Some of the most common content marketing advice is to write perfect blog posts. The problem is that few experts (if any) actually go into detail about how to actually write compelling and interesting posts.
Well, that ends today. Today, we are going to review the elements of a perfect blog post so you can use these traits to write the best blog post ever.
Follow the steps below to construct the perfect blog post.
Understand Your Audience
Every blog has a target audience, and you must understand who your audience is before you write. It's important to determine who your primary and secondary audiences will be and identifying not only your goals but also your audience's expectations.
Ask yourself, who are you writing to? What does your audience want to know about? Who will want to read your blog and why? This is where your buyer personas come in. Know what your audience's interests will be while you're coming up with a blog topic. Ask yourself these questions about your audience:
- How old are they?
- Where do they live?
- Are they primarily male or female?
- How educated is your audience?
- What does your audience do for a living?
Putting yourself in your audience's shoes will give you a better understanding of how to approach certain subjects with your readers.
Decide on a Topic
This is the hardest part of writing, picking a topic for your blog post. It helps to come up with a few topic ideas in case you change your mind along the way. If you're having trouble finding a topic to write about, type keywords or phrases into Google to see if anyone else is writing about that topic and what kinds of headlines they are using.
After choosing the right topic, you need to create a working title that is specific and will guide your post so you can start writing. If you're writing a post about the benefits of blogging the topic in this case is blogging benefits. The working title may have been something like, "What are the benefits of blogging?" The final title could then grow to be, "Blogging Benefits: Why Blogging is Important for Your Business."
All of these titles provide the information necessary so you can write your post. When writing a catchy title here is what to consider:
- Start with your working title.
- Keep the title accurate and clear.
- Create a title with strong language and/or alliteration.
- Optimize for SEO, but always write for people first.
- Make it short and sweet.
Write an Intro
Grab the reader's attention immediately. If you lose the reader within the first few paragraphs of the introduction, they will stop reading and may never give your blog posts a chance again.
The introduction should draw the reader in and should demonstrate the purpose of the post and explain how it will address a problem the reader may be having. The main reason people click through to an article is to solve a problem.
Giving the reader insight will have them continue to read your blogs, and they will gain a strong relationship and connection to what you have to say.
Organize & Write Your Content
The visual appeal of your blog's content can be just as important as the content itself. Organizing the information so the readers aren't intimidated by the length is an important step in organizing your content. Most readers will skim a blog post or web page before committing to reading it entirely so pages with a lot of white space are easier to skim and are more likely to keep readers on the page.
Remember, your website visitors are looking for solutions. Products aren't solutions, they are part of a solution. Don't cram a blog post full of product content. Instead, provide valuable content that is ideal for your readerships.
When writing your content be clear, direct and definitive. Be an expert on the topic you're writing about. Take a stand, make strong word choices and don't waver on your advice.
Informative doesn’t mean boring. Just because you sell sheet metal, doesn’t mean your business blog can’t also be entertaining. Have your shop crew make some fun and timely creations out of sheet metal and post an image or video of each new creation. Think of new and exciting things to post. Trust us, it’s worth it!
Formatting
Blogs do need pictures, but pictures don't make a post visually appealing, formatting and the organization of the post does. The style, pictures, titles and subtitles should always be consistent from post to post. Having consistency allows people to recognize your company.
The meta descriptions of a blog gives searchers the ability to read a short summary of the post before clicking into it. This is meant to draw the reader in, and shouldn't be stuffed with keywords since the meta description has no bearing in search rankings.
Include a CTA (call to action) at the end of every blog post. This CTA usually links to a landing page that prompts the user to subscribe to the blog, request a consultation, etc.
Optimize for SEO
When you are all finished writing your blog post, go back to optimize your post for SEO. Add anchor text, or a word or words that link internally to another page on your website. Carefully selecting what keywords you want to link to other pages is important to rank well for that keyword.
Social media also plays a large role in SEO. Encouraging your readers to tweet out parts of your post is essential for your blog post to gain traction online.
A big thing to keep in mind though: always put the reader first. Write for people, not search engines.
Need More? You Got it!
If you're still itching to learn more about business blogging, check out some of these great resources that will help you on your quest toward blogging dominance:
- Blog post optimization guide - Helpful e-book on how to create and optimize a blog post.
- Coming up with content ideas (VIDEO) - Helpful video for coming up with content ideas for blogs.
- Blog optimization checklist - Great checklist to reference when writing a blog post.
- Graphic for formatting a blog post - Great visual representation of what a blog should look like.
Once you've mastered the steps above, you can be on your way to becoming a pro blogger. Have any other tips for blogging? Let us know in the comments!