Step by step guide to writing a great blogpost 

Writing a compelling blog post is much more than just writing a piece of text. It needs to capture the interest of the target audience, be SEO optimized, contain links, be mobile friendly etc. It can be rather easy to forget all these steps that make a great blogpost, which is why I narrowed them down to this step-by-step guide to help you write successful blogposts. Let’s have a look!

Start with thorough keyword research to identify relevant topics and phrases your target audience is searching for.

Keyword research is the starting point of any successful SEO strategy, and therefore successful blogpost. It is the process of identifying the most relevant and valuable keywords that your target audience is likely to use in search engines such as Google. The process begins by brainstorming important topics related to your business or industry. These topics will serve as your initial “topic buckets”. You can identify them based on your knowledge of your business or by consulting your sales and customer service teams for insights into common questions and terms used by your audience. Next, within each topic bucket, brainstorm specific keywords and keyword phrases that your potential customers might use to search for information related to those topics. This is where you can get creative and think about variations, synonyms, and long-tail keywords.

Want to know more about keyword research? Then take a look at our blogpost 5 ways to rank higher on Google where we explain how the process of keyword research works and how you can use it on your own website and blogposts.

Create a compelling headline that includes your chosen keywords and grabs readers’ attention.

Headlines only have one purpose: to grab readers’ attention and invite them to keep reading your blogpost. Effective headlines provide a concise summary, help frame content’s perspective, and reflect your brand’s voice. 

To create compelling headlines that convert, follow these tips:

• Use active voice
• Be concise
• Make sense
• Spark curiosity
• Use numbers
• Offer a reason to read
• Include keywords

Make sure your headlines meet the “4 Us”: useful, urgent, unique, and ultra-specific. Continuously test and improve your headlines. If you can’t think of a good headline, you can always study headlines from other popular blogposts and use them as inspiration.

Write an introduction that provides context, introduces the topic, and captivates readers, basically you are setting the stage for what’s to come.

To write an engaging introduction, it’s important to keep your audience in mind from the very first sentence. Writers should consider the tone, pace, delivery of information, and strategies for capturing the reader’s attention based on their target audience.

It’s often recommended to write introductions last, as they can be quite difficult to write when your blogpost is not finished yet. Avoid opening with overly broad statements or dictionary definitions, as they can be disengaging and demotivate your audience from actually reading your blogpost. Instead, gradually guide your readers into your blogpost, moving from general information to specific points. 

Break down your content into logical sections to make it more reader-friendly and easy to remember for your audience.

Here is an easy structure format you can use:

1. Craft an engaging headline that attracts readers.
2. Write a strong introduction, addressing their pain points and what they’ll gain.
3. Use subheadings for navigation and SEO
4. Break text into short paragraphs to improve readability.
5. Highlight key info with bullet points and lists.
6. Include visual aids like images and graphs.
7. Use internal and external links for added value. Fill out metadata for SEO, focusing on titles, descriptions, and alt text.

These steps help your blog post stand out and improve search engine rankings while engaging your readers.

The more valuable the content in your blogpost is, the more likely people are to remember it and share it with their network. To make your blogpost more valuable, add valuable insights and information. You can use any of the following the strategies to do this:

1. Focus on Your Customers: Your blog content should revolve around addressing your ideal customer’s most significant challenges. To identify their needs, ask for their input, and use tools like surveys to gather insights. Tailor your content to their problems and interests.
2. Answer Unanswered Questions: The web is a hub for people seeking answers and advice. Create content that addresses questions relevant to your niche. If someone asks you a question that you believe others might also struggle with, consider turning it into a blog post to provide a valuable resource.
3. Discover Customer Questions: Research platforms like Quora, Yahoo Answers, and LinkedIn Answers to uncover the questions your customers are asking. Even if these questions have been answered elsewhere, your unique perspective can provide fresh insights and make your blog a go-to source for information.

By incorporating these strategies, you can ensure your blog content is both informative and appealing to your target audience, leading to increased engagement and business growth.

