With the recent rise of business blogging, more and more businesses are using blogging and content marketing to stand out from their competitors. But with this increase in content production, it’s getting harder and harder for businesses to be noticed online. Customers often come to us here at 3Rhino Media and ask how to create blog posts that get found and read.
As consultants and coaches that have worked with hundreds of businesses on this topic, we are passionate about this subject and have come up with the following 5 keys to helping you create blog posts that get found, get read and help you get customers. So let’s get started!
5 Key Components of a Great Blog Post
1. Attention-Grabbing Article Title
Your blog article’s title is the first thing people will see either in a Google search or when they visit your site. Remember, people are looking for information quickly, scanning headlines to decide what to select. Titles that answer the questions they type into a search tool will get noticed. Make sure the title clearly explains what the article is about, is concise, is keyword-rich (because the header tag is the most important for SEO), and is attention grabbing.
(RESOURCE: Check out Buffer founder Leo Widrich’s article “A scientific guide to writing great headlines on Twitter, Facebook and your Blog” for more tips)
2. Well Written & Formatted Text
The body of your article should be well written and formatted in a way that makes it easy to read. Consider using header tags and bulleted lists to break up the content into sections. But don’t worry about being perfect. Focusing too much on perfect writing will halt your blog progress. And it’s about PROGRESS NOT PERFECTION!
(RESOURCE: Copyblogger’s 8 Tips for Getting Your Posts Read)
3. Images/Videos
Relevant multimedia content can make a blog article more memorable and easier to read. The more engaging a post, the more likely it is to be read and shared.
(RESOURCE: One great resource for free images issearch.creativecommons.org. Make sure to check out their wiki so you understand the rules of using this outstanding service. And of course, we’re big fans of YouTube so you can easily embed YouTube videos you find helpful and relevant for your audience).
4. Links
Include links with your blog post to relevant content. These can also point to landing pages to help you generate more leads for your content. But don’t be afraid to link to the content of others. As my amigo Jay Baer says, be a#YouTility to your readers. We often get asked, but if I include links to other people’s content, won’t I be leading my readers away from my site? Sure you will be, but being useful to your customers is more valuable than keeping people just on your site.
5. Call-to-Action (CTA)
Each and every blog article you publish should include a relevant call-to-action at the bottom of the article to help boost lead generation What do you want people to do? Comment? Check out another article? Or view an ebook you are offering? etc. Let people know what you want them to do.
YOUR TAKE: With these 5 tips in mind, is there anything you’d add to this list? If so, leave a comment or connect with us on social so we can improve this list.
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As a strong supporter of Instagram and photography in general, I strongly believe in point three. A lot of people – like myself – are very visual learners and when it comes to blogs, websites, etc. I tend to follow the people with the best pictures. They best part about a picture is that it tells a different story to everyone, leaving your blog or website up for interpretation by your audience, and if you don’t want that you can always caption your picture and give it your own story. In my blog, my main focus will be on pulling people in through outstanding pictures, rather than words.
I feel that all 5 tips are very beneficial to having successful social media platforms, however I feel that I get the most out of tips 3 and 4. I am a definitely more drawn into an image rather than a catchy caption or title, therefor I participate and more in social media platforms like Instagram. Aside from images and videos I also enjoy when I am catching up on my Twitter feed and I come across links to outside sources. Not only do I find these other sources interesting but it may give me a different perspective on a current event or issue. Like many others, I have my preferences when it comes to what I find most appealing on social media sites, but all 5 of these tips when used correctly make for a very successful platform.
I think that the first point of having an attention-grabbing headliner for your blog post is crucial. I find myself always deciding whether to read an article or a blog, or look at a Pinterest board based on the headline. If the headline isn’t straight to the point and it makes me thing about what it is about for a while, then i probably won’t continue reading anymore. In my blog, i will try my very best to make sure that my headlines are straight to the point and make my audience want to continue reading.
Just like reading text heavy readings in school, its always entertaining and fun to break it up with a video link or picture in a blog post!
