10 Killer Tips for Writing Effective Blog Posts
Every bloggers goal is to create content that people feel compelled to talk about or share. In order for any blog post to be categorized as 'share-worthy', it needs to be hella intentional. Just tossing out content into the world isn't enough. Clicking that publish button is definitely not enough. You have to think of each post like an opportunity to connect with valuable potential subscribers/clients/customers.
Remember: a blog post is no good for an audience of one.
For a post to be truly effective, it needs to be STEVE:
Strategic
Targeted
Enticing
Valuable
Engaging
Life tip: be like Steve. Keep reading to learn ten actionable ways how you can take your blogging to the next level!
TIP #1: KNOW YOUR DEMOGRAPHIC
Targeting is EVERYTHING. Seriously. Every. Damn. Thing. If you have no idea who you want to read your content, then your content will be vague and unhelpful. If you are still in the process of narrowing in on your target market, consider working with a business strategist to help you out. You'll need to identify what you can uniquely offer people, plus the kind of people you can help. Ask yourself these questions:
- What do people come to me for help with (what expertise do I have)?
- Who do I want to serve? Why do they care?
- What does my target reader/client/customer like to read? What would they share online?
- What do I do that nobody else does?
TIP #2: INCLUDE NARRATIVE ELEMENTS
Your introductory paragraph is a great place to include narrative elements. These will hook people into your blog and compel them to continue with the rest of the post. This is incredibly important to the effectiveness of your blog post, since people tend to only read 18% of the words in your post!!
Creatives that work directly with clients can also tie narrative elements into their posts by revealing a bit of the story behind the work. For example, many of the most successful photographers talk about who their clients really are in their posts, not just show their faces.
TIP #3: BE HUMAN
There's this BS myth out there that people have to be strictly a business personality in order for their work to be taken seriously. This could not be more false!! If you think of the people you follow online, chances are you remember who they are because they have clearly demonstrated their personality and style. It's not necessarily about always admitting that you're flawed and writing emotional Instagram captions, but there are tons of ways to show people who you truly are in your business. If you're not sure how you can relate to your readers, ask questions! Promote a discussion that allows people to connect with you on a personal level. These kinds of personal connections are the key to potential clients understanding that you are a human being on top of a business providing them a service.
TIP #4: INCLUDE HEADINGS (LIKE THIS ONE)
Heading tags will help improve your SEO. Plus, they look mighty fine and help people compartmentalize their thoughts as they're reading.
TIP #5: BE SPECIFIC + VALUABLE
Not only should your title be specific (vague titles attract nobody), but your post should also be actionable and have a ton of value. This can be done by offering solutions to a problem or a response to a common myth/idea.
TIP #6: INCLUDE UNIQUE IMAGERY + GRAPHICS
Your blog post imagery is most likely the hook that will draw people into the full post from your social media. Your main image should be visually appealing and span the FULL WIDTH of your blog! This is so important and really separates the amateurs from the big wigs in the blogging world. On top of the main image, including multiple images in your post will help with SEO when they are properly tagged.
All of your images should be high quality. This will perpetuate your identity as a professional or expert. Crappy imagery would construct an assumption that you are an amateur, so even if you're just starting out, you should only post the best of the best!
Ps. If you're using images that you haven't taken/created yourself, you need to ask permission before you use them! After you have permission, make sure you also credit the origin of the image. Avoid messy legal issues and please, please listen to this advice!
TIP #7: LISTS + BULLETED POINTS ARE YOUR FRIEND
- Seriously.
- Be specific.
- People will love that you summarized important points.
- Unrelated: I'm really craving sushi right now...
TIP #8: ENCOURAGE ACTION
Make it easy for your reader to follow through with an action. Want them to inquire about your services? Include a statement about what you offer with a "Book Your Free Consult" kind of CTA. Want them to sign up for your email list? Include a link to a freebie or content upgrade that they'll be able to get when they sign up! Want them to continue reading more posts? Make sure you have a "read similar posts" section at the bottom! The options are endless, but you need to make sure you give them somewhere to go so they don't close that tab!! Here's an example of a call-to-action that I included in a recent blog post:
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TIP #9: PUBLISH INTENTIONALLY
Generally, you should consider when it might be the perfect time/day/month/season to provide this content. More specifically, you can consider the time of day you are publishing your post and when your readers are most likely to engage. If your target market is a late night crowd, you might want to publish at midnight and share your first link then. If your target market is other people that work from home, you might want to publish in the morning and share your links accordingly. Think about when your target market wants to read that kind of content, or any blog post at all!
TIP #10: PROMOTE IT WITH ALL YOU'VE GOT
Putting content out there into the dark and scary interwebs is just not enough. Once you hit that publish button, you need a targeted strategy to get it onto the screens of the people you want to read it! Make sure you don't miss these important steps to make sure your post is seen:
- design images for each platform
- schedule your posts on multiple platforms (now + reshare in the future)
- craft your captions carefully for each audience
- send your post out to your email list
- share it with Facebook groups
- authentically participate in your target market community without being spammy (twitter chats, FB groups, commenting on other blogs)
How do you craft your posts to be share-worthy? Share your tips in the comments below! xx
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Thanks for dropping by! I'm Caileigh and I create killer brand identities and offer coaching for creative entrepreneurs with gumption. When I'm not helping people build profitable businesses, I document love stories as a fine art film photographer.
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