Most blog visitors are actually scanners, where they check the content on the blog without really getting into the meat. This isn’t necessarily because the content is boring, but could be tied to the presentation. In this post, we show you how to create inviting content that will convert as you envisioned when starting your blog.
Research Thoroughly for your Niche
You already know your audience, and so one of the best things you can do is fashion content they will appreciate. You want to use a tone they will relate to and research the material they will enjoy reading. Writing is about maintaining the balance between being informative and entertaining. You do not want to overdo one in a way that affects the other.
Pick Topic Ideas Wisely
As much as you have taken the time to know your audience, you want to be sure that you write blog posts they enjoy. It is easier done than said, actually, since you have the internet as a trusted guide. Look out for the trending topics and ride the wave. You will capitalize on the search results made by others, which is only made better by optimization.
Other free tools that will help you know what your audience wants include Quora and Ask the Public. Quora is a goldmine that you can also use to advertise your content. You will find out what people want to know through their questions, and linking your blog when answering them will give you some well-deserved new readers. Answer the Public makes use of questions readers may want answers to, listing keywords that help with optimization.
Use Subheadings
Writing is an art of seduction that you must learn to apply subtly to keep readers sufficiently. Blocks or writing are not enticing and readers will leave as soon as they come since they will be reminded of academic texts. Breaking it down into palatable parts makes it more enticing to read, and visitors can easily spot the parts they need the most. While at it, you also want to keep the writing as simple as possible depending on your audience. This in no way means their vocabulary isn’t advanced, but most people are turned off by big words that they have to google. Writing in the active voice keeps your posts engaging.
Enlisting Help from Pros
When you really want to connect to your readers but lack the skills to get to them, you can enlist the help of pro writers as well as other free resources.
Here are some of the most effective for writing the refined blog posts:
- Answer the Public for SEO needs and keyword creation. It gives you a wide range of related keywords to choose from.
- Google Trends to know what’s trending at that time. It makes it easy to select a topic to write about for maximum engagement.
- Hemingway Editor to check the readability of your content. You are guided on how to improve the scale or readability till you get it right.
- Headline analyzer by CoSchedule to see how your headline fairs. It helps you strengthen and make it relevant for particular content. They even let you see how it will appear when published.
- Grammarly for editing and checking grammatical correctness of your article. You even get to know the tone of your article, whether it’s friendly or not.
Bullet Points and Images
While breaking down your blog post into smaller parts, you also want to remember to include bullets where applicable. Tables help too where you compare one item to the other, and you could also have graphs for data. All these are visual aids that make a reader more interested in your material, so that they easily share it with their contacts.
Images are yet another useful aid that you want to apply to break the monotony of text. They are a welcome sight, and the good thing is that you don’t have to source your own. Unsplash and Pixabay are sources of high-quality free stock images.
Edit your Work
Typos and grammar mistakes can put readers off, so you want to check them before publishing your post. If you have the time, let an article rest for a day before you edit it to get a fresh view. If you have friends that could go through it for a peer review, you are likely to be setting yourself up for a successful blog post.
Optimize for SEO
One of the best ways to make your blog content visible to the masses is by engine optimization. Some of the ways you can strike a balance as far as SEO is concerned so you are not in trouble with the search engines are;
- Use meta descriptions and meta titles
- Find related variations of keywords that you can apply organically
- Include alt-text to benefit when others search those words
- Use key-phrases as opposed to words only.
- Embed links that may benefit your work from verified, non-competing sources
Advertise it on Social Media
Make as much noise on social media as possible to let others know you have a new post. You want to make the captions interesting because this platform is all about impressions. You can also sponsor content here to advertise to a wider audience than you have on your platform, though some may consider that as inorganic. The ideal is to appeal to others not only to read your text but to also post it on their social pages for wider circulation.
Going back to Quora, you could answer questions that correspond with your article and tag your blog in the process to welcome more readers. The more you engage users on this platform, the better the more people your answers reach.
I’ve been using Cloudways since January 2016 for this blog. I happily recommend Cloudways to my readers because I am a proud customer.
One Step at a Time
You might not get there immediately, but taking small steps every day helps you get better each time you write. Most of the online tools we mentioned above are free – or available at a reasonably small fee – and designed to help you get better. You may also want to write more blog content frequently since it’s been found to improve the skill. While at it, remember to have fun, so it doesn’t feel like a chore.
