Don’t think Cosmo has anything to teach you about content writing? Think again. Cosmopolitan Magazine is distributed in more than 100 countries. It has 64 international editions and it’s printed in 35 languages. While it might seem easy to laugh off its absurdly-named Kama Sutra positions and dubious dating advice (trust us, your man does not want to listen to your favorite Alicia Keys album while you get it on), there’s a reason why Cosmo is the largest selling magazine for young women in the world – the editors know what they’re doing.

Here are some of the best tips for writing content for the web that we learned from reading Cosmo:

Cosmo’s Best Content Writing Tips

1. Write Attention-Grabbing Headlines the Cosmo Way

You’ll find two kinds of titles on almost every Cosmo cover – numbered lists and questions. This is no accident.

Titles like “25 Ways to Kiss a Naked Man” pique readers’ attention (that’s a lot of ways – some of them are bound to be weird, right?) and titles with questions like “Are You Letting Your Dream Man Get Away?” automatically engage readers. “Oh god,” they think, “What if I am!? Come back, Ryan Gosling, come back!”

The best thing about this content writing trick? It works for every single topic, not just ones that involve sexy dudes.

2. Create Actionable Content

Need a quick fix for static cling? Battling frizzy winter hair? Looking for a cheap date idea for you and your new boo? Cosmo can help. The magazine is packed with actionable content, tips that readers can actually use to solve their day-to-day problems. Think about the kinds of issues your target audience might be tackling in their personal and professional lives, then create some blog content featuring unique ideas that can help.

That’s exactly what we did when we decided to write this article, and surprise – you’re reading it!

3. Get Emotional With Your Titles

Here are the three titles from Cosmo’s “Need to Know” section in their November issue:

  • The Scary Crime No One’s Talking About
  • What Your Gyno Must Never Do
  • Sh*t Politicians Say About Women

These topics all have one thing in common – they invoke an emotional reaction, thereby hooking readers on the content. Our advice for writers? Focus on articles that do the same, especially ones that will scare or anger readers. Not only will your blog content attract more traffic to your website, but the comment section will catch fire too, and that helps your controversial content writing go viral.

Just be sure to do your research before you make accusations. You want to evoke emotion, not incite wrath.

Grab a Copy of Cosmo for Content Writing Inspo!

As you can see, you can find helpful advice in the pages of Cosmo even if you're not a broken-hearted teenage girl. Content writing experts of all stripes can discover some helpful tips from the editors at Cosmopolitan Magazine on how to capture the interest of readers and keep them coming back for more. So go ahead – pick up a copy and see what tricks you can find to boost the power of your website copy. Who knows, you might just learn some sexy new moves along the way. Research, people, it’s all about research.

Do you have a friend whose blog could use a little Cosmoing up? Tweet, Facebook or email them this post.

Image by stockking on Freepik

By Guest Contributor

content marketing, Content writing, Cosmopolitan magazine, Web content writing

  1. Enjoyed the article. I love the idea of tackling a problem and offering solutions for a fix. So, I’ve got to say that #2 is one of my favorite objectives when writing content.

    1. Glad you liked the post Jen! Do you find that your traffic or time on site increase when your content is actionable?

      We think it’s more fun to write that kind of content, anyway. It’s like writing with a specific purpose in mind.

  2. This is a witty and precise one. It never occured to me that Cosmo magazine can have these unapparent kind of advices when it comes to content writing. And, yes, every blog content should appeal as to what could tick any reader's emotion. Numbers and questions in titles really do that "grabbing" trick where the reader is hooked at the very first moment that it makes them want to know what the article could offer in a lot of ways as what its title suggests. Great! ^_^

  3. Wonderful article, All the tricks are amazing and interesting. I do agree and love the idea of tackling a problem and offering solutions for a fix.

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