Blogging like we mean it: Tips for writing better blog postsWe’ve all been there – cranking out blog post after blog post, and feeling like we’re just going through the motions. But what if we could approach our blogging with a little more intention, and write posts that are truly worth reading?Here are a few tips to up your blogging game:Choose interesting topics that you’re passionate about.Write in a clear, concise and easy-to-read style.Use strong headlines and subheadings to break up your text.Include images, infographics and videos to break up the text and add visual interest.End with a strong call to action.If you follow these tips, you’ll be well on your way to writing blog posts that are truly worth reading. So what are you waiting for? Get writing!
Start your post with a strong topic
Your opening paragraph needs to quickly inform your audience of the topic of your post in a way that makes them want to read more. Don’t waste your first few lines on fluff or small talk. People are busy. They can’t stand reading an essay about how much fun your coworkers had at the company picnic. Focus your attention on the topic and what you have to say about it. If you don’t know much about the topic, do some research. You can even create an infographic or other visual to add some extra context. The goal is to provide your audience with enough information to make them want to read your entire post.
Start with the most important information
The beginning of your blog post is where you will give your audience all the essential information they need to know to understand what you are writing about. If you don’t do it properly, your entire post could end up being completely useless to your audience.
Give your reader time to process the news
You don’t want to jump into a conversation when someone is already upset. Before you post on your own, spend some time thinking about how you want to approach the topic. The right tone is one that allows your audience to absorb the information and respond in a way that feels authentic for them.
Ask questions to get your reader thinking
This is the easiest question to answer: Ask your reader what they’re wondering about your post. Their answer will help you craft a great post that covers all the important details. If you’re not sure what your audience’s biggest question is, you can ask them in your post. This step will help you create a post that answers your audience’s questions and keeps them coming back for more.
Give your reader a place to respond
Make the point of your post easy to follow by adding a clear call to action. Tell your readers what you want them to do. For example, if you’re writing about a problem you had, include a clear call to action to solve it. If you wrote an informative post, add a call to action to share the post with someone else who might benefit from the information you shared.
Keep your content relevant and focused
Make sure you create content that adds value to your audience. Focus on providing them with just enough information that they’ll be interested in the next step, whether that be a call to action or a link to your website. If your content is not helping them accomplish their goals, it’s probably not relevant to them and shouldn’t be published.
Write content your audience cares about
This applies both to your headline and to your body copy. People don’t read your content to find out what you have to say about something, they read to find out what they have to say about what you have to say. Make your writing guide the reader to your topic, and make your topic relevant to them. Your audience is not you — they have their own interests, needs, and concerns. Use your blogging experience to understand what they’re looking for, and write about that. What do they want to learn more about? What questions do they have? How can they solve a problem they’re having?
Know your audience
Whether you’re writing about fashion or home and kitchen, knowing your audience will help you craft a post that will resonate with them. What topics do your audience care about? What kinds of questions do they ask you? Take the time to learn more about your audience, and incorporate their needs into your blog posts and social media content. You don’t want to talk about something that’s not of interest to your audience just because it’s what you want to talk about.
Align your content with buyer personas
Your content should align with the buyer personas you defined in your buyer research analysis. This gives readers a reason to care about your content and helps you determine what types of content to create. If you write about a topic that isn’t of interest to your buyer persona, nobody is going to read it. The content that gets the most shares and engagement is the content that aligns with your buyer personas and the goals they have in mind. So, make sure to choose a topic that aligns with the buyer persona you want to target.
Create an editorial calendar
Creating an editorial calendar helps you plan and organize your content in advance. It allows you to take control of your content creation and helps prevent you from falling behind. The process involves creating a document that outlines your entire month’s content, including what you’ll post each week, what topics you want to write about, and when you plan to publish your content. You can then use your editorial calendar to make sure you publish the right content at the right time and keep you on track.
Write content based on your audience’s needs
The right content for your audience is content that covers the problems they’re having in their day-to-day lives. It doesn’t matter if your audience is a local business, a nonprofit organization, or an individual—if your content solves their problems, it will attract their attention. And because your audience is looking for solutions, don’t provide any. Your job is to give them their answers, and you do that by researching what problems they’re facing and creating content that solves those problems.
Start with what you know
As you’re writing, be sure to include your expertise. Who better to write about how to remove rust stains than a professional in the home maintenance industry? Who better to write about how to improve your credit score than a certified credit counselor? And who better to know how to write a great LinkedIn profile than you? The more you know about your topic, the more you’ll be able to write about it.
Do your research
If you want to be a great writer, you need to learn how to research. No one is born with the ability to write. If you want to be a good writer, you need to learn how to do the research. You need to have a good grasp of the English language, and you need to learn the art of finding credible sources. A good writer will find a way to use statistics and data to back up their claims and provide a rich, informational post.
Be sure to include the basics
At most, your blog post should be around 1,500 words. If you have a lot to say, consider breaking it up into a few posts. It’s easier for your audience to skim content to find what they’re looking for, so don’t give them any reasons to stop. People skim because they don’t have the time to read. If you want them to read your whole post, make sure it’s easy to scan.
Make your content scannable and action-oriented
If you want your content to get shared on social media, make it easy for people to quickly scan it. That’s why you should write your posts using the inverted pyramid style of writing. This lets you write a brief summary at the beginning, and then fill in the details. Your readers will skim your content from top to bottom, looking for the most interesting parts. And they’ll share your content to their social media feeds or bookmark it, making it easy for people to find out more about what you have to say.
Start with a strong headline
Your headline plays an important role in making your content discoverable in search engines. If you don’t know how to create a compelling headline, check out our step-by-step guide. The key is to create a strong headline that makes your audience want to read more. In addition, you might want to include your keyword or the topic of the post in your headline. Doing so will help your post rank for that keyword in search engines.
Use short, concise sentences
Longer sentences can sometimes be confusing. Break down your ideas into bite-sized pieces that are easy to understand and absorb. Use short, simple sentences that are easy to read. When you use short sentences, you can also use line breaks. And line breaks will make your content easier to skim.
Break up your content into short sections
Your goal is to engage your audience and keep them reading. One way you can do this is by writing in short sections. This helps the reader easily scan your content and quickly get the information they need. There are many ways to segment your content, so choose the one that feels natural to you. If you want to create a list, one method is to write a separate section for each item. Another option is to divide your post into sections based on the topic of the content.
Use headers to break up your content
If you are developing a new blog post, then you can use headers to break up the content of your post into sections. Doing so will help the reader skim through your post quicker and decide which sections of your post are the most important and will help them skim further.
In conclusion, if you want to write better blog posts, remember to focus on your audience, be clear and concise, and don’t be afraid to experiment. Keep these tips in mind and you’ll be well on your way to becoming a blogging pro.
