Stand out – The secret to writing an amazing blog post

Keeping your readers attention is crucial when writing blog posts and online media content. Read on to find out how to achieve this in a few simple steps. One of a bloggers biggest challenge is creating a reliable flow of content. This provides the required foundation for a successful blog alongside promotions, connecting with your following and SEO techniques. To help maximise your online efforts, I have put together ‘the secret to writing an amazing blog post’. The points below will help you to improve your blogs content and overall delivery.

• Make sure that the article is informative and serves a purpose
• Be concise
• Write great headlines. It will capture the readers attention
• Include relevant pictures. Particularly of faces
• Set category tags
• Take readers on a journey
• Include calls to action
• Quality control
• Make it scannable
• Write in plain, concise language – using your common sense

Like anything, experience is gained over time. The more you write, the easier it becomes. In this post we will discuss straight-thinking methods for success. Shall we start?                                                                                              Discover what your readers want With any business you need to know who your customers are and what they want. Blogging is no different. Ask yourself the following questions before proceeding. – Who are my readers? – What do they need? – How will they change as a result of reading the blog? Understanding the answers to these questions will kick start your journey to successful blogging.

Improve your writing

The experience of writing your first blog post can be similar to the frustration felt whilst starting at the gym. At the beginning it hurts and you will want to quit. But with persistence you should find that it becomes enjoyable- and quite addictive. Especially when you notice improvements! Sites like WordPress include free stats and analytics to enable you to monitor your results.

• The Internet is bursting with useful resources to improve your skills. Websites’ such as www.750words.com do just that. Designed as a way to help you offload fresh ideas from your head each morning, 750 words is a great way to relieve your brain from the stress of processing vast amounts of information. It even sends you a reminder each day if you forget to update it

• Above all, regular reading will improve your flow. It provides the brain with the required exercise and nourishment needed to be creative. What is the use in having a plant without watering it?

Win your readers heart! It is no use just trying to please search engines. Concentrate on the living people that enthusiastically spend time reading your work. Give them what they want and try to solve their problem. Don’t hard sell. Don’t be annoying. Just be helpful. SEO Don’t ignore SEO all together. It still plays an important role in your blog posts, which will improve online visibility. Using tools such as Google Analytics will enable you to discover invaluable information about your site. Analysis tools, content, social, advertising, mobile and conversion analytics are all provided. This will provide you with the opportunity to improve your sites content and overall success. Click here to find out more on Google Analytics.

Making your post scannable

Did you know that during a study a staggering 79% of test users scanned every new page that they came across? Only 16% of visitors read word by word. We’ve put together a break down of how you can maximise online usability. Click here to read the full study. Lists – Statistics show that posts containing bullet points are linked to many more than posts written in an essay format Formatting – I recommend using CAPITALS, bold, italics and underlining to emphasise the points that you wish to make. This will get the readers attention Headings and Subheadings –  I also suggest using these midway through posts to break up text and draw attention to particular sections Pictures – Big chunks of text can often deter a reader from progressing. A smart use of pictures can combat this and deliver an improved user experience. I recommend pictures of people to connect with your reader Space – Creating space helps to make readers not feel overwhelmed. Break up your text into smaller bites Make your points visible – Deliver key points at the beginning of your blog post to ensure that readers notice them Hopefully this information has helped you to discover a variety of new techniques. I will be regularly making posts containing advanced techniques, so keep checking back to find out more. Spread the love and share this post with those that you feel could benefit too! If properties are more your thing, we can help out with that too. Get in touch with Joe to find out how we can help.