Writing a blog post might seem overwhelming for those who have never done it before. If that’s you, read on!
Here are a few tips which might come in handy if you don’t know where to start or how to write a blog post.
Identify the objective or purpose for the blog post.
First and foremost, what objective are you wanting to achieve with this blog post? Is it to showcase your expertise in a particular area? Demonstrate your business’ leadership or a unique competitive advantage? Drive traffic to your business website? Engage an online community? Once you have clarity about the purpose for this blog post, it will provide direction for the content, tactic and execution of your blog post.
Be clear about who the key target audience is.
You have to have clarity about whom you are targeting with your blog post, ie: who do you want to read your blog? Think about the target audience characteristics and alignment with the purpose. For example: is there alignment between the target audience for your blog post and the business objective behind this blog site? Who is the typical person from your target audience that you should keep in mind when writing your blog post. If you can, develop a persona of this typical person representing your target audience based on characteristics such as: demographic, psychographics, lifestyle, geolocation and any others you deem suitable.
Develop a hook, message and CTA.
The topic you will post about should align with the objective (purpose) for this blog and should appeal to the target audience you are aiming for. You have to craft your first sentence(s) to hook your audience in to read the whole post. Craft your written message to create value and educate, excite, entertain, experience and, ultimately, to engage your audience. Remember to tell your audience what you want them to do by including a Call-To-Action (CTA), such as, for more information click here or subscribe today.
Refine a compelling headline.
Along with your first sentence, your headline should be the hook for your post as that’s what your audience will be suing to judge whether to engage with your post or not. It should include keywords for Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), making it most clickable and driving more traffic to your site.
Format with subheadings, short paragraphs and bullet points.
Formatting will make it easy on the audience’s eyes and will help them read your blog post. It also makes the post aesthetically appealing and enticing for the audience to engage with and respond to the CTA.
Include visual elements.
As the old adage goes “A picture tells a thousand words”, and this is certainly true when it comes to online content. Visual elements such as images, videos, infographics, emoticons and emojis, reinforce your message and CTA as well as contribute to the ‘look and feel’ of your site. These can also further support your brand, not just your post.
Optimise for SEO.
Your blog should be identified by search engines as a great resource for its users. As organic searches drive significant traffic to most websites, it is ideal to have your content optimised for search engines. To do so, you should ensure that not only your post but also your website and the specific webpage leverage SEO ranking factors which include meta title, description, and focused keywords, integration with social media platforms, hyperlinks for authority and many others: https://optinmonster.com/seo-ranking-factors/
Get someone to check for clarity of expression, spelling, grammar and syntax.
Before you publish your post, it is wise to get someone else to check it to ensure your message is conveyed in the intended manner, there is clarity of expression and no spelling, grammar and syntax issues.
Publish, monitor and engage with your blog post.
A blog post is a step to reach out to your audience. If your audience is engaging with your post via comments, you should respond and follow up on those comments to create an online community of engaged followers and subscribers. So once you publish your post, remember to keep monitoring its performance and give back to your audience to show you value their interaction with your content. By doing so, you will ensure they will come back organically to your site for more information.
For more information about effective blog posting, visit: www.socialstudiodigitalhub.com/blog