-consuming process, but tools like Ahrefs, SEMRush, Moz, and UberSuggest can make it simpler.

10. Conclusion

Use your final remarks to emphasize your point and double-check that it aligns with your introduction. You should instill a sense of urgency in the mind of your readers. You’ll want them to take action immediately instead of procrastinating and forgetting the essence of your message. This is a natural place to add a call-to-action.

11. Edit your content

It’s important to edit after writing your content. Some people think that editing merely means fixing spelling and grammar, but it’s actually much more expansive. Examine your blog post as a whole. Your goal is to connect the dots so that information flows from one topic to another. The edit will help make that picture clear. It may also mean removing some text. Editing helps you sniff out unnecessarily long sentences and complex language.

The average American reads at roughly a 7th- to 8th-grade level. Depending on your target audience, you may not want to stray far over that mark. Programs like Hemingway Editor or Grammarly can help you assess your readability index and make suggestions on how to improve it.

Know your customers

Improve your company’s customer satisfaction and retention by better understanding your customers and competitors. With a better understanding of your target market, you can improve your products or services while also identifying areas that need more investment. Customer research is also an essential piece of the planning stages for major business decisions. Feel free to drop us a line if you need help with your engineering content.