Ensuring that you use credible sources in your blog is crucial for maintaining your blog’s integrity and gaining authority in your field as a business. Just as in academic writing, the importance of reputable websites ending in .gov, .edu, and .org remains essential. However, when creating content for the internet, additional factors come into play.

The first key tip is to seek out recent, credible, and relevant sources. While the .gov, .edu, and .org domains are a great starting point, it’s equally important to check the publishing date of your sources. Ideally, aim for sources published within the last year or, at the very least, the last few years. In some cases, an older source may still be credible, but may not be relevant anymore. Always make sure the information aligns with your blog’s topic.

Secondly, consider your source’s search engine ranking. If you select a credible source that meets the criteria mentioned and appears among the top search results on Google, your blog will likely gain credibility from this association. 

Lastly, looking for sources that other reputable blogposts link to can help you identify credible sources. This approach can be especially useful if you’re in a niche or industry where authoritative sites often reference one another. By evaluating your sources in these three ways, you can be confident that your blog content is supported by reliable and reputable information.

Writing a compelling conclusion for your blog post is essential, as it’s your final opportunity to engage and influence your readers. Your choice of conclusion should align with your blog’s goal, whether it’s to increase brand awareness, drive leads, encourage sharing, or prompt further engagement. A well-written conclusion can encourage your audience to share your content, become leads, subscribe to your blog etc.

To make your conclusion stand out, you have multiple strategies at your disposal. You can keep it simple when your message is already clear, present an actionable solution for your readers to act on, link to related content to deepen their understanding, provide updates to keep your content fresh and relevant, ask a thought-provoking question, spark discussion, and encourage readers to share your article. You can also embrace the cliffhanger by leaving your post open-ended, shape your readers’ journey with a content offer, use a combination of strategies, or even forget a conclusion altogether if it doesn’t add value.

You can also add in key takeaways for skimming readers, or provide an opposing viewpoint to demonstrate credibility in an argument piece. In essence, the conclusion should be a strategic component of your blog post that prompts action and drives results.

Writing an effective CTA (Call to Action) for your blog post is important because it guides your readers towards the desired action and this can improve your marketing efforts. CTAs on your blog can encourage readers to engage, convert, or explore further. They are an essential part of your lead generation process.

Choosing the right type of CTA depends on your blog’s purpose and audience. You can employ various CTAs:

• Bottom-of-the-Post Smart CTAs tailored to different audience segments and lifecycle stages.
• Connect on Social CTAs make it easy for readers to follow your brand on social media, facilitating future content engagement.
• Tweet This CTAs are perfect for sharing tidbits of knowledge quickly on Twitter.
• Blog Subscription CTAs aim to increase your subscriber base and should be simple to fill out.
• Comment CTAs invite readers to engage and share their thoughts, boosting interaction.

The right CTA can improve the user experience and guides your readers to take the next step in their buyer’s journey, making it an important part of your blog post.

Using visuals in a blog post is important because they play a crucial role in improving your content marketing strategy. Visuals have the power to attract and retain your audience, making your content more engaging and effective in the long run.

A report by Social Media Examiner reveals that 37% of marketers consider visual content to be the most important part of their content marketing strategy, right after blogging. Moreover, visuals can significantly improve information retention. While people remember only 10% of what they hear, pairing written text with relevant images can help retain 65% of the information even three days later. Featured images, screenshots, graphs, charts, photos, infographics, flipbooks, catalogs, banners, and videos are all valuable visuals to include in your blog posts.

To find good visuals, you can use free or paid stock image sources, create your own, or hire professionals. When adding visuals, it’s essential to consider optimizing for speed using tools like Adobe Photoshop or WordPress plugins like Imagify. Google also values page load speed and informative content, so optimizing your visuals and providing valuable content can help improve your blog’s ranking. In conclusion, incorporating a variety of visuals in your blog posts is a powerful strategy to boost your content marketing efforts, engage your audience, and improve your blog’s performance.

Have a question about adding visuals? Our talented designers can help you! Contact us now.