Our guide to writing an explainer
Explainers can be one of the most valuable formats due to their ability to drive traffic and influence in specific areas of interest. But few organisations bother writing them, and even fewer write them effectively.
This is our step-by-step guide for you to create your own explainers, with examples from STEM Matters work.
An explainer should deliver answers as quickly and as simply as possible, but without skipping over the often complex details that are key to a reader’s understanding. Topics such as how a Venus fly trap functions, the basic physics of lightning, and why cats purr, for example, require careful context building in order to give the readers a satisfying and comprehensive explanation.
For this reason, we suggest a strategic approach in contracting explainer pieces.
Why write an explainer?
Explainer pieces can be a goldmine for organisations, because they serve multiple functions. We will address the three main functions below.
1. Explainers drive traffic to your website over the long-term
Unlike news stories and feature articles, explainers are ‘slow burners’, and have the capacity to be the biggest traffic-drivers of them all.
The trick is to create a timeless article that will draw readers in perpetuity – you may not get a huge traffic surge when you first publish an explainer, but measure the response over several months or years, and you’ll likely see a big difference compared to news stories and features, which tend to peter out once the promotional period (ie posting on social media and news feeds) is over.
Case study:
With roughly 15 million visits per month, LiveScience is the #10 science/technology website in the world. It gets more than 65% of its traffic through search.
A major part of what LiveScience does is explainers – it has a whole section of explainers called “references”, which contains all manner of science and technology-related topics, from ‘What are corticosteroids?’ and ‘What is seasonal affective disorder?’ to ‘What is genetic modification?’ and ‘What is the coral triangle?’
Question: Why write an explainer about a niche subject?
Why did LiveScience pour resources into writing a detailed explainer about something as technical as corticosteroids?
While fewer people will be searching for content related to obscure and niche topics, there is less competition, making it far easier to get your explainer on the front page of Google and other search engines.
Question: Website traffic is not a priority for my organisation, so why bother with explainers?
This brings us to the second main function of explainers: notoriety and influence.
2. Explainers present your organisation as an expert on a particular topic
We often ask organisations which topics they want to ‘own’ on Google. What we mean by ‘own’ is when someone searches a particular topic, if your explainer is on the front page of Google, they will naturally associate your organisation with that topic and consider you a world expert.
This is important, because no matter who your target audiences or stakeholders are – industry, government, philanthropists, media, or the general public – everyone Googles. If a journalist Googles “Venus flytrap”, for example, you want your organisation or researcher to be the first place they go to for comment.
Case Study:
Explainers play an important role in content strategies created for STEM Matters clients because they help organisations publicise their expertise in a particular area of research.
And you might be surprised at how successful they’ve been:
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Question: How do explainers fit into my wider content strategy?
Explainers are slow burners, so shouldn’t be the only type of content you publish. It’s best to produce them in combination with fast traffic generators, such news stories and features. Your content strategy should include a variety of both timely and timeless content, including news, features, opinions, explainers, infographics, and videos.
3. Explainers present your organisation as a public-facing resource for education
A successful explainer takes its cues from resources such as Wikipedia – it’s about communicating the facts in a clear, concise manner, and pre-empting the questions your readers might have as they develop their understanding on a particular topic.
It’s important to remember that, unlike news stories and features, explainers should be written to showcase an area of research in general – not to showcase your organisation’s contributions to that area of research. In other words, instead of using your research to introduce a topic, use the topic to introduce your research.
For example, in this peptides vs proteins explainer, we use quotes from IMB researchers sparingly, as expert commentators. Right at the end of the piece, we present IMB research as a future direction for research in the area. So, once the reader’s question is answered – What’s the difference between peptides and proteins – we showcase IMB’s research.
If you check your agenda at the door and provide more generalised information, you will be seen as a generous, authentic brand whose goal is to educate and engage the public. You will be seen as providing a valuable resource, rather than pushing marketing material.
Case Study:
The Mayo Clinic is an academic medical centre, but you’d be forgiven for thinking it was the medical version of Wikipedia, based on how often its reference pages appear when you search for health-related topics.
It is currently the #3 most popular website for health-related information in the world, and draws roughly 158 million visitors per month.
To reiterate, the Mayo Clinic is a medical centre, not a publishing house, and yet, it’s used explainers to draw in huge audiences. It is the go-to site for explainers on a broad range of health concerns, and enjoys a strong reputation as a public-facing organisation that provides a free, Wikipedia-style resource.
How do I write an explainer?
Tone and style:
News stories need to be punchy, feature articles need a narrative, and explainers need to be written in a clear and simple manner. Make sure your language is not too technical, and if it has to be, make sure you explain jargon terms and complex concepts.
Subheadings:
An explainer should always use subheadings to help the reader to navigate to specific information, or to encourage them to read beyond their original question. You may decide to write subheadings that intrigue the reader (such as in this Venus flytrap explainer), or you may decide to write subheadings that directly address specific questions (such as in this megafauna explainer).
Headline:
Think about how readers will most likely search your chosen topic, and use that to inform your headline-writing. For example:
Decide whether you want to include the word “Explainer” in the headline. It can be helpful, as it signals to readers that this is a specific type of content designed to give straightforward, reference-style information.
How do I start?
There are two ways to open an explainer. Firstly, you can get straight to the basic information, like in the peptides vs proteins explainer, and this superbugs explainer.
You can also use some narrative tricks to draw readers in, like we’ve done in the Venus flytrap explainer, and this marine macrofauna one. The key to making this style work is teasing the most interesting points that you’re going to address in the explainer, and having subheadings there to show the reader that the information they’re seeking is at hand.
Remember: the most important thing you can do when writing an explainer is to always be asking yourself, “Am I answering the question in the headline?”
If you need help creating explainers - get in touch with The Brilliant's publisher and CEO of STEM Matters, Kylie Ahern
This piece was originally published in 2020 on www.thebrilliant.com.au and updated as of April 2023.