10 Ingredients For A Successful Blog Post
Blogging is a great form of content to share across social media, as it drives traffic to your website, increases your SEO ranking and provides important information for relevant stakeholders, with 60% of businesses who blog acquiring more customers.
We’ve put together a list for beginner bloggers that includes the ten most important ingredients needed to deliver a successful blog post.
Backlinks are essential for your blog post as they provide references and validation to keywords/phrases you may be using. But the real reason why we use them is because Google’s algorithm rates web pages higher up its search engine ranking based on a combination of highly reputable websites all bouncing off each other.
2) Relevant Images
All text and no images make for a pretty dull and boring blog. Images are essential for a visually stimulating blog post. Make sure you include an image of relevance to the context of the blog post – it could be the persuasive factor in a viewer choosing to read your blog.
3) Short Paragraphs
Short paragraphs are more engaging – and easier on the eye. Make sure you keep to 3-5 sentences per paragraph to keep your readers engaged and bounce rates low.
4) An Engaging Title
Users aren’t going to click on your blog post if you have a boring title. Create an imaginative title that encourages users to click. Lists often generate high levels of clicks for example 10 reasons why you need to hashtag.
5) Great Introduction
You probably have between 5-10 seconds to catch someone’s attention within the first paragraph of your blog post, so make sure it’s informative, descriptive and slightly humorous.
6) Internal Linking
Its great inserting backlinks in your blog post to external websites, however linking back to other blog posts on your own website or relevant pages can also be useful. Use this opportunity to direct viewers to your client portfolio page or a previous blog post you think might be of particular interest to the linked word.
7) Vary Your Sentence Starters
Nobody likes a blog post that has sentences which continuously start with the same word. Vary your sentence starters to make your blog look more respectable and consequently more professional.
8) Basic Spelling and Grammar
This goes without saying. However you’d be surprised by the amount of bloggers that don’t proof read their material and consistently publish blog posts with basic spelling and grammatical errors. READ THROUGH YOUR WORK!
9) Clear Structure
Have a clear structure for your blog post. A clear beginning, middle and end is essential to achieve a balance of what you want to communicate to your end reader.
10) Personality
Don’t be scared to add some personality to your blog post. In a world where most of our activity is digital, a little bit of personality goes a long way. Give your blog some identity and branding with a touch of your own personality.
By Chris Kyriacou