Have you ever written a blog post that you were absolutely certain would be the one that would make you famous, the one that would go viral, but it ended up falling flat as a pancake? No one tweeted it. No one commented on it. Not one person gave a damn about it.
As a writer, it’s heartbreaking to see something you’ve slaved over for hours – even days, in some cases – go down like a sinking stone. It’s worse than receiving negative comments. At least then you know someone’s bothered to read your work.
When a blog post – or any other piece of online writing – doesn’t go the way you expected it to, you can often put it down to the writing itself. While many writers out there would hate to admit it, your blog post hasn’t been a success because you didn’t write it properly.
Not that all the words weren’t in the right place (assuming you did your research, knew your stuff, did all the right SEO-related things and didn’t include any horrendous typos), what we mean is that you didn’t have all of the right ingredients.
Writing a blog post it like baking a cake. You can’t replace self-raising flour with baking soda and just hope for the best, in the same way that you can’t miss out any of the integral research for your blog post before you start writing. If you haven’t followed the recipe to success for your blog post, don’t even bother publishing it. It’s better to spend an extra day or so working out the kinks than to publish and just hope it all works out, knowing all the while that you could have done better.
So, to give you the upper-hand when writing, and to show you why your blog posts may have always fallen flat in the past, here’s Neil Walker Digital Group’s ultimate guide to baking the perfect blog each and every time:
What makes a perfect blog?
Make sure your title’s a real head-turner
For many writers, titles are the bane of their existence. How are you supposed to sum up four hours (or more) of tireless writing with just eight words? It can sometimes feel like getting a ship into a bottle: a seemingly impossible task but, when done right, a sight for sore eyes.
Once you’ve unlocked the mystery of the title, creating them is easy. Titles come naturally to some writers, but to others they’re as elusive as the Holy Grail. The trick is to think simple, think snappy, and think smart.
One of my favourite resources for creating super-duper headlines is Copyblogger’s aptly named How to Write Magnetic Headlines guide. As they say, about eight out of 10 people will stop to read your headline, but as few as two out of 10 will read past it. It’s heartbreaking when you think of it like this, but that’s why your headline needs to be so gobsmackingly awesome.
Another great headline-writing resource is Social Media Today’s How to Write Great Headlines That Earn Clicks blog post.
The message in both (and all other similar guides you’ll find out there), is that you need to be:
- Clear and concise – get your message across in as few words as possible
- Direct – always gear your title towards the people you want to read your blog, rather than aiming it at absolutely everyone on the internet
- Search friendly – include a keyword in there, if possible. This will make it ultra-searchable, and will increase your chances of click-throughs and links
- Helpful – titles that are centred around guides, such as how to-posts, are successful because they promise to answer peoples’ questions
- Numerical – adding a number to your title makes your blog even more direct. Think of it from their point of view: ‘Just seven steps to learning how to do such-and-such-a-thing? Awesome! I’ll have learnt everything I need to know in no time!’
Make your opening paragraph a must-read
Approximately 16% of people tweet content before they’ve actually finished reading it, according to Adi Gaskell’s research. What does that mean? That your opening paragraph needs to be so good, readers share it before they’ve even finished the first sentence. It needs to make people sit up and take notice.
Your main aim shouldn’t be to get shares or even links though. As a writer, you want people to actually read your work, so you’ll always be working towards those all-important comments, which analyse what you’ve written. Trackbacks and social shares are still nice, though.
Again referring to Copyblogger, their blog post on The 2nd Most Important Element in Copywriting is an excellent resource if you’re struggling to come up with an awe-inspiring first paragraph.
As Robert Bruce wrote in Copyblogger’s article:
“That sentence must speak directly to the needs and desires of your audience and your content must deliver on its promise.”
Be aware of your word-choices
We’re not just talking about keywords here, although they are essential in the world of online writing. For all writers – whether you’re a novelist or a copywriter – using power words will make you a stronger writer.