I would have to agree that all these components make a post better, but including the right images/videos really makes something more appealing to me. I’m a visual learner, as I’m sure many of us would agree, so when I see relevant multimedia content on a post it makes it way more memorable. It just seems more enjoying to read a post when you have good pictures or videos to go with it. I think it also catches people’s eye to read the post if they see a picture that appeals to them.
Blog posts must be well written and formatted. There’s nothing worse than misspellings and phrases that don’t make sense. It is important to take pride in what you are sharing with others so that they take you seriously. To make the blog post appealing to viewers it always helps to insert bullet points and break up the paragraphs so they aren’t ridiculously long.
I think the biggest thing is having an attention-getting title. It’s the first thing someone reads before delving in to reading your entire post. If it’s not interesting, the reader will not continue to read the post. I am a visual learner as well, but I won’t take the time to watch something or read something without a title that interests me.
These components are definitely great guidelines for a blog. A good headline is really what attracts you to an article. It has to be both clear and concise, while also providing an insight into what is to follow in the article. I really like when there are links to other pages because it provides more information than what is in the original post, and links often lead to new discoveries.
I think the five key components to a good blog are on spot. I agree that a good headline is needed to capture your audience’s attention, but most importantly I think incorporating different types of media (pictures, videos, etc.) keeps the blog visually appealing, breaks up large amounts of text and keeps the reader intrigued!
One thing that I struggle a lot with is finally publishing a post or submitting an assignment. I want my work to be perfect. This, unfortunately, can prevent me from pushing out content as quickly and consistently as I would like. That is why I like step number two so much. As a writer it is important to remain confident in your work, especially when publishing content on the internet. People will always have negative things to say about your work. Instead of feeling down, look at that as an opportunity to figure out how you can write better content down the road. I know that is something that has definitely helped me moving forward and hopefully it enables me to continue to produce content that is beneficial to my audience.
I loved the focus on letting go of our expectation of perfection. When writing, it can become very easy to avoid the “publish” button due to fear of sounding too vulnerable, too honest or uneducated. But when we let go of that desire to only publish what is perfect, we open up space to create content that readers can truly relate to. This in turn grows readership and community within our online spaces.
I think the last tip on including a call to action is crucial to developing lasting relationships with people who read your blog. Asking your audience a question to get feedback is beneficial to creating future posts that are better-suited to your audience. Not only that, but asking questions engages the audience and shows that you truly do value them. A call to action might also end up bringing that viewer back to your blog to talk about their experience or look for some other call to action that you challenge them to. Overall, a call to action can create stronger future blog posts, fosters a relationship with your audience, and increases blog traffic.
I agree with all your key points and they relieve my second thoughts of my first blog post. After reading this I also have edited my second post that is in draft form and am much more confident in it reaching the correct audience.
Great tips – I often find myself struggling with how to format and best arrange my writing and can definitely relate to the frustrations of trying to find the perfect layout. I know I will have to work hard to remember and convince myself that the important part of blogging is to just hit publish and get my words out there, as it truly is the small steps that will get me to where I want to be!
I think an attention-grabbing title is one of the most important things to get people to read your blog. If the title doesn’t spark a reader’s interest, then they won’t bother to stick around to read the rest of the article. Without a strong title, it’s going to be very difficult to generate a larger audience. Including images and videos is also very important. I realize that I’m usually more drawn to articles that contain an interesting image or short video clip. It has a tendency of catching people’s eyes, even if it’s not about a subject they care about. Most people will stop for a second to look, and they may find it interesting enough to read the rest of the article.
I really like the bit about making sure to have a call to action. Even if it’s something as simple as checking out a link to another article on the same subject matter, that can be a great way to keep the topic you are discussing relevant. In fact I think a simple call to action is probably more effective than asking a lot of your audience.
