It is not good use of your time or resources to develop and publish blog content just for the sake of doing it. We see this repeatedly from startups and established businesses alike who produce and create a lot of content but lack a clear blog content strategy.
If done properly, blogging can bring you, and your business, hundreds of visits every day to your website. This should result in high quality leads being generated through your blog and funneled directly into the sales process. With that in mind, here’s how to create blog content that works.
How to create blog content that works
Choose your audience
Running a blog without identifying your target audience can drain time and energy. What if the vast majority of your blog’s articles only appeal to a tiny portion of the audience you had in mind?
You must be aware of what your readers want. They can be recognised based on a variety of traits, including their professional background, demographic characteristics, and position in your conversion funnel.
You’ll be able to develop personas for your users based on these traits. You can write for your entire audience while being specialised to their interests by creating three to five reader personas.
Enhance the readability
There are several techniques to improve your blog’s “readability”. Use white space to highlight the content on your blog and reduce distractions that could divert readers’ attention from the primary content (such as widgets, links, banners, etc.). To do this, you may either make the distractions stand out dramatically in contrast to your core material or eliminate them entirely.
Get the formatting on-point
How easy is your blog on the eye? Check to determine whether your paragraphs are congested, your font is too small, or the headings can’t be distinguished from the paragraphs.
Ultimately, the written language is what makes your blog’s material readable. Various readability tests enable you to determine whether your material is understandable or not. Utilise various copywriting strategies and examine your vocabulary choice. Again, user personas will be useful here because they will give you a sense of how well-versed your readers are.
Make it simple to subscribe
What action do almost all blogs encourage their readers to take? Making it simple for your readers to subscribe to your blog is only sensible. However, there are still some blogs that don’t offer simple membership.
First of all, every page of your site needs to include a link to your subscription box. The next step is to make sure users can see your subscription box and take action. Consider including a complimentary gift with a subscription. Make sure the offer doesn’t take priority over the subscription box.
Provide easy navigation
You don’t want visitors to read one post before leaving. You want them to remain as long as they can and grow fond of what you offer.
Offer simple blog navigation to keep people interested. “Previous posts” and “Related Posts” links are helpful. The more content your readers read, the more likely they will do business with you in the future.
You can also encourage visitors to try out your product or service on your blog. You should offer pertinent navigation alternatives to your audience (or a certain portion of your audience) if you believe they could be interested in purchasing from you.
Make searching simple
On your site, readers may have trouble finding the articles they want to read. They don’t want to scroll endlessly or through numerous listing pages to find that piece of material. Search boxes are very handy in this situation.
💡 A hidden search box is of no assistance to users. Try to keep your search box big enough for users to see it, and ideally position it above the fold.
Improve your social sharing possibilities
One of the largest platforms from which a blog can receive visitors is social media (along with search engines and email). It’s also the primary platform for content promotion for the majority of blogs. Therefore, your blog must have optimised social sharing choices if you too want to get the most out of social media.
Make sure your social sharing buttons are expertly constructed and complement your blog’s general theme and appearance. The sharing buttons on the blog should be simple to find and support posting to all pertinent social networking platforms. To establish social evidence, show the buttons and the quantity of social shares.
If you run a Shopify store and are considering how to scale your offerings, a smart approach would be adopting a subscription model. Two paths emerge here: one is developing engaging content to support and promote this business model, and another is integrating the right tools to deliver it seamlessly. For those curious about finding the perfect solution for their store, discovering the best subscription box Shopify apps can mark the beginning of an enhanced customer retention strategy.
Reduce page loading time
It is common knowledge that one of the major elements affecting search engine rankings is how quickly a website loads. Fast-loading websites are much more likely to rank in Google. In light of this, your blog has to load quickly for improved user experience and SEO.
You must make your blog leaner if you want to decrease load time. Remove unnecessary content (or code) from your blog to make it “lighter.” Start by identifying the widgets and plugins on your blog that aren’t really useful. Your blog will load more quickly if these widgets and plugins are not used.
You can also search through your blog for any unnecessary javascript code, large photos, or other media. If you have an endless scroll feature on your blog homepage, stop utilising it. Make sure to paginate your blog content. A page’s amount of posts should also be limited.
Reduce the bounce rate
By providing readers with useful internal links they may use, you can reduce your bounce rate. Links that say “Relevant posts” or “Suggested posts” are two examples of this. Additionally, look over your blog statistics to determine the mobile bounce rate. If your blog is not mobile-optimised, it will show in the high bounce rate for mobile viewers in particular.
Select your URL carefully
Each blog post should have a short URL that includes the keyword(s) you want to rank for. Select your URL carefully so that Google and users know exactly what your blog is about before crawling or reading.
Concentrate on content
The amount of content available online is immense, and people appear to have less free time than ever to read. Therefore, how can your writing persuade even the most tired readers to pause and absorb new information? Write articles that tick these boxes and you will draw readers in and encourage them to click more:
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Specify a topic
Choosing a narrow topic that is fascinating to and relevant to your audience is the first step in generating content that is engaging. Generalisations are simple to disregard but specificity is appealing.
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Keep the promise made in your headline
Although eye-grabbing headlines or bold claims may draw website users’ attention, most individuals share information because they found it beneficial. Stick to your subject and go into great detail to keep your piece relevant.
Clickbait titles may initially cause a rush to the page, but they quickly annoy and repel visitors, particularly business executives searching for reliable, educational material. Focus on particular topics that readers will find thought-provoking or enlightening without misleading them in the title if you want to publish articles that capture their attention and motivate them to take action.
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Write concisely
Making sure your material is engaging and simple to understand for all readers is a key component of connecting with website visitors. Avoid clichés and technical vocabulary while writing as plainly and vividly as you can. Jargon overuse might alienate non-experts in your industry. Resources like Udemy and Blog Growth Engine Review can help in this area.
Let’s summarise
It is by no means a simple task to keep up an effective blog. If you want high quality content that brings results, whilst attracting backlinks to your business, then blog writing should never be taken lightly or done while distracted.
When it comes to producing valuable content that gets read, shared and found online by people looking for the types of services or products you offer, it can’t be stressed enough the importance of growing your blog. Your content marketing can move in the proper path if you are aware of any blogging errors you may have made or are still making.
Keep in mind that most consumers read articles to learn more and to become more informed, not necessarily to make a purchase right away.
