Today I wanted to talk about crafting the perfect blog post. When you first start writing blog posts they definitely don’t have to be perfect! Sometimes, the best course of action is to just start and then modify your process along the way. As you hone your craft and begin understanding all the factors that make up a blog post, small changes can yield big results.
Everyone has their own writing style and personality that they wish to convey in their posts. Make sure you let your light shine! As you are putting out into the world all that valuable knowledge and information, keep these tips in mind.
Choosing Effective Titles for Blog Posts
What you decide to title/name your blog post can mean the difference between going viral and being a complete flop. Remember that in most cases, readers are looking to solve a problem or pain point on a specific topic. In this example, we are talking about writing blog posts that have all the components necessary to perform well both now and in the future.
If you are reading this post, you are probably a blogger, relatively new to the blogging world, and searching for information or a template on how to create the perfect post to attract readers and monetize your website. You likely on a search engine and typed in a keyword or phrase related to drafting blog posts. Landing on this post wasn’t an accident, it was a matter of naming my post effectively, being descriptive, and including keywords in the title.
It is very common to see post titles that include “how to” or “the top…ways to…” because they inform the reader that they will be learning information that is concise and will teach them something. I highly recommend that you use a tool to check the strength of your blog post titles. I still use a tool to check my blog post titles and I am often surprised at the tweaks I need to implement in order to achieve a higher rating for the title. You can test your blog post titles easily using CoSchedule’s text editor.
Grammar, Punctuation, and Prose
This one is pretty obvious, but you need to use proper grammar, sentence structure, and punctuation. Otherwise, readers will not view you as a credible source. Cover the topic you listed in the title of the post and summarize the key takeaways effectively. Keep paragraphs to a reasonable length, avoid rambling. I often find bad examples of this on blogs that are featuring recipes. Have you ever went to a website for a recipe and had to scroll down for what seems like forever to get to the recipe instructions? Instead of reading about the recipe, its preparation, occasions it is best featured at, dishes to pair it with, etc. I read long ramblings completely unrelated to the content that brought me to the post to begin with! Remember, most readers are visiting your posts to be entertained, learn something, or solve a problem. If they land on your post, the goal is they get what they came for.
Opt-in Forms and Lead Magnets
If you are planning on building an email list, want to expand your readership, or are selling or promoting products/services than having several opt-ins on each blog post is a must. To make this effective, you should have a lead magnet that closely relates to the blog post you are writing. Promote the lead magnet via an opt-in on the post. If the reader is interested in the topic of your post, they are much more likely to opt-in for a freebie or lead magnet related to the topic rather than a generic form signing up for a newsletter.
The key is to have three to five opt-ins on every blog post. Readers get distracted. If you only have one opt-in, then it is easy to get lost in your content and leave the site before they become a subscriber. There are so many options for creating great opt-in forms, but since I use the Divi theme by Elegant Themes, I choose to use Bloom which is an opt-in maker that pairs well with my WordPress theme.
This is the typical layout I use for opt-ins during a blog post. I have a pop-up box on each page of my website including blog posts. I put an opt-in in-line with the blog post text. I also place an opt-in in my sidebar. Depending on the content I am writing about, I may also have a second in-line opt-in or an opt-in at the end of the blog post. This gives readers several opportunities to subscribe to my email list and grab a freebie that will enhance their experience on my site and give them valuable information.
Internal and External Linking
There are several reasons to include both internal and external links in your blog posts. Links increase your SEO, build authority for your website, strengthen placement in your search engine results, and provide a helpful user experience for readers. Internal links keep readers within your website viewing related content. External links take readers to another website with helpful content related to your blog post.
A lot of bloggers have a “you might be interested in” list or a set of links to related content on each post. This is how I handle internal links. However, you can also put them within the text of your post. External links should be used carefully and only when applicable. The source should always be quality and shoot to include links to websites with high authority.
Featured Image
Craft, create, or use a stock image for each blog post and set it as the featured image. This provides a clickable visual that links to your blog post. The image provides a lot of opportunity to grab a reader’s attention and expose them to your brand. I use and recommend Ivory Mix for stock photo needs. I use stock images in Canva to create custom graphics with text overlays to tell potential visitors what the blog post is about. If you use Pinterest for your marketing, here is a gem for you. Make sure your graphics used for Pinterest are somewhere in your linked blog post. This provides more credibility for your post since Pinterest is actually a search engine. If you make multiple versions of a graphic for Pinterest, you can always hide those images so only the ones you wish to be seen are visible to readers.
Call to Action
Most bloggers want readers to take action when reading their posts. Whether that is buying a product, visiting a link, signing up for a service, or simply subscribing to their email list. This is done via a call to action. Give your readers a chance to act, by letting them know what action to take on your content. Use excitement and appeal to the following pre-work, pain points, or possibilities. These three areas give readers a reason to act. An example of pre-work would be a worksheet, invite to a FB group, or something that gives the reader a quick win. Pain points are problems that your reader has that they’d like to solve. If you provide a tool or clarity on the problem, and help them relief the pain point they will be grateful! Possibility is appealing to the before vs. after. Sharing stories about success, challenging assumptions that your readers have. These calls to action work to convert visitors to loyal followers and hopefully consumers of your product/services someday!
Effective Keywords
To rank in search results, or have your blog post found, you need to use appropriate keywords. Do some research on Google, Pinterest, or places your audience hangs out. See what they are searching for in relation to the content of your post. Sprinkle those keywords throughout your post and in your title. Make sure you place description and meta descriptions on your images as well. If you use keywords well it will help readers find your content!
When all of the above are used in combination, it is a recipe for the perfect blog post! Got any tips or tricks for the perfect blog post? Drop a comment below.
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