A good blog post is part art, part science. The art part has to do with how well you engage, inform and entertain your readers, while the science component has to do with how successfully you achieve back-end SEO objectives.
A good blog post is in no way formulaic, but there are some elements that differentiate the best from the rest. Here are a few noteworthy features to keep in mind when writing your next blog post:
- Tune in to your audience – We produce content for people. It can be easy to forget who’s on the other end of your post when sitting at your desk, but this is rule number one for creating captivating content. Your blog needs to meet a need – maybe it’s answering a specific question, offering new information, sharing tips, or just generally being useful. Don’t lose sight of who you are writing to when sitting down to draft a post.
- Make it readable – Readers seek out your content because they are looking for information, and when you can provide that information in an engaging and fun way, you’ll be rewarded with loyal readers who may even convert to customers (that’s right, blogging for the win!). The key to a good post starts with a strong headline and captivating lead. Then, you can improve the readability (and scannability) of your blog by adding headers to break up large chunks of text, using bullet points, and including images or break-out boxes to add visual variety to your page.
- Consider length – We’re often asked if there’s a perfect length for a blog post. In times like these, we can’t help but harken back to our high school English class days when our teachers would remind us that it’s not about word count but about answering the question effectively. Can you write a very good blog post in fewer than 300 words? Yes. Can you write a very good blog post in more than 1,000 words? Yes. The point is: take as long as you need to write the best post possible to achieve your objective (though 300-500 words will usually do). You’ll start to lose readers if the post gets too long just for the sake of word count. Side note: it can, however, be useful to sprinkle in an occasional longer post here and there to help the internet bots as they index your site. Google does love itself a good long-form post with lots of backlinks that demonstrate your credibility and know-how.
- Don’t forget keywords – Don’t take this as permission to start keyword-stuffing your posts, but we can’t deny that keywords matter to SEO. Include keywords in your meta description, url and image alt text. A few relevant keyword placements in your post title, intro and conclusion don’t hurt either.
- End with a call to action (CTA) – Lastly, you want to end by telling your readers where to turn next. Maybe it’s another blog post with more information about the same topic or an ask to subscribe to your newsletter. Whatever it is, make sure it’s relevant to the content of your post and continues to guide them to a next step.
There’s no one way to write a perfect blog post – and you wouldn’t want them all to be the same anyway. Keeping content fresh, varied and personal is the best way to remain engaging with your readers and relevant to search engines. If you find yourself stuck as you get started with writing, just ask us for help.