Having a blog on your website is something that can truly help to increase website visitors. It will also help your site climb higher in the search engine rankings (which means more people will find it and click through to it and therefore increase your sales), and it will help you to engage more with your target market, which again will help you to make more profit. However, these things will only happen in the blog posts themselves are interesting, informative, and easily shared by as many people as possible. If you want to know how to write a successful blog post, read on.
Research
Before you can start to write a blog, you need to know what you are going to write about. In order to make a successful blog out of the topic you choose, you need to research it thoroughly and make sure that you understand it thoroughly before posting it on your site. It needs to be relevant to what you sell, whether that is a product or a service, and it should be different to other blogs, especially those written by your competitors.
Take the time to find the right topic for your blog and to research it so that what you write is accurate and as interesting as possible.
A Great Opening
The opening of your blog consists of the title and the first paragraph. Research suggests that around 80 percent of people will read these elements, but only 20 percent will read any further. That’s because they are just not hooked by the beginning of your blog, and therefore aren’t sufficiently interested to read any more of it. It could be that they are missing out on hugely entertaining and useful content, but if the opening doesn’t grab them, they simply won’t go any further.
The best tip when starting your blog is to begin simply. If you rush immediately into complicated or technical information, then many people will not want to read anymore. This can be difficult if you are immersed in your topic, but if possible, you need to put yourself in the mind of someone reading your blog who knows very little, if anything, about what it is you’re telling them. If you can do this, you can keep it simple, and readers are much more likely to get to the end of the piece. Not only that, but they are more likely to share them as well.
Images
A large (or even relatively short) amount of text on a screen can be off-putting, and it will make some people want to click away from your blog and read something else. Therefore, adding at least one image, but preferably more than one, with a caption, can help to keep them reading. This breaks up what would otherwise look like a wall of text, and it means that the blog can be read in smaller, more manageable chunks if need be.
The images should be relevant to the text, however, otherwise you can easily confuse your readers, and this again might put them off from wanting to know more. You can find images on royalty-free websites which means you won’t have any copyright issues, or you can use a site such as Shutterstock where you will need to pay, but the images are often exactly what you will be looking for. Finally, if you are able to take your own photographs, this can illustrate what you are writing about much better than anything else.
Have A Point Of View
If you are writing about something, then you should always have a point of view on it. If you don’t make your viewpoint clear and offer up your own ideas, the blog can sound rather weak rather than something that people will want to read and share with their friends and family.
Read through the blogs of your competitors, or even blogs that have nothing to do with your sector at all. You’ll find that the ones that really stand out and that make you think and remember them long after reading them are the ones that actually express a viewpoint. These are rare, however; most blogs will give a middle ground view that really doesn’t tell you much.
Make sure that you don’t offend people with your view, but be truthful and give reasons behind what you are thinking. This will encourage people to read your blog, give their own opinions, and get a discussion started.
Offer Something
A blog post that offers something is sure to be more well read than one that gives nothing at all. As long as what you offer has some value to those reading it, it could be anything at all from discounts and special offers to invaluable information. Not only should your blog offer something, but wherever possible, you should give additional value in the form of something more such as a downloadable eBook or the chance to sign up for a newsletter or seminar. With the right marketing and blogging, a seminar should be easy to sell, as you can clearly see on this page.
The more you can offer the better, especially if it is not going to cost you much if anything at all, and if it gives your customers and potential customers more reason to read your blog and ideally go on to buy from you.
Third Party Information
When you are putting together a successful blog, you should always consider the idea of including third-party information. Without this, readers might feel skeptical and think that a blog is solely a tool used to sell them something. Although often this is partly what a blog is about, you can help to dispel the idea and encourage more people to read if there is an additional contributor. Customer testimonials, industry data and research, influencer opinions, and quotes from experts can all help. If you can show that other people agree with what you are saying, you will garner more trust and more followers, which will help your blog (and your business) succeed.