Educational content communicates value to engage audiences, crucial for fostering connections and enhancing brand recognition.
Simplifying complex concepts, encourages discussions and collaborative learning, fostering shared understanding. Building connections and sharing value cultivates loyal communities. This article offers actionable advice on crafting captivating educational content, empowering educators to make a lasting impact on learners.
What will you learn
- What is educational content writing and why is it important
- What are the most popular types of educational content
- How to create engaging and valuable educational materials
- How to optimize your content for search engines
What is educational content writing?
Educational content writing involves creating informative or explanatory materials to teach the audience about a particular topic. This type of content writing helps readers complete tasks, learn new skills, and acquire information.
Educational content aims to simplify complex ideas and make them accessible to a broader audience.
The goal of educational content is to provide answers without distraction, focusing precisely on the subject.
A great example of educational content is this online course by Code Academy. It’s an introductory course on HTML, that covers the basics of website design.
The course webpage entails essential information about the technical knowledge and skills you’ll acquire when you complete the program.
Types of educational content
Educational content uses a variety of formats to create different experiences and cater to diverse audiences.
For example, some audiences prefer to read content such as blog posts and ebooks, while others choose the video format that helps to visualize the topic.
On the other hand, online courses often offer multiple media formats and interactive elements to support the learning experience.
The most popular types of educational content include:
- Blog posts
- Ebooks
- White papers
- Youtube videos
- Social media posts
- Webinars
- Online courses
This versatility of formats ensures educational content can be for everyone, catering to different learning preferences, learning styles, and needs.
Each format serves a distinct purpose so the choice of format should be strategic. It depends on the depth of the subject matter and the intended purpose of the content.
Why is educational content important?
Educational content is important because it provides value to the audience by sharing knowledge. It allows them to develop a personal connection and relate to the brand.
Here are three more reasons why you should create educational content:
Builds a loyal audience
When you create educational content you provide value that your audience appreciates and actively anticipates more.
High-quality content should be well-researched, transparent, and refer to reliable data sources.
This way, your audience will perceive you as a credible and trustworthy source of information.
Increases brand awareness
Creating educational content is a great way to establish your online presence. By being an active member of your community you can direct people to your website if they want to learn more.
This way you’ll drive organic website traffic, increasing your online visibility. As a result, more people will discover your website, and possibly, become your customers.
Establishes E-E-A-T
E-E-A-T is a part of search rating guidelines that emphasize the importance of four qualities: experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness.
If you want your content to perform great in search engines, it should demonstrate all of these qualities.
By ensuring your content is well-researched, provides valuable insights, and refers to trustworthy sources of information you can establish E-E-A-T for your website.
10 tips to write educational content
To write exceptional educational content you not only need writing skills and expertise on the topic. Here are 10 ways to make your content more engaging and accessible to the readers.
1. Identify the level of your readers
The first step of creating educational content is identifying your audience and their level of expertise. To do this, follow these steps
- Identify your target audience – are they professionals, young students, or the general public?
- Determine your audience’s goal – do they want to complete a task, learn a new skill, or gain in-depth knowledge?
- Assess the audience’s mindset – are they highly motivated, in a hurry, or frustrated with previous failures?
It’s also crucial to determine the knowledge level of your target audience as it allows you to address their specific needs.
This way you can adjust the vocabulary and selection of topics to the level of your audience to create relevant and effective content.
Take the example of this article on health insurance that is a part of student resources.
Every subheading walks the reader through the basics, such as how health insurance works and different types of health insurance. Note that the content is divided into short paragraphs and bullet points to ensure clarity.
2. Break down information in simple language
Education content writers should always strive for simplicity and clarity.
The simple language will ensure higher engagement and student satisfaction. It will also allow newcomers and foreign audiences to understand your content easily.
Remember to use simple words and avoid jargon.
If you introduce a specific term, be sure to explain it clearly. Don’t use long, wordy sentences as it may confuse your audience.
If you want to explain a complex idea, start with a broad statement and narrow it down to more specific information.
Use relatable examples your audience can clearly understand and add links to related content for additional information.
Take an example of this guide on how to connect with customers in the age of AI.
At the top of the page, you can see the content has been divided into seven chapters to aid navigation. The article uses short paragraphs and sentences to keep the reader engaged.
3. Build on concepts
Logical structure is crucial for effective educational content. Your audience should be able to easily understand your train of thought and logically connect every concept.
This way they can easily link new ideas with existing knowledge and adopt new information successfully.
Use systematic sequencing to link one topic to another. Start every chapter by presenting key points, then build on one another, going into more detail.
Remember to break down topics equally, so the chapters have nearly the same amount of information.
This will ensure your content structure is rhythmical and more engaging for the audience.
Let’s look at the example of this article on five Cs of credit.
The introduction briefly explains the five key factors in assessing credit rating.
In the following part of the article, the author expands on each factor, describing them more in-depth.
4. Show, don’t tell
Illustrating your educational content can highly benefit the engagement and adoption of knowledge.
