How to create content that people read, link to, and share

Executive overview

Most content fails not because it's badly written, but because it's a clone of what already exists. Three ingredients separate shareable content from filler: quality, uniqueness, and authority.

Great content earns attention by being unique, visually readable, and backed by credible voices.

Quality: writing, visuals, and headlines

• Writing is a learnable skill — start practicing early, improve over time
• Visual appeal signals effort: clean design, short paragraphs, subheadings, images, formatting
• The headline is the only thing people see on Twitter, Google, and your homepage
• Brainstorm at least 5 headline variations per article — skipping this almost guarantees failure
• "Titles are often written as a vague pre-thought, but it is the most important creative decision you'll make" — Andrew Chen, Uber

Uniqueness: stand out or get ignored

• Researching existing content to recombine it produces a clone — clones don't deserve more attention than the original
• Aim to say something not yet said (thought leadership), or challenge the conventional view with strong arguments
• If neither is possible, explain the topic better than anyone else has — better arguments, proof, and examples can outperform the original

Authority: borrow credibility you don't yet have

• Readers choose sources by credibility — an unknown author loses to a recognised expert every time
• If you lack authority on a topic, find and interview the person who has it
• Feature experts prominently so readers know credible voices are behind the content
• Journalists do this as standard practice; content creators should too