Have you ever heard the phrase “content is king”?
In the online world, this means that you can’t get anywhere without having good content on your website.
When it comes to blogging for your small business, it means that a strong blog post is one that’s full of useful, well-written, engaging information. And it’s 100% true: no one will read your blog if the information on it isn’t interesting, coherent, and readable.
But you don’t just want to write a good blog post. You want to write a blog post that gets noticed.
You want a blog post that people read, think about, share, bookmark, pin, tweet…
But what exactly makes that happen?
Have you ever watched Iron Chef? Remember how “plating” is a huge part of the chefs’ scores? Well, it’s the same for blog posts.
What you write is obviously important. But how you write it, and even more, how you present (or plate) it is what makes a blog post really share-worthy.
Use these eleven (shockingly simple) tricks to create blog posts for your small business that are more interesting and successful.
1. Add wide, clear images
It’s a fact of blogging: small images just don’t look as good.
When you add images to your blog posts, most of them should span the full column. And your main image — the first one, the one you want to have shared — should be full width or very close to it.
And of course, make sure that these images are always sharp and clear, never fuzzy.
2. Have at least one pinnable image
Your first image should be “pinnable.”
This means that it is taller than it is wide (because width is fixed on Pinterest, but height is variable) and visually appealing.
It doesn’t necessarily need to have words, but either the picture itself (or the graphics/words you create) needs to tell people who see it what is going on it your post.
3. Use bullet points or a list
- People get tired of reading big, dense chunks of text online.
- Use bullet points or a list to break things up.
- It makes it easier for people to skim and pick out important information.
4. Link to other articles or resources on your site
Mention relevant offers or information that can be found elsewhere on your site and link to them within the text of your post.
This will keep readers on your site longer, making them more invested in what you have to say and establishing you as an authority.
It’s also a good way of keeping search engines on your site longer, which means a nice SEO boost! (For more SEO tricks, check out my free resource library.) (See what I did there?)
5. Ask questions
What happens when someone asks you a question?
You automatically respond, even if it’s just in your own mind.
It’s what our brains are programmed to do. If you ask your readers questions, it will automatically engage them more in what you’re writing.
6. Keep things friendly
Blog posts are different than researched articles, or even from the other content on your website.
People want to get a sense of you and your business on a more personal level. So keep things friendly and don’t be afraid to inject some of your own personality into your writing.
7. Invite readers to share
If your want your audience to engage with your more on social media, invite them to!
Use a program like Click to Tweet to generate Twitter quotes they can automatically share. Or tell them where they can find you on Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, or anywhere else you might be lurking.
8. Have a title that isn’t too vague
Sure, it can be fun to come up with a clever pun for a title.
But if it doesn’t tell readers what your post is about, it does you no good.
There are a lot of options for what to read online. Make sure your post titles tell visitors why they should care about what you have to say and how you’re going to help them out.
9. Add in some headings
Headings break up your text, make things easier to skim and read, and help readers understand the main takeaways of your post.
And if you put keywords in them, this registers with search engines, which boosts your SEO and helps you rank higher in search results.
Always, always, always use headings in your posts!
10. Add a call to action
Readers want to feel like your blog post has done something for them or changed them (even just a little).
So give them an action to take at the end.
You could give them a “go do this now!” call to action. A “buy this” or “read this” action. Or even just an “answer this question in the comments” action.
What you pick depends on your type of post. But give them something to do!
11. End with a P.S.
This copywriting trick is just as useful in blogging as it is in sales letters.
At the very end of your post, give readers a P.S. and link to another relevant blog post or product on your site. They’re more likely to follow the link in a P.S. than in one of those “you might also like” widgets, and it allows you to tailor what you link to match the post they just read.
Have you figured out any tricks to make your blog posts more awesome? I’d love to know what they are!
*****
P.S. – Need more help improving your small business’ blog posts?
I’ve got a worksheet that will help you plan every blog post, from headline to keywords to marketing integration.
Get your hands on it here:
Great tips. I need to do better with pictures and the social media.
Keep up the great work!
It’s amazing what a difference the pictures make in terms of appearance — once you make the switch, you’ll suddenly want to go back and fix all your old posts too! I’m still working on that part myself. =)