You likely already know that blogging is important. You probably know that companies who blog are 13x more likely to realize positive ROI, and that 82% of those who blog daily have acquired customers through the blog.
- It’s easy to make excuses when it comes to writing.
- We don’t have the time.
- Nothing new or exciting to share.
- We are professionals at what they do, not professional writers.
- Is anyone actually reading our blog?
These are legitimate concerns, but they’re all a cop-out. You don’t have the time. You don’t have the time?
I have nothing to add. You have nothing to say? Your readers will see the value in your writing. Anything that helps them to solve a problem or become better informed will be of interest to them.
If you are great at what your do, people will want to read what you have. Do not worry about how good your writing skills are or how many people will read your post. It’s worth it if even one person reads your post and thinks about your company next time they have a need. If you delay posting, you are missing out on valuable opportunities to connect and build relationships with potential customers.
These 10 steps will help you write the perfect blog post, whether you are just starting out or need to overcome writer’s block.
1. Choose A Compelling Topic
Always keep your readers in the forefront of your mind when writing, and always consider what they will find most valuable. If you don’t know the answer to the question “Why should my readers care?” Keep brainstorming.
Are you unsure what to say?
These questions will help you get started.
- What are you spending most of your time on lately?
- What are your clients asking you?
- What recent news can you add an interesting angle to?
- You can find out what your peers and competitors are talking about so you can add your own spin.
2. Do Your Research
The biggest obstacle to blogging is the assumption that you must say something new. It’s not true. You just need to find a better way to express it. Your ability to remain in business should be an indicator that you have something to offer. It’s your process. Your people? Your experience?
Consider what you want to communicate and what has been said. Consider what questions remain unanswered or how you might add your own perspective to the subject. This is your chance to shine!
3. Make an outline
It is helpful to plan the direction of your post before you start writing.
Think about your audience and the things you want to share with them.
- Inspiration?
- Leadership through thought?
- Trends to Watch?
- A step-by-step tutorial?
When researching a topic, look for common themes. This will help you to identify 3-7 key points. These are your subheads. These should be your subheads.
4. Write An Attention-Grabbing Intro
Consider a story (or metaphor) that is three to four sentences long. Take a look at how Kuno Creative journalist Carrie Dagenhard started this post about personalization:
Did you ever receive a truly awful gift? A gift that was so inconceivably horrible, and so clearly not for you, that it was difficult to conceal your disappointment. You wouldn’t be kind or generous if you said you didn’t like the gift someone bought, wrapped, and presented to you. So you accept it, and then you ooh and aah over it.
It is a story that we all can relate to and yet, it doesn’t wander off-track or ramble. It draws you into the main theme.
5. Create a Strong Nut graph
This paragraph is where you get to the point after your introduction. This paragraph sets the tone for the reader and explains what they will learn. The introduction should continue the theme, in this instance gift-giving.
If you don’t use personalization, this is exactly the kind of question that will be asked of your prospects and customers. If you use personalization correctly, your customers will be giddy like children on Christmas morning. They will trust your brand to provide the right software solution to their needs. Demand Gen Report’s study shows that personalized experiences can boost sales by up to 20%. Let’s take a look at some of the many ways personalization can help you increase sales quickly.
6. Find Linking Opportunities
Look for links to previous blogs, landing pages or service pages as you write. At least two links should be included in each post. Make sure that the phrase you use matches what you link to. The phrase “recruiting Software” should link to a page that has the same title.
7. A strong conclusion will tie it all together
Congratulations! Don’t let your readers go now. Recapitulate the main points of your post. Then, go back to the original story and remind your readers how their advice will help them. Take this example:
Although it may seem overwhelming to follow these six steps in order to communicate high-impact data, it is worth the effort. Your targeted audiences will reap the long-term benefits of understanding your messages. This will allow you to communicate more effectively, impress customers and partners, win new business and make better data-driven business decisions.
8. Make a compelling headline
Here’s the reality: 8 of 10 readers will not read beyond your headline. This means that it should be extraordinary.
Stumped?
Consider the topic that you have chosen and the keyword phrase that best describes it. Ex. “Manufacturing Marketing Strategy”
As a guideline, use the following formula: Number + Trigger word + Adjective + Promise
Ex., 6 Tips To Get Your Manufacturing Marketing Strategy in High Gear
Your headline should not exceed 70 characters. This blog post contains more information on creating a headline that is effective.
9. Make or find strong, relevant images
A strong feature image will make your blog standout. Avoid using words and distracting elements. The title of your post will be displayed above the image. These are some great sites for free stock photos
You should verify that the photo is not stolen from another website. Remember to credit the source. Next, find a few photos that you can use in your post.
You can use Canva.com for images with quotes, screenshots, or other relevant images to illustrate a process. Feel free to make them! One image per 300 words is a good rule of thumb. It should be saved with the main keyword phrase that you used in your post and not a description of the image. This is called alt text.
Good alt text example: healthcare_marketing_strategy
Bad alt text example: smiling_doctor
Size it correctly. Your blog’s formatting will determine the dimensions. However, if your image is too large it can slow down the page load. Your image should be at least 72 pixels per inch.
10. You can prove it!
This part should be easy if you have a good content optimizing system (COS). Because it will tell you exactly what to do to optimize your post to search, the HubSpot COS can be very helpful. These SEO best practices are applicable to all platforms.
- You should use your main keyword phrase at least once in your post, and link them to an internal page.
- Use the same keyword only once. Repeating the same keywords five times or more could make your post appear spammy.
- A meta description should be no more than 150 characters long and include the main keyword phrase. This is what the reader sees when your post appears on search results. If written well, it can help them confirm that they have found what they are looking for.
Once you are confident that your post is search-friendly, take some time to review it. This will allow you to spot any formatting problems, such as inconsistent fonts. Next, have someone proof it. This is an essential step. You’ll lose credibility with your readers if you post is full of typos.
Be proud of your posts and share them with the world. It’s not enough to tweet it once and forget it. You can schedule your post for distribution on Twitter multiple times per week using Hootsuite, or you can autoschedule it. It should be included in your content list, and rotate it with other pieces as needed. It can be linked from other posts if you wish. It is worth re-visiting a year later and updating with new information.
While the time spent writing a blog might seem short compared to other things you do, it is the best thing about blogging. You can never forget the Internet, which is great news for you and bad news for others. Your blog is a unique indexed page that you have created for your website. This will drive traffic to your site for many years, even after you move on to something new.
Your blog is often the first impression you make to potential customers. It will pay off to make a good first impression!
Real Estate Blogs
If you are a Realtor and looking for content marketing for real estate, you can use the Real Estate Autoblogger.