Are your blog posts not converting as well as you would like them to? Want to know the secrets of how to write a blog post that converts? In this article, I’ll share 7 tips that will help you write a blog post that converts.
You see most people that visit your
blog post usually leave without reading it all the way through.
What sucks even more is that even
larger percentage of people who see your blog post on twitter, facebook, etc
don’t even click on it.
You really only have 2 – 3 seconds to
grab your user’s attention and convince them to click and actually read your
blog post.
So how do you make sure that your
content marketing efforts aren’t going to waste? Well, you follow these 7 tips,
and I promise it’ll help you write blog posts that convert.
1. Know your audience
Before you start writing, it’s
crucial that you know who your audience is, and what they are looking for.Instead of guessing what your
audience need / want, I recommend that you make data-driven decision by doing
industry research and competitor analysis.
Sounds complicated? It really isn’t.
There are tons of resources out there
that you can use. Below are some of my favorites:
KeywordTool.io – a free tool that you can use to see what are some of the most
popular keywords searched by users in your industry.
Twitter Advanced Search – simply type your keyword and select the filter “questions” and
it will show you all the questions that folks in your industry are asking.
Quora – great resource to find questions folks in your industry are
asking.
SEMRush – although it’s a paid tool, it works extremely well and allows
you to spy on your competitors and steal their best ideas.
And in case you’re running out of
blog post ideas, we have created a list of 50
blog post ideas as well as 73
types of blog posts that are proven to work.
2. Write Compelling Headlines
If you don’t have a compelling
headline, then there is a very good chance that your blog post will not be read
or shared.
As humans, we’re shallow. We judge a
book by it’s cover and a blog post by it’s title.
This is why your blog post title is
crucial for the success of that blog post.
I recommend that you run your
headline through EMV headline analyzer to find the emotional marketing value of your headline.
You can also use Headline
Analyzer by CoSchedule which also gives tips
on how to improve your headline.
3. Add Subheadings to break the page
Formatting is crucial for blog posts.
There’s nothing worst than reading a
blog post that’s just one giant paragraph.
Most of the time people skim through
the content before they actually decide to read it, so I always recommend
breaking your article with subheadings.
Anything you can do to make it easy
on the user’s eyes is going to help them read your blog post (and take the
action that you want them to).
4. Use Bullet Points
Since we know that people skim before
they read, you need to make sure to highlight your best information.
Aside from subheadings, bullet lists
are perfect because they’re very easy to skim through.
Here are some tips that I use to
write bullet points that people will actually read:
- Express clear benefit. Think of bullets as
mini-headlines.
- Keep your bullets symmetrical. 1-2 lines each.
- Avoid bullet clutter. Don’t write paragraphs
in bullets.
- Remember bullets are not sentences. They’re
just like headlines.
5. Add Images
Human brain processes visual content
a lot faster than text based content. That’s why adding captivating images can
help boost your engagement.
6. Optimize for SEO
While I never recommend writing for
SEO, but I also don’t recommend writing without SEO in mind.
Google organic search drives a huge
chunk of the traffic for most websites.
If you want to maximize your SEO
ranking, then I highly recommend that you optimize your blog post.
Below are some of the tips that I
follow:
- Add proper Meta Title
- Add proper Meta Description
- Optimize for Focus Keyword
- Use related keyword variation
- Add image alt attribute
- Interlink my content
For more details, you should check
out my 14-point blog post checklist to use before you hit publish.
7. Add Clear call-to-action
And the last but also the most
important tip is to add a clear call-to-action.
Whether it is to ask your readers to
leave a comment, share your blog post, follow you on social media, or purchase
your product, make sure you clearly state what you’d like them to do.
A good call-to-action is something
that’s easily distinguishable and stands out.
For example, if you like this post,
then I’d really love it if you can share it on Twitter and Facebook.
I hope you found these 7 tips
helpful, and if you follow these, you’ll definitely be able to write blog posts
that convert.
What other tips do you use when
writing your blog posts? Let me know by leaving a comment below.