Is There a Secret to Writing the Perfect Blog Post?

Do you hate writing?

With content marketing on the rise as one of the most effective ways to reach out to customers, having strong writing skills is more important than ever. Being able to come up with a compelling and well-written blog post is often the cornerstone of any content marketing strategy.

Not everyone enjoys writing. You might have had a bad experience back in school, where writing every single word could be an exercise in frustration. Because of this, many people have no idea how to write a great blog post.

Well, good news because I’m here to help. There are a ton of things that go into writing a perfect blog post, but when you break them all down, coming up with one every week might not seem so imposing!

Research

Research is the beginning of any good blog post.

Even if you are a professional in your field, you are going to want to do some research on your topic before writing a single word. This might not be just to accumulate information on the topic, but also to see what else is out there on the web getting high levels of engagement.

In your research, you might find a ton of blogs that are already written about the subject you want. This might be a reason to reconsider and come up with a new topic that will compete with fewer websites in the search engine results. You also might find some ideas that could inspire future blogs. Original content is ALWAYS the way to go.

[TWEET “Is there such a thing as a perfect blog post? Well, we can come close by following these simple tips!”]

Pick a Length

Choosing the right length of a blog post is vital. Too short and your readers will dismiss it as not worth their time. Too long and your readers will think, “I have better things to do right now,” and leave it till later (in reality, probably never).

What’s the perfect length? That all depends on your audience and content.

If you’re a virtual assistant (to pull a completely random example out of a hat), then you want your blog to be long enough to adequately breakdown a topic, but not so long that it intimidates the reader. Personally, I like to default to about 1,000 words or so, give or take a 100 depending on the topic.

If you work in a technical industry, however, like in IT or communications technology, you are probably going to want your blog posts to be a bit longer so you can really expand on a topic without the need to oversimplify. Two thousand words might be necessary, although up to and beyond 4,000 isn’t unheard of.

You can also refine the length of your blogs over time, once you start to accumulate data on engagement. If you notice that your blogs over 1,200 words aren’t getting much engagement, but your blogs under 800 words are, then you know where you should be focusing your efforts.

What’s Your Title?

When you check your email, what usually grabs your attention?

It’s the emails with eye-catching subject lines, right? Those are the ones that make you curious what is contained within and get you instantly clicking.

Your blog’s title is just as important. You need something that will grab your customers’ attention, making them want to read your post ASAP. It also shouldn’t be too long and must include important SEO phrases and keywords.

There are a ton of different strategies that can go into a great title. I find using a question can be an effective way of drawing people in. (Hmmm…… Do you know the secret to writing a perfect blog post? Maybe I better click on this link to find out…)

Finally, a strong title is how you keep yourself on track. It’s like a thesis statement; something that will help give your focus on its particular topic. Without a strong and direct title, blogs can become meandering and lose their relevance. People are reading it because of the title, so be sure to give them what they came for.

[TWEET “Not getting any engagement with your blog? Maybe you just need to liven them up a bit with these blog writing hints!”]

Break it Up!

Headers are your friend! So are short paragraphs.

There is nothing worse than opening a blog post and seeing a solid wall of text. Even if it’s a reasonable length, it can still appear intimidating if the paragraphs are super long with nothing breaking them up.

The easiest way to fix this is to go through your blog after it’s written and break it up a bit. Add headers so your readers can quickly scan through it for the information they want. Make the paragraphs shorter, so it’s easier to read; ideally three or four sentences.

Not only will this help make your blog easier to read, but it will also make it look more attractive on the page. That’s the power of proper spacing!

End with a Call-to-Action

So, why did you write this blog post in the first place? It was probably to convince your readers that they need your skills and services in some way.

By ending your blog post with a strong call-to-action, you will get more people clicking to find out about your services. If you’re advertising something in your blog post, like a brand-new product or service, then it should definitely end with a link to a professional landing page.

Basically, if you want your reader to take a specific action at the end of the blog, you need to literally spell it out for them. If you have any questions about this concept, you can call me and I’d be delighted to talk to you about it!

To help, I’ve created a brand-new Blog Breakdown Workbook. In it, I will show you the ideal structure of a blog, from the title, to the opening paragraph, to the call-to-action at the end. And best of all, it’s totally free!

Of course, when it comes to blogs, writing them is only the first step. Once you have a polished and professional post, you need to do something with it! This can include getting them up on your website, posting them on all of your social media channels, promoting them through email marketing, and more.

If these are all things that you don’t have much experience with, you can count on me for help! I’ll take the reins on every step of your content marketing strategy, even help you come up with one! Contact me today, and we can get started building a library of blog posts that will provide you with marketing value for years to come!

Of course, when it comes to blogs, writing them is only the first step. Once you have a polished and professional post, you need to do something with it! This can include getting them up on your website, posting them on all of your social media channels, promoting them through email marketing, and more.

If these are all things that you don’t have much experience with, you can count on me for help! I’ll take the reins on every step of your content marketing strategy, even help you come up with one! Contact me today, and we can get started building a library of blog posts that will provide you with marketing value for years to come!

Trying to get words down on the page can be tricky when you aren’t quite sure how to start. To create a successful blog, you need to know all of the steps, from coming up with an eye-catching title to finishing it off with a compelling call-to-action. In this workbook, I’ll break down the perfect blog into an easy-to-follow template that will have you writing your own content in no time!

I hope my story helps some of you realize you are not alone and that there is support out there. If you need any help I would love to chat! To your success!