Technical content is what you need to attract the target audience to your product, project, or business. Your product may be theoretically in demand, but people won’t become your customers until you formulate for them what they need. This may sound absurd, but this is real: people often cannot figure out for themselves what kind of software, hardware, or process equipment they need. To make the demand more focused, you have to write technical content so that people can have the answers before they even ask.
Besides, even if your potential customers have already focused on some specific product, they are often too lazy to write a quotation request or a letter of inquiry to your contact person. Technical content makes things much easier and can become the first step on your way to signing a new contract.
Technical Content Meaning
Technical content is often opposed to non-technical content. The latter is information not related to such specific areas as engineering, IT, medicine, space technologies, etc.
Technical content is based on the technical information you produce, and from this standpoint, it is close to technical documentation.
However, these two concepts are different in terms of communicational purpose. Technical writing means writing industry-specific or product-specific documentation targeted at advanced users, such documentation as:
- manuals,
- guides,
- requirements,
- specs,
- design docs,
- datasheets,
- etc.
And technical content writing means creating internet content to attract customers and improve SEO parameters. It looks more like copywriting based on technical info and targeted at potential customers.
Technical content meaning is related to SEO, digital marketing, and copywriting. A content writer specializes in writing texts on various technical topics and gets the information across to a potentially interested audience. To make the text more popular on the Internet (improve its ranking in the search results), a content writer should always have keywords in mind because this is how people would search for the product they need. Another thing a content writer is preoccupied with is making the text unique so that it does not get lost among similar texts. The third factor that makes a content writer’s job special is cross-linking. It is aimed at uniting related texts in a cluster so that the readers stay on the web page longer. This can also push the page higher in the search ranking.
Technical content examples sound specific and differ a lot from technical documents. For instance, if the product is a drawing tablet, the possible technical content titles may be: ‘How to adjust pen pressure on a graphic tablet’ or ‘Graphics tablet tutorial: How do I get started?’ In the case of technical documentation, it will just be a user manual or a quick start guide.
This is because technical writing is focused on other things. It concerns writing technical documents like:
- tutorials,
- instructions,
- manuals,
- user guides,
- QSGs,
- etc.
A tech writer does not have to think about keywords, cross-linking, or search ranking. The task of a technical writer is to make technical docs clear, simple, structured, and as short as possible. The work is aimed at making things easier and more convenient for the user by explaining in most simple words how to use the product or service. The principal difference is that the target audience of a technical writer is a beginner or advanced user, while the target audience of a content writer is potential customers.
It should be mentioned that content writing is not just pure writing; it is a more diversified process that includes planning, writing, and editing web content with the aim of digital marketing. Posting information on the Internet is usually scheduled. The schedule is approved by the head of marketing and coordinated with the company’s top management. The publications should comply with the company’s general policy and support the products and services most relevant tactically or strategically. Only then are the assignments distributed between content writers.
Types of Technical Content
The range of texts that may be referred to as technical content is wide. It includes blog posts and articles, scripts for videos and podcasts, as well as content for specific platforms, such as Reddit or Quora. Some of the most popular types of technical content are listed below.
- Video scripts can be provided for standalone visuals or visuals used as illustrations within other types of content (a manual, a guide, a white paper, etc.). A video script is a blueprint for a digital video. It's a step-by-step run-down of scenes and dialogues that you want to appear in the video.
- Social media posts include content posted on social media in a user's profile. It can be just a text fragment or a text combined with images, videos, and links. The feature that makes this content outstanding is attracting the target audience through the possibility of liking, commenting, and sharing.
- A podcast is another type of content that can attract potential customers. A podcast is a digital audio file or a collection of files on the same topic that can be downloaded or listened to on the Internet. Each audio is a podcast episode. Podcasts can be found on streaming apps such as Spotify, iTunes, Google Podcasts, and Apple Podcasts.
- Web page copy is another example of SEO copywriting that can be called content writing. It implies technical content creation with the use of methods that help to improve the page’s ranking in the list of search results.
- Landing pages are a relatively new type of content used in digital marketing. It is a standalone web page created for a specific search result or click. After clicking on a link or ads, the user “lands” on this page. Landing pages are usually designed so as to encourage the users to subscribe to email. This is known as a call to action or CTA.
There are also specific platforms, such as Reddit or Quora, often used for publishing technical content. Reddit is an online community where content is organized in groups defined by the users’ interests. Quora (as the name suggests) is a question-and-answer site. People can post their questions and get responses from other users. Both Reddit and Quora are used by professionals in their fields who seek technical advice.
Benefits of Technical Content
Technical content writing is audience-focused. It is intended to attract new target readers and future users of the product or service. This is the expected result when making new technical posts on the Internet. To increase the target audience, technical writers explain things that may be important for the customers. They explain the concepts the potential customers want to understand, introduce new topics, or cover new products and features thus attracting new readers.
Technical writers formulate questions that might be interesting for specialists, buyers, vendors of equipment, software developers, etc. As a result, a new agenda often leads the potential customer along a path of links to finally ‘discovering’ a new product. In this regard, technical content writing is close to other state-of-the-art forms of marketing that rely on indirect promotion.
Besides indirect marketing of a specific product or service, technical content writing ensures better search engine ranking. This can enhance sales and increase profit as similar products will be promoted due to cross-linking and keyword search.
Best Practices for Creating Technical Content
Below are several tips that will help you write better technical content.
- Create an outline. Getting down from general to specific is a good practice as it helps to get an overview of the issue first and then hand it over portion-wise to the reader. Besides, outlines help to organize one’s thoughts and ideas. It only looks complicated, but in reality, it helps to speed up the process.
- Make your content easy to read. The text should be to the point and entertaining at the same time. It should be simple and filled with important information so that after finishing reading, people could say: ‘Oh, that one was really useful,’ or ‘I’ve really learned something.
- Make your content easy to share. After the readers find your text has been handy, they would naturally want to share it. However, many good posts we come across on the internet can be shared only within the social net or platform they have been published on. Users have to copy-paste the text and then provide it with a link to share the information. Sometimes it looks odd. So don’t forget to make your content shareable so that the readers can repost it with one click.
- Use examples. They make your text easy to understand. Remember that you are not writing instructions or a 100-page guide. Your content may be just one page long, but it should be a real ‘eye-opener.’
- Make the information in your text well-grounded. Give links and references to in-depth studies of the subject. This will make your content trustworthy in the eyes of the readers.
- Make use of other people’s experiences. Do not be the one who steps on the same rake. The internet is full of free materials aimed at improving the writing style. ClickHelp offers free downloads (style guides, ebooks, templates, etc.) that will help you upgrade your authoring skills.
Conclusion
In many businesses, technical content is often limited to the FAQ page or help documentation. This is obviously a mistake that can lead your company to stagnation. Effective technical content should be diversified. As a result, it will boost your sales and attract new customers. It can also improve your company’s image due to the positive customer experience the users will get on your web page.
Good luck with your technical writing!
ClickHelp Team
Author, host and deliver documentation across platforms and devices