Writing a Compelling Blog Post: 10 Tips to Make Your Content Shine
We’re sure we don’t need to tell you that stellar blog posts are great for business. They’re the marketing equivalent of the smell of fresh-from-the-oven bread when walking past a bakery; of a teaser trailer for the best new movie of the year; of a chat with a friend that gets you thinking all day.
Brilliantly written blog posts punch above their weight. They humanise your business and build a relationship with your target market, boosting credibility, positioning it as an authoritative source, and — of course — converting readers into clients.
Writing a blog post is easy; writing a compelling blog post is a trickier proposition. But this isn’t just a minor detail — the difference between the two will profoundly affect your success. Thankfully, we’ve got the tips to ensure that every post is the best it can be.
Why can blog posts boost your business?
The vast majority of internet users (which is, obviously, the vast majority of people) consume content rather than create it. This is often known as the 1% rule, and it’s a pretty accurate way to break down internet usage. There are far, far more readers than writers online!
What does this have to do with writing a compelling blog post? Well, it tells us there’s a huge demand for content! By putting super high-quality posts out there, your business has a chance to shine and stand out from the crowd.
A perfectly-crafted blog post will press all the right buttons — it’ll be fine-tuned to tap into your audience’s pain points, create a relationship, and inspire trust. The tone, style, and language will be used to build up a consistent brand message, reflecting the lived experiences of your target market. By the end, they’ll be convinced that following the embedded call to action is likely the best thing they’ll do all year! … Ok, maybe all day.
Top 10 tips for writing a compelling blog post
When it comes to blog writing, there are many obstacles and hidden pitfalls to look out for. Any one of these could derail your attempts at making that vital connection with your audience, let alone getting caught up in multiple.
No matter your content, your audience, or your brand, there are certain things that every blog writer should keep in mind. So, without further ado, here are the 10 things you should do to fulfil your blog-writing destiny.
1. Create an attention-grabbing title
You’ll need to come up with an exciting, interesting title to convince a reader to click the link to your post, or to intrigue them enough to keep reading. For example, if the title of the post you’re reading right now was ‘Hire Us to Write Content’, you probably wouldn’t have wanted to read, right?
Create a title that gets your reader to sit up and take notice, and that spells out exactly why they need to see what you have to say. But be honest, because your blog needs to deliver on its promises. If I only provided you with eight tips, you’d probably feel a bit cheated, wouldn’t you? Get off to a great start with your readers by writing a compelling blog post to go with a compelling title.
2. Plan the structure
Your blog should be a journey for the reader, with clear stages along the way. This will keep it flowing properly, taking your reader from a tantalising beginning to a satisfying end, and capped with a well-made call to action (more on this later). As part of structuring your piece, draft out the headers you’ll use, the rough word count for each section, and where you plan to include images, text boxes, or infographics.
A well-mapped-out post adds credibility to your brand by appearing professional, confident, and authoritative — as opposed to a scatter-gun approach, in which ideas can appear muddled and the focus is lost.
By bringing your reader along for the journey, you’ll also foster a ‘we’re in it together’ attitude that instils trust, vital for a successful call to action.
3. Make sure it adds value
Writing a compelling blog post means that every single sentence included should add value. What does this mean? In short, that the entire post should be crafted to either inform, entertain, or solve a problem (possibly one your reader didn’t even know they had). Every part of it should support this overarching goal.
When planning your blog post, always keep in mind its purpose. Here’s an example: we’re giving you some tips that’ll help with writing a compelling blog post. As part of this adventure we’re having in the world of content marketing, I’m keeping in mind that you’re busy, and I need every word to count. This is why the first draft of this blog was significantly longer than the final edit you’re reading now!
Even though the word count is lower, the content is better. Every bit of this post is useful (at least, we hope so!), so we’re adding value to your life when you read it. This is what you need to keep in mind when writing your own blog posts.
4. Connect with readers
To really engage with readers, inject passion and personality into your writing. Don’t be afraid to let your unique voice come across.
If you’ve got a lot of information to impart, be mindful that the blog doesn’t become a data silo, devoid of personality and unable to create any sort of meaningful relationship with your target market. Use humour, tell stories, and share your personal experiences. All of these things are great ways to target both the hearts and minds of your readers, so they’re interested in what you have to say and happy to come along for the ride.
