In the last eight months of the KLCK Bloggers Network I have learnt a lot. My blog posts are getting read more, I’m getting more comments, and I’m even writing better posts. This week I thought I’d share with you my personal formula for a successful blog post, it’s a very personal thing and definitely isn’t the only way to do it. In fact I’m often surprised at the success of some of the posts I’ve cobbled together whilst blogging in the middle of the night that break some, if not all of these rules.
1. Headline
When naming your blog post bear in mind this is your ‘Headline’ as with a newspaper headline it needs to peak the interest of your reader and persuade them to read on. Using phrases such as ‘How to…’ or ’10 ways to…’ or recently popular amongst the blogs I read ’10 ways not to…’ always attract more readers. When you have composed your headline look at it again and decide if you would read a blog post with that title. If the answer is no go back and try again. Try and keep it short too, the max length should be 60 characters, this is good for search engines (according to ‘All In One SEO Pack) as well as easy to share on Twitter.
2. Leading paragraph
As with the headline this should be something that reels your readers in. This is your chance to state what the post is about and why people would want to read on. Keep it short and think about what keywords you would like to add to this section. What terms would you like your blog post to be found for. For example, above I’ve mentioned blog, blogging and blogger quite a lot.
3. Body of text
Unless you are an exceptional writer I’d make this as concise as possible. Some readers when confronted with a wall of text will leave. I like to try and break down text into easily digestible chunks. Make it easy to read and your readers will get to the end and understand what you have written.
4. Call to action
Many readers may read your introduction, scan the rest of the post and then read the last line. This last line is important and should contain a call to action. A call to action could be as simple as asking for a comment, a suggestion of further reading on your website or Facebook page or even looking for a sale. I generally ask for comments (see example below).
Have I missed anything out? Do you have a formula of your own? If so leave a comment below, I’d love to hear your suggestions.
Liking your call to action – it worked 🙂 – great easy to read, concise, believable article Amanda – thanks for sharing
Hi Amanda,
I agree with all of the above.
I would also add tagging, making sure your categories are a strong match for the post itself, and using your main keywords for the post throughout.
Brilliant Christina! Yes tagging is really important and categories too. Thanks for your suggestions 🙂