How to Write a White Paper Even If You Never Did It Before

Anyone can learn how to write a white paper. So what is a white paper? It is a document which addresses a particular problem or situation and seeks to offer a solution. A white paper can be used for educational, marketing or even political purposes.

White papers can help you position yourself as an authority or a thought leader. White papers are used to sell products, services and information by offering detailed information about an issue or topic. In addition, having white papers on your site will help in optimizing your website. Search engine spiders crawl through white papers as they crawl through your site or blog.

There are two main types of white papers; marketing white papers and technical white papers. Both are designed to sell your company, service or product. Marketing white papers are useful for promoting almost anything. Technical white papers are targeted at more technical audiences.

White papers can be anything from two pages to ten pages in length. Others, especially in the medical and IT sectors, could be much longer.

White papers are some of the most challenging documents to write. You need to have a thorough understanding of a service or product and how it can be applied to solve a particular problem. An effective white paper should be able to:

• Demonstrate that the writer understands the customer’s problems
• Describe a service or product in detail
• Show why the service or product is the best choice among all the options

The following are tips that will help you write a winning white paper.

1. Know your audience

The first step in learning how to write a white paper is to know your audience. Failing to understand the target audience is one of the biggest mistakes people make when writing a white paper. A white paper needs to identify the concerns and problems of its readers and offer them solutions through a service or product. You need to capture your readers in the first paragraph otherwise you might never realize your objectives.

2. Choose your topic

Will you write a detailed description of a new piece of technology? Or do you want to share a marketing idea that has worked for you? Whatever the subject, you need to research and gather a lot of information. Make sure your statements are backed up by facts.

3. Offer relevant information

Searching for information through search engines will lead you to numerous pages offering all kinds of information. You need to make sure that the statistics and facts used are relevant to the subject. Focus on two or three areas which will specifically support your point. To establish what is relevant and what isn’t, you need to begin by outlining your goal for writing the white paper. The information used should be related to that goal.

4. Include useful tips

Everyone could use some tips and tricks. Sharing what has worked for you will give your readers insight into how you handle problems, thus offering some free advice. If customers begin seeing you as a thought leader, they will keep returning for more.

5. Embed keywords

Applying SEO tactics will enhance the effectiveness of your white paper. By embedding keywords which are likely to feature in search engines searches, you will attract a wide range of visitors to your site. White papers can be useful in optimizing your website.

Think of keyword which prospective customers may use to search for information, and then incorporate these words into your white paper.

Conclusion

There are many great samples of white papers which can be found on the Internet. Conduct a search using the phrase ‘white paper’. Read several and examine how they deal with the subject matter. It may take some time and effort to learn how to write a white paper. However, once you acquire the skill, it will be worth it.