Content marketing is a pivotal tool in generating online business, interest and traffic to your blog/website. These 5 key components are all great tips to keep in mind when creating interactive content! As you mentioned, there is a lot, a lot of content out there and in such a competitive environment, it’s important to take advantage of first impressions using strong headlines. In keeping your audience’s attention, I agree with you that we should keep it simple (well-formatted) and include engaging material (multimedia). The CTA is my favorite tip because it’s one that I sometimes forget about. I think it’s the most important tip in advertising because it’s how you can turn your audience into customers.
I believe that all five components are equally important to the success of a blog (depending on how the business measures their success). The biggest hurdle bloggers have to get over is composing the right headline that will catch the reader’s attention enough to click on the post. The images/videos are what keep the reader actively engaged in reading the blog post in full. Younger generations especially read more posts if the blogger uses a good amount of images and video. I am currently working with a real estate company in creating more engaging blogs that will appeal to their target market, and these tips will help me immensely going forward!
I would have to agree with everything on this list. Being an always busy student, I scan headlines quick- and if it catches my eye, I check it out. If it’s too broad, vague or inconclusive, I skip right by. Video and photos have always been a favorite of mine, and I think they are the most important point on the list. Humans are visual and enjoy looking at stimulating, entertaining or informational images and videos. I’ve had a personal blog for the past 2 years, and photos really complete each post. I have had a lot of positive feedback about this as well.
I am a photographer and have noticed that the younger generation seems to be responding to simple text and great visuals. Therefore, I believe that the first and third component can make such a big impact on a blog post or blog in general. Although, I do believe blog posts should be like this one- Structured and to the point. We can reveal so much information in a short amount of words.
I can’t help but agree that these 5 components are highly important considering I’ve never blogged before. I’m hoping to integrate these key points, and practice getting better at things like getting a well written and formatted text. I love photos that are included in blogs so I am really going to try and include more of those. GIFs are great too, more goofy but definitely appeal to my humor. I really enjoy reading blogs that have video links, so I think they’re extremely important to include for viewers like myself. Although I don’t really look for the call to action in blog posts, I am drawn to the title and whether it grabs my attention or not. From what I’ve learned so far, and how it impacts me, the title is extremely important. Something I’ve seen in blogs that could be included to this listen is the audience interaction and their shared perspective being featured in a blog.
I totally agree w/ tip #4, a blog post becomes infinitely better when a person provides additional links/information. After all, the idea is to be helpful to your customer, right? Great blog posts that aren’t afraid to share the content of others become a resource for their readers and they will appreciate you for doing the work of researching the topic and becoming a sort of one-stop-shop for all the relevant information. Being an aggregator is not a bad thing. On the topic of CTAs, do you suggest having them lead to a landing page where contact info is requested?
Like so many great guidelines, if you stop to think about them, they seem obvious but for some reason are the things that trip us up when we get to the action part of the process. Also, thanks for the link to the image resource, it is awesome.
I believe that all five components are extremely important because you really need a good blog title to inform the reader and pull them in! The text has to be well-formatted and written well, because if there are a lot of errors (some are okay!) I might question the knowledge and expertise of the writer. I do believe that No. 3 is one of the most important, because many people are visual learners and often times images and videos are the best and strongest way to get your point across, and they add character to blog posts and help break up lots of text that can get overwhelming to the reader! Lastly, I never thought about always having a call-to-action, but this makes a lot of sense, because it helps you create a dialog with your readers… I can’t wait to use these tips for my blog this semester!
I, like other commenters, appreciate the importance of the headline and having it articulated here is especially drills home this message. All of these points in fact are things that we’ve likely heard before at least in pieces, but having them all together and written in a concise and clear manner makes it that much more memorable. Additionally, the component that stood out as something I didn’t recognize and am immensely glad is included in the “call to action” element that should be a part of every blog post. Ultimately, I can see that it is going to take some practice to become comfortable with all of these components, but having the list is an excellent place to begin.
(One little thing – did you intend to have the opening paragraph repeat itself?)
Having an attention grabbing headline is so key for drawing people to your post. With so much noise and distraction on the internet, you have spark the readers interest with your headline or else they will never want to click on your link.