Are your blog posts not converting as well as you’d like them to? Want
to know the secrets of how to write a blog post that converts?
You see, most people that visit your blog post usually leave without reading it all the way through.
And the worst part is that an even larger percentage of people who see your blog post whichever social media platforms you use never even click on it.
You really only have 2–3 seconds to grab your user’s attention, convince them to click, and actually read your blog post.
So how do you make sure that your content marketing efforts aren’t
going to waste? Well, you follow these 5 tips, and we promise it’ll help
you write blog posts that convert.
Five easy steps to write a blog post
- Step 1: Plan your blog post by choosing a topic, creating an outline, conducting research, and checking facts.
- Step 2: Craft a headline that is both informative and will capture readers’ attentions.
- Step 3: Write your post, either writing a draft in a single session or gradually word on parts of it.
- Step 4: Use images to enhance your post, improve its flow, add humor, and explain complex topics.
- Step 5: Edit your blog post.
Make sure to avoid repetition, read your post aloud to check its flow,
have someone else read it and provide feedback, keep sentences and
paragraphs short, don’t be a perfectionist, don’t be afraid to cut out
text or adapt your writing last minute.
Step 1
First, a disclaimer – the entire process of writing a blog post often
takes more than a couple of hours, even if you can type eighty words
per minute and your writing skills
are sharp. From the seed of the idea to finally hitting “Publish,” you
might spend several days or maybe even a week “writing” a blog post, but
it’s important to spend those vital hours planning your post and even
thinking about your post before you actually write it. Before you do any of the following steps, be sure to pick a topic that actually interests you.
Great blog posts don’t just happen. Even the best bloggers need a
rough idea to keep them on-track. This is where outlines come in.
An outline doesn’t need to be lengthy, or even detailed – it’s just a
rough guide to make sure you don’t ramble on and on about something
tangential to your topic.
The purpose of this outline is to make sure I know what I plan to
cover, in what order the various sections will appear, and some
bare-bones details of what each section will include.
Outlines keep you honest. They stop you from indulging in poorly
thought-out metaphors about driving and keep you focused on the overall
structure of your post.
Truth
be told, sometimes we don’t know anything about a topic before we sit down to write about it.
This doesn’t mean that all bloggers are insincere fakers. On the
contrary, many bloggers’ natural curiosity is what makes them great at
what they do.
If you’re relying on third-party information to write your blog post,
choose authoritative sources. Official associations, government
websites, heavily cited research papers, and preeminent industry experts
are all good examples. Nobody is right all the time, though, so
approach every source with a the practiced skepticism of a journalist
and question everything until you’re positive your information is solid.
Step 2
Vague headlines might work just fine, but for most of us, being specific is better.
There are two main approaches you can take to writing blog post
headlines. You can either decide on your final headline before you write
the rest of your post , or you can write your blog post with a working title and see
what fits when you’re done.
Sometimes I’ll come up with a strong headline from the outset and stick
with it, whereas other posts will take a lot more work.
Step 3
So, you’ve done your research, settled on a headline , now you’re ready to actually write a blog post.
Even if you work more effectively in short bursts, try to maximize
the amount of writing you get done in those sessions. The more times you
have to revisit a draft, the more tempting it is to add a little here,
and a little there, and before you know it, you’ve gone wildly
off-topic. Get as much done as you can in a single sitting even if you
prefer to draft a blog post over three or four writing sessions.
Like most skills, writing becomes easier and more natural the more
you do it. When you first start, you might find that it takes a week (or
longer) to write a post, but with practice, you’ll be knocking out
great posts in hours. Unfortunately, there are no “hacks” or shortcuts
when it comes to writing – you have to put in the time at the coalface.
A lot of people struggle with writing
introductions. A great strategy is to write the introduction last.
Step 4
Using Images Effectively
Oftentimes, people simply don’t have the time, will, or ability
to focus on lengthy blog posts without some visual stimulation. Even a
well-formatted blog post consisting solely of text is likely to send
your reader screaming back to Reddit or Twitter within minutes, which is
why it’s so important to include images in your posts.
One of the most important reasons to include images in your blog posts is to break up the text. Many people scan blog posts
rather than pore over every word, and interspersing images throughout
the copy will make your post seem less intimidating and more visually
appealing.
Step 5
Actually editing a blog post is harder.
Many people mistakenly assume that editing is simply striking through
sentences that don’t work or fixing grammatical errors. Although
sentence structure and grammar are both very important, editing is about
seeing the piece as a whole and, sometimes, being willing to sacrifice
words (and the hours it took to write them) for the sake of cohesion.
Few things are more jarring to read than repetition of certain words
or phrases. Once you’re done with the first draft of your blog post,
read through it and check for words that can be replaced to avoid
repeating yourself.
Read Your Post Aloud to Check Flow
This is a trick that many writers learn in workshops. If a piece
reads awkwardly out loud, it will probably read awkwardly in your
reader’s mind. It might seem a bit weird, but force yourself to read
your post aloud to check for wordy bottlenecks or contrived sentences.
Find yourself struggling with the flow of a sentence? Rework it until it
rolls off your tongue.
Keep Sentences Short and Paragraphs Shorter
Nothing will intimidate or outright anger a reader faster than huge
walls of text. It’s a common mistake for inexperienced bloggers to make,
and one I see far too often in a lot of online articles.
Sentences should be as short as possible. They’re easier to read,
making your audience’s job easier. Shorter sentences also reduce the
likelihood of going off on tangents.
