Top 10 Tips for Creating the Perfect Blog Post

Blog! Blog! Blog! Time and time again, we hear about the importance of blogging for your business (hint: it’s VERY important). But the truth is, blog writing itself is easier said than done. In fact, actually sitting down to write a blog post can be quite intimidating, especially if it’s your first time. Luckily, WSI Montreal is here to help! Below, our digital marketing agency has put together 10 tips to help you create the perfect blog post.

1. It’s All in the Title

The title of your blog post is crucial; it should be clear, concise, and specify the topic of your post. A title will either make or break your blog post; the best titles are catchy and draw the reader in. Undoubtedly, the title of your post is one of the most critical elements for SEO, so be sure to include at least one keyword. Notably, “conversational search” was an important part of Google’s Hummingbird algorithm update, so don’t shy away from phrasing titles the same way a prospect would type into Google.

2. Write for the Reader

We can’t all be Shakespeare; and for the sake of blogging, don’t try to be! Write your blog with the reader in mind; you want to use simple words and clear sentences. Consequently, you should avoid jargon and technical terms. People are reading your post to learn; you don’t want them to leave your blog post overwhelmed and more confused than before.

3. Provide Rich Content

The content you share needs to be informative for your readers; don’t post anything that beats around the bush and offers no conclusions. Your post should demonstrate your expertise and knowledge, and offer solutions, advice, and relevant information. If you’re not supplying your readers with rich content, they’ll move on to a blog that does!

4. Structure Your Content

Make sure your content is well structured and easy to follow! Splitting your content into bite sized pieces make it easier for your readers to digest. In fact, they prefer it that way! Don’t be afraid to use sub headings, short paragraphs, and bullet point lists. Readers are much more likely to read you post from top to bottom if it is well structured.

5. Tell Your Reader What to do Next

At the end of your post, be sure to always include a call to action; it’s up to you to encourage your readers to take the next step! Invite them to comment on your post, share it with their friends, sign-up for future updates, visit your webpage for more information, etc. A little push can go a long way!

6. Include an Image

Images attract your readers’ attention and make your post more “shareable”, especially on social networks such as Pinterest. Of course, never use an image that you don’t have rights to. You can find plenty of stock photos online, both free and paid; iStock and Shutterstock are both great paid sites that offer a wide variety of selection.

7. Include Share Buttons

You want your readers to share your content, so make it easy for them! By including social share buttons in your posts, you make it simple for your readers to share your post at any time in their reading, in a matter of seconds.

8. Take the Time to Proofread

Nothing will make your credibility sink faster than a typo or grammatical error. Take the time to read over your blog post and make sure it’s error free before posting. Tip: have someone else read it over; when you spend hours concentrating on content, you can sometimes overlook obvious grammatical errors glaring out at you.

9. Limit your Links

It is recommended to include links, but don’t overdo it. This is especially true with inbound links, such as links to previous posts or other blog categories. Ideally, you do not want to have more than ten inbound links on your blog post page. When you have more than ten, Google starts to question the abundance of links – which is never good for SEO!

10. Don’t Leave out the Meta Content

Metadata is data that search engines use when adding pages to their search index. In other words, meta data is crucial for SEO. Accordingly, you should be sure to include meta titles and meta descriptions in your blog posts to optimize them for search. There’s plenty of WordPress plug-ins that can help you with entering meta content, one of our montreal web design team’s personal favourites is Yoast.

Of course, blogging is not an exact science; it takes time and practice to master the art of blog writing. However, we hope these 10 tips will give you the framework (and confidence!) to master your future blog posts.

Learn more about the importance of content marketing, which should play an essential part in any successful online marketing strategy.