5. Cut out waffle
Stay on point — resist adding superfluous wordage just to pad or up the word count. If a sentence doesn’t serve a purpose, bin it!
Given the subheading title, we think we can leave it at that.
6. Avoid SEO mistakes
Building effective SEO (search engine optimisation) into your blog post is a powerful way to drive organic traffic to your website by appearing further up the search rankings. If you run a health food shop, the aim of SEO is that, when someone plugs ‘healthy alternatives to crisps’ into Google, your site will appear on the first page of the results.
However, there are some SEO mistakes to avoid at all costs. These are the things that could have your audience turning off, clicking away from your post, or dismissing it as just a stealth ‘hard sell’.
Firstly, be mindful of keyword stuffing; this is shoehorning in SEO words and phrases in an obvious way. Keyword stuffing not only makes your content clunky, but it’s painfully apparent to both readers and robots — and they don’t like it. Readers will be turned off by obvious keywords in unnatural places, and robots (as in, the algorithms and bots used by search engines) will spot them and move you down the rankings. Writing a compelling blog post means, well, writing something compelling, and that means thinking about more than just keywords.
Secondly, ‘thin’ content can have the exact opposite effect of what you want. A reader can tell if the bare minimum has been put in just to get some traffic. High-value, well-researched, authoritative content will enhance your site’s search engine findability.
And finally, always, always, always write for humans, not search engines. At the end of the day, search engines won’t be buying your products or services!
7. Add interest
When planning out your blog post, consider how it will visually appear on the screen. Writing a compelling blog post isn’t just about the writing, after all. Unbroken walls of text are unappealing for readers — they give the impression that reading the content is likely to be a chore.
Be sure to separate each section of your blog post under headers, each with its own title, and intersperse images, lists, infographics, videos, or text boxes throughout to add visual appeal. As mentioned above, try to keep the idea of a journey in the front of your mind when planning your post — each section should flow naturally onto the next, with added elements placed strategically throughout to expand on or demonstrate the points you’re making in the text.
8. Pay attention to spelling and grammar
A few rogue spelling mistakes or grammar clangers can undermine even the most well-thought-out and beautifully structured of blog posts. Luckily, these can easily be avoided.
Never skimp on proofreading. Don’t just double-check your post — triple-check it. You may be surprised at how many errors get past even a second read-through. Get someone else to look at it, too, as a final safety net.
You could also use a text optimisation tool such as Grammarly to help ensure that your writing is free of mistakes and grammatically sound. Most of these types of apps offer a free tier, which lets you pick up the worst of any language crimes and try out the platform before committing to a paid version.
9. Make it scannable
Not all readers will make it until the end of the blog, however gorgeously it’s crafted. Make sure it scans well, so even those who look over the text briefly can take away the key points.
How do you do this? Put your section headers to work; they should act as a super-condensed version of each section’s copy. Highlight key phrases, stats, or information, and use text boxes to further ensure any quick-scanning readers will get the gist.
10. Give the reader something to do next
After all your good work, don’t leave your readers hanging! A great call to action (CTA) is the grand finale — the ‘rabbit out of the hat’ moment — when it comes to writing a compelling blog post.
Always use an action verb in your CTA: subscribe, buy, look, read, try. But keep it conversational, too. You’ve created a beautiful blog post that’s navigated your reader from the opening paragraph to the final section; it’s important to maintain a friendly, conversational tone for your CTA to be effective.
Make sure that there are no hurdles present in your CTA. It needs to be a clear, short directive. Asking your readers to take more than one action, or deploying language that doesn’t make it obvious what you want them to do, are obstacles likely to undermine your CTA.
Why writing a compelling blog post is so important: the final word
We hope you enjoyed those tips and tricks. From grabbing attention to keeping it, and from visuals to flow, we’ve gone over all the most important parts of blog writing.
Writing a compelling blog post can have a huge impact. It allows you to connect with a new audience, foster loyalty in an existing one, strengthen your brand message, and — crucially — drive up business revenue.
Need a hand with this? ZippyLingo is ready and waiting to help. Our team of professional, highly-experienced language Jedis are ready to create bespoke, high-value blog posts for you that’ll get the job done. Ready to begin the adventure? Give us a shout so we can get started!
