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You are currently reading a written article. But how many written articles did you read last week? How does it compare to other types of content like the videos you watched, the podcasts you listened to, and even the social media conversations you were apart of?
If you like most American consumers, you find yourself slowly moving away from using other types of content and away from written articles. This is not your reflection, this is not a commentary on American literacy or reading comprehension. Instead, it may simply be a by-product of a long-running trend that completely spells out the demise of written content.
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But is written content really dying, or does it still have a bright future ahead of it?
Problems with written content
Let’s start talking about some of our problems with written content and why it is declining so much.
- Oversaturation. The biggest problem is oversaturation. Decades ago, clever webmasters discovered that written content was one of the best ways to play search engine algorithms. It was also the fastest form of loading content for a slow and unreliable Internet It was only a matter of time before these trends cemented themselves into the era of content marketing. Nowadays, every business owner and every person on a blog regularly spends at least some time writing and publishing new content. And now with the flood of written content on the market, it’s hard to find new things that people really want to read or find different things.
- Mobile web traffic. We also need to acknowledge the role that mobile devices have played in the lifespan of written content. With a laptop or a conventional desktop computer, it’s pretty easy to scroll through an article and read all the words on the page. But with a smartphone or even a tablet, videos and other types of content can be easily accessed. Mobile web traffic has been growing steadily for many years, and it now represents the lion’s share of all web traffic.
- Slow processing. Even if you are a fast reader, you process visual information much faster than you can process written words. Would you rather get all your information by watching a 30-second video or reading a 1,000-word article that takes you a few minutes to complete? The truth is, writing is no longer the shortest way to express information.
Top competitors
So what are written article threat content competitors? The need for content will never evaporate; This is why the biggest threat to written content is not the absence of content but a better form of content, such as:
- Video content. There is no question that the video content is strong. It is fast, easy to access and easy to process by all visitors
- Podcasting. By 2024, there will be an estimated 164 million regular podcast listeners in the United States, and that number is likely to grow from there. The authenticity of the podcast host and the ease of multitasking while listening help support the continued growth of the podcast.
- Mixed media. Some content creators are working harder on mixed media, combining writing, audio, and video into a single, broad segment.
Related: How to use authority to enhance the power of your content
The remaining power of writing
But before we begin to bring an epitaph to the grave in written form, we must acknowledge its remaining strengths, such as:
- Search. For search engines, textual content still has great advantages, allowing you to optimize for specific keywords and phrases.
- Structure. Written content gives you more flexibility to customize titles, lists, fonts and tags. Advanced written content can make the overall structure trivially easy to follow.
- Accessibility. Written content can be mentioned more easily than its video counterpart. Some forms are also easy to access.
Make the most of the written content
If written content still makes up the bulk of your online marketing strategy, don’t worry. There are many strategies that can help you make the most of written content and keep it alive with many competitors.
- Try for originality. Reconstructing old thinking is no longer enough to succeed. If you want any hope of making your written content effective, you need to strive for originality, bring unique topics or cover existing topics in a fancy way.
- Polish, polish, polish. In the world of written content, quality always loses quantity. This is why you should spend enough time polishing every article you produce. Verify the truth yourself, modify sections to be more organized and iron out every detail so there is no chance of error.
- Highlight the advantages of writing. There are some things that make writing better that other mediums can’t get right. The power of word stability and eloquent prose on the page cannot be replicated by transient video or podcast conversations.
- Double in other mediums. If you can’t defeat them, join them. Don’t be afraid to make other means and essential part of your overall content marketing strategy.
Related: Should You Just Ignore Keywords When Writing Content For SEO?
Overall, written content is a powerful component of any content marketing strategy. However, we cannot ignore its weaknesses or pretend that it is as strong as before. If you want your written content to run smoothly, you need to make its quality a top priority and make sure it is consistent with the rest of your content strategy.
