Sometimes a good way to get your website out to more people on the internet is through blog posts. Having a blog on your website can get you out to people by relating your website with topics and keywords that are relevant to you.
This can get more people to you.
Running a blog can also provide a great service to your users, as they get insight into a lot of things that they are interested in or are related to the services/product you provide.
A blog is a great addition to any type of website, but writing good blog posts can oftentimes be difficult and starting can be even harder.
Finding the right topic
One of the more difficult thing about writing a blog post can be finding out what you want to write about and then doing it again and again.
There are almost infinite topics and angles to take for a post which can make it very difficult to decide. This can often require a lot of brainstorming about things that are related to your expertise or interest and then finding a relevant angle to talk about it with.
It is a good idea to seek inspiration from people who run similar blogs to you. That doesn’t mean you should copy their content, but sometimes it can spark something that gets you thinking. Inspiration is never bad and can be a very good way to get the process started.
It is also important to research the topics you write about to get both knowledge of the topic and to see what else is written about it. You don’t want your post to get lost in a sea of the same content.
Write a good headline
The headline can often be the deciding factor in whether or not people will read what you post. This is their first impression of a post and whether it fits with what they want.
This means that you need to put a little more effort into writing it.
A good headline balances information with interest. It needs to be interesting enough so that people will want to read more and introduce enough of the information that they can decide if it is relevant to them.
So it is a good idea to include relevant keywords to your topic and also include words that are relevant to the kind of content the blog post is. If you want to teach people something or if it is purely information you are spreading, then there are ways to make sure that it is clear. This is a good way to help the users decide what is relevant to them.
It is also important to keep it short and to the point. This is both for your users and the search engines who need to push and understand your content. Short and simple headlines are just easier to understand and understand fast.
Introduction
The next step is the introduction of your post. This will be the thing that really gets the readers interested and hooked in the rest of your post. Therefore, it is important to make it compelling and interesting.
You need to further explain what you have already teased about in the headline, but just take it a step deeper. It can be a very good idea to relate the topic to the reader and any way it might affect them and their lives.
Is there a problem that you can help them solve with your post?
Simple and straightforward
The main text in the blog post can take up many different forms depending on your topic and how that is best conveyed. But there are some tips that work across most genres of blog posts.
It can be a good idea to divide your text up into smaller bits and include a lot of sub headers, so that people can easily get to the different parts, jump from paragraph to paragraph or navigate to find what is relevant for them. This will also make it easier to read overall.
Writing a blog post also means writing a text that is easy to understand for the average person. This it doesn’t have to be overly professional or complex. Writing it in a tone that can be easily understood will greatly expand the amount of people who can interact with it and who will want to read it.
It also helps to talk directly to your readers and show how it can be relevant to them.
Motivational ending
The ending is also very important and is a way to summarize what you have said. If you want people to use some of the things that things that you have told them about in the post, then it can be a good idea to end on a motivational note. Encourage them to try it out and reassure them that is something that they will be able to do.
Images
Now that you have writing the actual text for your post then there are a lot of additional things that you need to get to make your blog post the best it possibly can be.
One of these is images. People tend to disengage from content if they just see a lot text and nothing else. So, including relevant images both at the beginning and through might help you make it more digestible for people and keep people interested.
It doesn’t have to be highly professional and unique images for everything. Sometimes including a few good stock images can help create a little bit of contrast and make your post a little more interesting.
Meta data
It is also important to think about the things that work behind the scenes of your post. This means looking at the meta data of your site. This will determine how well your post will be pushed by search engines and make it much easier for the computers to read.
Here the shorter headlines will also play a big role as shorter URL’s will help with your ranking.
Like in the rest of the text it is a good idea to include keywords that are relevant to the topic and searches made about it, so that it shows up on these searches. There are a lot of tools that can help you find the most searched phrases and words surrounding a topic.
It will also help if you include both internal and external links within your post, so that people can get further onto your site or find other relevant information on a topic. This is also a bonus for SEO.
Promote your content
Now that you have finished your post and everything behind it you can finally publish it. But that doesn’t mean that you are finished.
If you want people to know about your post and get it out to more people than the ones you might organically get from searches, then you need to tell people about it.
Social media is a great way to get word out about yourself and the content you create. This will increase your chances of people seeing you. Then simply redirect them back to your website. Some networks are better for this type of promotion, but it can be more important to choose based on where your target audience is.
Conclusion
Writing a good blog post can often be an easy process once you get it figured out, but there are few easy steps to take before that. Following these will be a great help until it becomes second nature. By following the steps in this article you will cover most of the bases you will need to create good and successful blog posts. Then all you need is to find the next topic and start over again.