How to Make Your Blog Posts More Effective
If you want blogging to be a part of your overall marketing strategy, you need to create high quality blog posts that appeal to your audience, and an important part of that is how the blog posts are set up on your website - and that’s what I’ll be covering in this blog post - how to set your blog posts up for success!
But before we get there....
(If you already have a blog, you can probably skip this next part)
First, if you’re completely new to blogging and don’t have a website yet, you’ll need to choose a home for your blog. Which is the best website platform for blogging? That is open to interpretation. You can read more about it at the link, but I think the most important feature is that you are comfortable with the platform and feel confident in creating and uploading new blog posts as well as updating old blog posts if necessary.
If blogging is a part of your overall marketing strategy, you’ll also want to become familiar and comfortable with SEO. You can grab my DIY SEO Mini-Course here.
Second, a common question for blogging beginners is “How do I make money with my blog?” This is also called monetizing your blog and, while it is an important question, it often comes too early in the process. Blogs can be monetized in a number of ways, but the first step is always creating good content for your readers. And, as a marketing strategist, this is where I say that having a business plan and overall marketing strategy is important, too. Making money from your blog involves more than finding your niche, writing blog posts, adding affiliates, and holding contests.
Third, if blogging doesn’t come easily to you, for whatever reason, you’ll want to establish a blog writing process that works for you (and you may need to develop more than one or change it as you develop your style). I like to be upfront about this - I am not a fast blog post writer. I do not churn out six blogs a week. I could, but it would be the only thing I do. I spend a lot of time thinking about the topic before I start, I usually have one or two sentences or examples I want to share, and then I go from there. I don’t always start in the beginning and I rarely finish a blog post in one setting. The key to my own success is giving myself a deadline and working in focused bursts without distractions (if possible).
Make Your Blog Posts Easy to Read
Obviously, if you’re going through all of the time and effort to create a blog post, you want someone to read it, right?
One of the often overlooked (and easy!) ways to make your blogs more readable is to make sure you’re including enough “white space” on the page. “White space” is the blank space between paragraphs.
Why does it matter? White space makes it easier for the reader to read and absorb your words.
Without white space, our eyes don’t have a place to rest. We’re subconsciously trying to focus on too many things at once.
Adding white space to your blog posts means your readers aren’t overwhelmed with text. Have you ever looked at a crowded store counter and gotten lost in the options? Or the sense of frustration you feel when you are looking for something on someone else’s cluttered desk? Or the very annoying realization that the keys you have been looking for are in plain sight, but you didn’t notice them? Or maybe you’ve been skimming this paragraph because it is long, and the words are all running together.
I know, I know. Your high school English teacher had specific ideas about what was and wasn’t a good paragraph. Conventional English grammar says short paragraphs and too much space is all wrong. But we aren't in the print world anymore, we're in the digital world. New world, new rules. But grammar still matters. Please don’t ditch the grammar!
Put Your Subheadings to Work
These mini-headlines not only introduce each section of your post, they do a couple of other neat things, too! Since online readers tend to skim what they are reading, your mini-headline helps them find the information they are looking for and works well with white space to create an enjoyable reading experience.
They can also help search engines better understand the content you are sharing, so this is a good place to use keywords and phrases that you think your audience might be searching for.
Your subheadings can be statements or questions – just make sure they are related to the paragraph beneath them. To make them stand out, your subheadings should be a slightly larger font size, underlined, bolded, or even a different color - but use good judgement since a visually busy page can send readers running.
Images Add Pop
Images help illustrate your post, add visual appeal, and one image will become the preview image for your blog post when it is shared on social media. So make it interesting.
Most rely on stock images for their photos (link to stock photo blog). I’ve gathered a good resource list for stock photos at the link. You can’t use any random image you find during on the internet or through a search. You also need to be aware of the usage rights when you use free or paid stock images.
Adding alt text to your image will make your blog post more accessible to all readers, so don’t forget to add a line or two describing the image you’re using.
You’ll also want to compress your images so they load quickly for your reader. You can use “save for web” if you are using Photoshop or this online resource is one I like. (image stomp link)
What Happens After Someone Reads Your Blog Post?
Do you want your reader to do something after they are done reading your blog post?
Should they share it?
Should they respond by leaving a comment or contacting you?
Should they sign up for your newsletter?
Do you have something else they should read?
Do you have some bonus content they can receive?
This next step is often called a Call to Action (CTA). You have someone’s attention, so what you want them to do next clear - just don’t sound like a used car salesman.
Want to learn more about creating content that converts readers to customers? I have a mini course for that! Get the Content That Converts Mini Course here.
How Long Should a Blog Post Be?
There are all sorts of experts citing the exact, perfect length for a blog post. Should your blog post be long or should it be short?
My answer – it depends.
On your first pass, write until you feel as if you’ve said everything you need to say.
On your second pass, you may find yourself adding clarifications or removing parts that don’t work. That’s ok. It is part of the editing process.
Your blog post should be as long as it needs to be to say what you want to say.
However, from an SEO perspective, longer blog posts (800+ words) tend to mean the user is spending more time on your website. Time spent on site is one of many signals search engines use to determine the value of a website. It also means you are using all sorts of different word combinations to talk about your subject (which will help users and search engines find your content).
Creating a longer, and hopefully more useful blog post, means you are providing valuable information people will want to read and share.
From a user perspective, reading short, dull blog posts that pretend to have good information, but are really just a shallow swipe at a subject are annoying. They also don’t give you a chance to show you know what you are talking about.
This blog post will likely end up around 2000 words. There is a lot more I can say on this topic, but I’m trying to keep it as concise and streamlined as possible.
If you’re nervous about length, don’t be! When I first started writing blog posts, I thought 300 words was a big task (and it was!). But since I regularly write blog posts, my average range is around 1200-1500 words and that seems to be the amount of words I need to say what I want to say.
Before You Go
Here are some other resources that would be helpful.