We live in absolute crazy times! While navigating your way between Instagram influencers, Youtubers, travel writers, bloggers and Twitter trolls your mission is clear – reach who you want, when you want and how you want. Allow me to help you in reaching your wildest digital marketing dreams. Below follows my top 10 tips on how to write more effective blog posts.
Have a clear introduction
And a great title for that matter! As any amateur writer will know, a clear introduction sets the mood and convinces the reader to continue course. Is this topic something they are interested in? Do they enjoy the style and format of the post? Will they spend time in reading every word you wrote?
By clearly stating your intentions in the introduction of your blog post your reader will immediately know if they are willing to commit to your full post or not. Convince them to commit by being informative, clear and concise
Make use of headings
Make it as easy as humanly possible for your site to be highly ranked by our overlords, the Google bots. Enabling ease of use will also help to make your site as readable as possible, which in turn will offer your reader a clear idea of what to expect – a very definite win-win situation! The better your blog post is structured, the better it will be ranked. Go on, make friends with those bots and you will always be in their good books.
Making use of headings is an easy and effective way to make sure that you stick to your planned structure and get your message across clearly.
KISS – Keep your paragraphs short!
As information becomes easier to access the more overloaded we become. Our attention spans have dwindled to almost non-existent and we do not like to search for the required info. Your paragraphs must be clear, concise and absolutely in your face.
Be to the point, informative and use your keywords effectively in each paragraph – every single one counts!
Write in easy-to understand English
Highfalutin is unbecoming and off-putting in person, and the very same is true for online. Your average audience will want to understand the topic immediately without feeling the need to Google every 7th word.
Write like you speak and use your own voice when you blog. People are here to hear YOU.
Have a conclusion
While very few people like to admit it, the research is clear. The vast majority of your audience will read your introduction, your headings and your conclusion. From here they will decide on whether they want to spend their precious time on reading your full post or not.
The even more scary part is that most will in fact opt to not read your full post – you need to convey your core message in your intro and conclusion. Keep this in mind when working out your structure.
Make use of interesting pictures and graphics
In the information age interesting and engaging visual content is king. Make sure you are way ahead of the pack by making use of relevant and eye-catching graphics.
By showing your reader what you are all about always try to make use of visual content that is high-quality and relays your message. When the graphics does not suit your writing style you will inherently confuse your reader and in turn fragment your brand. Always know what you want to say, and use visual content to hit it home.
There are many free to use photo and graphic sites available if you are unable to create your own engaging visuals. Alternatively, contact us to help you! We are experts in visual communication.
Have fun!
If your reader gets that you are enjoying the topic and can impart your knowledge in a fun and creative way you are sure to win them over.
On the other hand, if you write like you are forced to do a chore, rather leave it (unless that is your writing style, of course!)
With the vast amount of content your target audience is bombarded with on a daily basis, surely you must offer something personal, informative and well-packaged. Always enjoy what you are doing and your audience will respond in a positive way.
Frequency
Blog post frequency is a much debated topic and with good reason: how do keep your audience engaged and entertained without becoming part of the daily digital noise?
Writing about 3 blog posts per week should be sufficient, although not many people or companies can keep up with that. Let our Corporate Content and Social Media experts help you keep up!
Consider a call to action at the end
Follow us on social media, send us an email, comment, like …These are all great examples of calls to action. Get your audience involved and excited about your content. Social media is after all a two way street and conversation is the name of the game.
Nitty gritty
Below is a list within a list. These are tiny tips brought to you by years of learning on the job – enjoy!
According to most articles and research done on the topic, a blog post of about 1 700 words seems to be ideal. While this sounds like a lot, rest assured, it IS a lot! By writing about a topic that you are either an expert in or have a lot to say about, you can write a blog post that will hold the attention of your reader. A blog post with 300 or fewer words is considered to be very thin content and will rarely aid in your SEO strategy.
Plan your post and be sure you know more about your chosen topic than the average internet user.
Always research your keywords and use them as often as you can. There are so many keyword research tools out there – use them!
Add links to and from other posts, social media pages, articles etc. By creating more inbound and outbound links Google will know how relevant your post is and how highly to rank you.
Read a few blog post about your topic to see what sort of competition you are up against. Know thy enemy!
Write for a bit, then read your post and save it as a draft. Reread again at a later stage with a fresh eye and only when you are triple sure that you have no spelling errors and that your message is coming across cleary may you publish.
Always remember to add your categories and tags before you post to ensure a more user friendly experience for your site visitors.
Share your post on social media! This is a no-brainer and also non-negotiable. Social media is your easiest and cheapest digital media marketing tool – use it!
Lyndi Meyer 