Demonstrate your point with examples or hypothetical scenarios to help your audience identify with the problem and retain the information better.
Visualizing concepts and understanding their practical application is crucial for successful learning.
To help illustrate your examples, use visual aids such as images, diagrams, or videos. They will help you accentuate your point and make it easier to remember.
Take the example of this article on how to find trending audio on Instagram.
This page presents plenty of screenshots that emphasize the instructional value of the content. Note the highlighted parts and indicators that help explain what you should look for in the app.
5. Provide data and evidence
Educational content should always provide concrete evidence to enhance the credibility of your claims.
Use data and statistics to support your statements and provide graphs and charts that illustrate them.
Visualizing data will help your audience understand and adopt the information more effectively.
To find reliable data, use reputable studies and reports. Remember to extract only the most essential information for your audience. Present data in simple language and ensure it’s related to your point.
Take the example of this article on newspaper readability. The author lays down the impact of improving readability by citing a statistic.
But she also goes on to break down the effect into usable information that the average reader can understand.
Note the before-after comparison that supports her point about improving the readability of newspapers.
6. Use stories
To create compelling content use storytelling. Stories help illustrate complex concepts and make the learning experience more engaging and memorable.
When the audience relates to a particular story or anecdote it’s easier for them to retain the important information.
By evoking emotion people remember key information better, without memorizing it intentionally.
Take the example of this article on expanding a business into a foreign market.
The first two paragraphs tell the real story of how Walmart attempted a global expansion in the 90s.
The author successfully introduces the readers to how businesses grow internationally. The concluding question emphasizes the point of the story and what we can learn from it.
7. Clarify between facts and opinion
Drawing a distinctive line between facts and opinions is crucial in the education industry.
It demonstrates transparency and lack of bias, which can enhance the credibility and trustworthiness of your claims.
Use impartial and unbiased language when presenting facts.
For example, use statements such as “research shows” or “according to scientific data.”
Distinctively present your viewpoint by using phrases such as “in my personal opinion”, “I believe,” or “my view is.”
Avoid using emotive or persuasive language that can blur the line between facts and opinions.
Show different sides of the argument to show your audience a well-rounded perspective.
Presenting multiple viewpoints can enrich the discussion and help your audience understand the topic better.
8. Optimize for search results
Optimizing your educational website content for search engines will allow your audience to find it more easily. To do this you need to incorporate keywords most relevant to your topic.
Finding these keywords starts with researching the SERPs for the word that best describes the main topic of your content.
This way you can discover what words and phrases your competitors use to describe your subject matter.
Incorporate these keywords into your content naturally, so search engines will display your page for these phrases.
Take the example of this article on our blog on using Chat GPT for content writing.
In this blog post, you can see the use of keywords relevant to the topic such as “content writing” or “AI-generated content.”
Take note of the use of related subtopics and questions such as “Does Google penalize AI-generated content?”
Addressing relevant questions and concerns can also improve your performance in search.
9. Use a writing tool
Using writing tools such as Grammarly or Hemingway will improve the clarity and correctness of your writing.
It’s crucial for educational content to be clear, readable, and have impeccable grammar and spelling.
Making mistakes can take away the focus from the subject matter.
Moreover, your content will seem less professional and you can lose credibility as an educator.
Remember that clarity and precision are key to creating great educational content.
So, plan your content and divide the topics into chapters, following the correct order. This way your audience won’t feel lost and confused, positively impacting their engagement.
If you have difficulty in organizing your content you can use Surfy.
It’s an AI assistant that will help you research facts and generate ideas, allowing you to write faster. Additionally, you can optimize content for search engines as you write.
10. Research and fact-check your content
Ensuring the information you publish is accurate is extremely important for educational content.
As an educator, you position yourself as a trustworthy, authoritative figure so you can’t afford to lose the trust of your audience.
Your writing process should start with thorough research using reliable sources.
You can find accurate information in research papers, reputable news outlets, and official educational websites.
Spreading false information can have serious consequences.
You can lose the trust of your audience, which can impact your sales and growth. Losing credibility can be highly damaging and difficult to rebuild.
Take the example of the article about the obituary for a late former NBA player published on Microsoft MSN.
The headline of the original article read “Brandon Hunter useless at 42.”
This incident left readers appalled and put the credibility of MSN in question.
As it turned out, it wasn’t the only unverified article on the platform that caused the audience to speculate it was AI-generated.
Key takeaways
- Educational content includes materials that aim to inform and educate the audience to understand complex concepts and develop skills
- Various types of educational content include articles, ebooks, videos, webinars, and more
- By providing valuable educational content you can increase brand awareness, gain a loyal audience, and establish your authority in the field
- Remember to use simple language and break down topics for easier comprehension
- Provide concrete evidence to support your claims and refer to reliable sources.
- Use examples and storytelling to get your point across. Add visuals such as charts, graphs, images, and videos to engage your audience
- Don’t forget to optimize your content for search engines to help users find your educational materials
