“Good” Blog Posts

by Jennifer Horowitz on October 25, 2012

Let’s face it, we are all pretty busy and don’t have a lot of time to waste. Soooo….if you are spending your time Blogging, you better be sure it’s high quality and going to get you a response! What makes a good Blog post?

You start with your Title – the title should be compelling, informative and if possible use a keyword phrase. You can read my post on headlines to get a feel for how to write a good title.

Next we have the body of the post. There are a few key points to remember when writing your body content:

Start with an attention grabbing thought or benefit so you suck readers in right away. You want to let them know what they are going to get out of reading your article. Clearly state it in the first paragraph so they don’t have to go digging for it. This compels them to keep reading to get to the pay dirt.

The next one is simple, you have to deliver on the promise you made. Make sure you provide good information that supports your claim/promise. Tip: Make sure your text is well written and edited for grammatical and spelling errors, you don’t want to turn people off with errors and poor quality.

Don’t drone on and on with no break. It’s OK if you have a lot to say. Just be sure to break it up so it’s visually interesting. Tip: People often skim before they commit to reading; you want to pass the scan test! To do this you can:

Bold text
Use lists
Leave enough white space on the page so people don’t feel inundated by all the busy-ness.
Break paragraphs up into bite sized chunks
Add images
Use sub-titles that are compelling so when people scan the Blog the sub-titles stand out and keep them interested. Create a summary of key points

And alas, it’s now time to end things…

Leave them wanting more – tease your next post and remind them to check back.

Invite people to engage – welcome comments and additions to your post.

Have a call to action. People need to be taken by the hand and led to the action you want them to take. I assume you didn’t put this content out just to be nice, you probably wanted to educate people or build your credibility so they take action. So don’t leave them hanging with nowhere to go next – guide them to take action.

Consider closing off by signing your name – remember not everyone reads all your posts and you can’t assume they know you. Treat each post like it’s the only one people will ever read. Let them know who you are.

Don’t be afraid to show some personality and have some fun. Your posts don’t need to be all corporate and stuffy. Inject a little bit of pizzazz and people will want to keep coming back for more.

The Marketing and SEO Stuff…

Don’t forget to include the always-important SEO and marketing parts that help your Blog post spread..

Include Categories. This helps organize content so Blog readers can easily dig into the particular category they are interested in. You can put posts in more than one category – just make sure they are all relevant.

Include a social media plugin that allows people to quickly and easily spread/share your content.

Include Meta data (Title and Description tag) – Depending what WordPress theme and plugins you have, you will do this differently. As a great default you can always just use the WordPress Plugin “All In One SEO Pack”

Tag your posts – it helps people find your content and helps others organize your post in directories and on their site when they republish it.

Include a plugin that allows people to subscribe to your RSS Feed

Sales Pitches, News Updates and More….

Also a good concept to remember is BALANCE. Don’t do nothing but pitch your products or services. Mix in some good quality content that will help people and include news updates as well. You want to balance your desire to sell with the necessity of being a good resource for people. If you don’t give them a reason to come back, they won’t!

Not every post should be really long and not every post should be brief and to the point. Vary the length of the posts. If all your posts are too long, most people won’t make time to read them all.

So there you have it. Now get blogging!

Jennifer Horowitz

With over 13 years in the industry, Jennifer Horowitz, Director of Marketing for EcomBuffet, has amassed much knowledge and experience and has much to say about all things SEO (marketing, copywriting & social media). Always happy to share with an audience, Jenn is now a regular contributor at Level343.