Creating Course Content

You might be asking yourself what type of content is best and how do you recognize good content. It’s important that your E/course contains good content as it’s one of the main areas in which the whole course success rests upon. Without good content it can be very difficult to sell your course and for people to understand what your message and training is all about.

Good content is engaging it keeps your students or the reader interested and in terms of what it needs to do is be educational and contain substance. Content has its different forms.  For example you may have an e-book that you want to write —in which case your author’s mindset and what writers call an “author’s voice” or book voice and their particular views can be suited or adjusted to play that role which denotes the content is of a specific type and serves as medium of communication in a distinct manner which in the example given is written in “book author voice”.

All good content regardless of what type it is will reveal quality artful speaking and communication. It should attract attention through its style and formatting and also how it’s set out.

We are going to take a look at each one of these particular keys for writing and recognizing good content.

Ways to Present Content:

There are different ways to present content and there are types of content for different purposes and in an online business you may often come across and have to use different ways of presenting content in order to maintain the various departments of the business. Each type of content has what I like to call the “writers voice”.

For example in an E/course you may have your content for each module presented as a teaching or training and coaching voice. In copywriting you adopt a writers voice where you take on a marketing and promotional tone—and for writing books you might adopt the voice of an author who tells a story or comes across in terms of a scientific or factual voice. Writing articles will be different again in terms of the content is not as long however it may still contain a natural element as any good content regardless of what type it is will. For public speaking and presentation you adopt a certain voice different again to suit the presentation and audience.

Structuring Your Content:

For formatting content there’s a certain process and system to it. When you write out your modules you need to decide on how long or how many words for example it will be. The formatting of a page starts with an introduction first, and then the body, followed by a closing statement. These are all paragraphs which basically describe the beginning, middle and end of what you are writing or teaching about in a particular module. When writing content starting from the top you would have your main title of the module then perhaps a subtitle followed by maybe a two or three lines paragraph or quote to complement the introduction.

You may decide on using a variety of formats for your content such as different types of media and video and or audio, and then there’s including images which describe and support your point in question so that you can get your message across and also give the reader graphic and symbology to help convey not only an aesthetic value but also to broaden a better understanding. When the content is done right it should run in a sequential manner so that one part of it leads on to the next part and so on working its way through from beginning to end in a natural order.

Setting Out Your Content:

Setting out your content is part of structuring content however setting out also includes content styling and positioning. A web page often has images and ads and other pieces of information on it so quite often the content is placed strategically on the page to enhance the reader’s experience. When it comes to E/courses the content is written or comes across as a teaching mode that’s natural and easy to understand, and that’s not too lengthy and best when it’s black text on a white background so as to not pressure the eyes when reading.

It needs to be clear and interesting. It may be factual and has to be educational and quite often in E/course modules the standard length is usually around 400 to 700 words depending on the material and what you want to teach in that module. For videos it’s recommended that they only run for up to 20 min at the most even shorter if possible depending on the lesson. It is often better to break the modules down even more so that you only have 5 to 10 min videos as shorter time length helps to keep your students interests up and also it means you can add different types of format other than just video.

The key to good content is that you should aim to deliver real value to your readers and students. You want to make your content presentation striking, and clear to understand, and feel pleased that you have created the type of content that is worth reading and has got your message across and is an inspiration for others to go by as a standard for good reading and interest. Quality choice words and meaning are very powerful when used rightly. The electromagnetic currents they convey when they are put in proper order and sequence can have the effect of uplifting the mind and emotions and taking a person to another level and that is really what good content is all about.

 If you like to find out more about “creating good content” with regards to e/course creation and online business then please have a look at Your E/course Blueprint

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