No matter how much you invest in marketing, and how many experts you consult with, you can’t run successful blog without including quality content. If your blog is reaching your audience, but they’re not finishing the whole article or engaging at all then there are issues with your content. No quick fixes can replace frequent and interesting content that is well-written and relevant to your readers. Generating great content is not easy – it takes a lot of hard work, planning, and researching the kind of writing that is effective for blogs. The following 6 steps can be a solid foundation on which to build your blog content.
1. Utilize Online Writing and Proofreading Resources
Online writing resources are a valuable tool that can massively improve the quality of your writing. If you know your business inside out, and really want to put your voice into the posts, then what could be lacking is some finesse. Nobody trusts a business or a blogger that can’t write well as it’s just unprofessional – you’re ruining your reputation and can be losing readers after the first few sentences. Your writing could also just lack some excitement and engaging qualities – and all of these points could be resolved by hiring an editor. In some cases, for example a business blog or someone lacking time – it may be an idea to use these resources for content writing services, as they can also write the whole post for you. These services are available through Big Assignments, which is super simple to use.
You can also use online tools to edit your own work, such as Hemingway A pp, which strengthens your writing by pointing out adverbs, and long, complicated sentences. You can make sure your word count is SEO friendly with Easy Word Count, and you can check the level of your writing is appropriate with Readability Score. You may even want to invest your time in improving your writing though free guides such as those available on Australian Help, or even a fully fledged course in writing, such as those offered by Academized.
2. Always Write With Your Customer In Mind
Never forget that you are not writing a diary – this isn’t all about you. If all you write about is yourself and your business, then it won’t matter how well you write or how much you promote your blog – very few people will actually be interested past the first few lines. When you’re writing a blog, you’re doing it as a form of marketing – which means you need to be telling your audience about how they can benefit from your business, and how you can help them. The average reader will not want to read all about you – they’ll only be interested in how you are good for them. Writing with a customer in mind also encompasses using a friendly and conversational tone, and removing any jargon from your posts. Scattering questions throughout your work also contributes to engaging content, as including questions makes your text read as if it were a 2 way conversation.
3. Consider What Your Reader Wants
Depending on the subject of your blog, you should have a pretty good idea of the kind of content that your readers would be interested in, and the kind they won’t. It’s never easy to predict what the most popular blog topics will be, however you can gauge your audience’s interest based on their responses to previous topics. One great hint is to store questions from your readers and re-work them into blog posts – that way you have inspiration for a post that you know is relevant and of interest to your readers.
4. Include Pictures and Infographics
It may be a cliché, but a picture really can be worth a thousand words. In the internet era, people have short attention spans, so paragraph after paragraph of text is unappealing, and could easily be closed by your readers in favour of something more user-friendly. Use pictures and infographics to make your posts bright and attractive – which will draw in your reader – but also to explain complex points. This will help your writing stay clear and concise. For maximum impact, you should use pictures and infographics alongside other layout features that have proved to be successful in blogs. These features include using subheadings, short sentences and paragraphs, lists, and bullet points.
5. Hook Your Reader
Much like using pictures, having a catchy title and hook in your opening line is essential. It’s in that first few seconds that your reader is deliberating whether or not they should take the time to read your article, or simply keep scrolling. Spend time thinking of a headline that will set you apart from the crowd, and your opening line should be the one you work on the most, as it’s the one that needs to grab your reader’s attention. No matter how well you promote your blog, or how good the content is, unless your opening is awesome, your reader will not stick around to read the whole post.
6. Never Forget Your Goal
When you are writing without a purpose or a plan, you may end up meandering from topic to topic, and rambling in long, overly complicated sentences. This is not at all what your reader is looking for – you should have a message for them that is clear throughout the whole article. And this message should include a goal for you. Whether you’re looking to use keywords to improve your SEO, or need action from your readers like signing up for an email list or following you on social media- your message and your goal should always be crystal clear.
While generating original content that readers love will never be easy, the above tips help you turn your ideas into popular blog articles, and expand your online presence.
About author
Sharon Conwell has been a content manager and ghost writer at over 20 online projects, now she is a part-time educator and an editor at Big Assignments. She’s specializing at content creation and optimization. She loves coffee, tulips and her Shih Tzu named Bobby.
