Word Count: Choosing the Ideal Length and Structure for Your Travel Content

In the modern world, there’s a widespread belief that shorter content is always better, and that readers’ attention spans are limited. While it’s true that brevity is important in many areas of travel content, it is not always the case. In fact, many readers are on the lookout for in-depth content that answers questions, educates and inspires them.

A recent study by Medium, a platform for technological content writing, revealed that the time spent reading one blog was up to seven minutes, or about 1,600 words. Other studies go further, demonstrating that the top-ranked content on Google has over 2,000 words. While these figures are enlightening, this isn’t just a question of longer versus shorter content – different topics and formats need different word counts. The takeaway is that you should write however much is needed to get your message across. That if you give readers good content, they’ll read it.

So how do you go about choosing the perfect word count for your travel content – and how do you structure it to make it as reader-friendly as possible? Scroll down to read some tips from our expert travel content writing team…

Continue reading

How to Meet Your Deadlines Without Fail

The reputations of content writers and editors live and die by their deadlines. A late hand-in is one of the worst sins a writer can commit. Repeated missed deadlines can strain client relationships, damage your reputation and, ultimately, impact on your income. Even if your failure to meet a deadline is a rare occurrence – even if it’s a one-off – it will almost certainly kill hopes of a repeat commission, and put a permanent black mark next to your name.

The harsh truth is that it doesn’t matter how busy you are or what else is happening in your life – whether you’ve taken on too many commissions, or are juggling work with personal issues – at the end of the day, clients (quite rightly) demand quality, on-time content without exception. If you can’t deliver, they’ll find someone else who can.

If you are a writer or editor who needs help meeting your deadlines, the reliably punctual team of expert writers and editors at World Words is here to help. Read on for our top tips on always being dependable with deadlines.

5374200948_539b10fb1c_b Continue reading

Hand-in-Hand: Why Travel Content and Social Media Will Work Better Together

In the modern world, we’re seeing more and more travel brands using social channels as their primary platforms for branding and marketing. In fact, some have ditched blogging and other common forms of content marketing altogether in favour of the more immediate gratification and precise targeting offered by a social-only approach.

It’s understandable, as social media – and especially Instagram – has been a gift for travel brands, with the visual focus offering a chance to show off available destinations and experiences at their most enticing. However, we believe that social media is a tool that should be used to complement other forms of content marketing… not to replace them. For us, the best form of relationship is a symbiotic one. Here’s our take on why social and content marketing are tailor made for one another, and how you can use the two in tandem to boost your travel brand…

Continue reading

Going Mobile: Creating Travel Content That is Smartphone and Tablet Friendly

In the modern world, smartphone-friendly content is vital. Mobile is no longer man afterthought when it comes to producing content, and quite rightly – the stats for users accessing websites on phones and tablets are up year on year. With phones increasingly the primary – and even sole – device for users, it’s no wonder so many brands now follow a mobile-first approach when designing their content. Luckily for us, travel content thrives on mobile.

For those of us in the travel industry, there are several advantages when it comes to making travel content work for mobile. Effective travel content is fundamentally very visual, and lends itself well to mobile-friendly formats that tend to prioritise images and concise information over reams and reams of text. So if you’re planning your travel content for the months ahead, here are some of our top tips to ensure it’ll be a hit with phones and tablets too…

Continue reading