If you aren’t sure what power words are, I recommend you read Jon Morrow’s blog post on the 317 Power Words That’ll Instantly Make You a Better Writer right now. In it, he explains that certain words hold more sway over readers than others; they inspire readers to take action. These words need to be included in your writing.
Jon’s created a huge list of all the best power words he’s ever come across, and he’s certainly happened upon a great many words in his time. While not all will be relative, it gives you insight into the type of words you should be leaning towards. They’re action words; words that make you want to go out and do things. Whether that be buying a product or sharing a blog post depends on the way you use them, though.
As for search keywords, your old favourites such as SEM Rush and Google AdWords Keyword Planner should always be in your arsenal.
Be ruthless in your editing
Not all writers get it right the first time, and being a strong enough writer to know when you need to cull the bad words from the good will make your writing better. When editing your work, make sure you’re truthful to yourself and that you never leave any sentences in your work that you really think are a little flimsy. Don’t be one of those writers who thinks they can do no wrong (you can, and when you do, your readers will absolutely let you know about it).
Break things up a little
No one wants to read a wall of text, so always break your blog posts up with bullet points, numbered lists, headings and images. While words are wonderful, they can be incredibly intimidating at times, and we all know about the statistics that tell us people stay on web pages for less than a minute. Don’t blow your chances by forgetting to make your blog pretty.
Make your writing sexy
Amazing writing is like a seductive woman, one that’s delicately flirting with her prey in such a way that they hardly notice what’s happening. Wouldn’t you love your writing to be like that?
One of the best ways to write seductively is to involve your reader. Talk directly to them. Make them feel as though your blog post was written just for them. Here’s how you can achieve this:
- Ask rhetorical questions – not only does this make your blog more personal, but it also makes the reader think about what they’ve just read
- Use metaphors, analogies and similes – using writing tactics such as this will make your blog post richer, more lustrous and more imaginative
- Share quotes – don’t just paraphrase, include the actual quote. It makes your readers believe in your writing more
- Shock them with statistics – statistics have the uncanny ability of making people believe anything you say. You could tell people that 50% of cat ladies wear housecoats, and so long as you linked to a reliable resource, they’d trust you. This, incidentally, leads us onto our next point …
- Always back up your claims – never, ever, ever make a claim without linking to your source. A reader instantly distrusts a blog post or article if it doesn’t show precisely where the writer got their information from – for all they know, you’re lying through your teeth
- Include cliffhangers – something as simple as including an ellipsis, such as the one above, can count as a cliffhanger. It basically just encourages your readers to keep reading – they want to know what happens next just as much as you want them to
Keep it real
While Lana Cooper’s blog post on The Importance of Keeping it Real in Your Writing refers to writing books, I feel it applies to online writers just as much.
Whether you’re a freelance writer or you work for a larger company, there will come a time when you have to write something just because it’s that month’s hot topic. Be it the latest Google search trends, a post to do with writing or something else entirely, you’re going to come off as a total phony if you don’t do it right.
As Lana says:
“Find something about a genre that nobody else has done. Is there an angle that hasn’t been explored?”
I couldn’t agree with Lana more on this point – the last thing you want to do is just reiterate someone else’s words – it’s tantamount to plagiarism (and, by the way, the copywriter’s that commit the awful act of plagarism ought to pay for it with some kind of corporal punishment. That’s how much I hate it).
No, instead, you should be looking for that other angle that hasn’t been explored before, and bringing your own thoughts to the table in order to expand the topic, rather than simply regurgitating it.
Take, for example, this blog post. Yes, there are many other blogs just like it on the internet, but the tack I’ve gone with is to compile a super-blog with some of the best resources you’ll find about each all-important point, while also adding a few of my own thoughts into the mix.
Make your closing words count
You want to finish with a flourish, rather than petering out like a car that’s run out of petrol, or – even worse – abruptly ending with no closing words whatsoever. For the readers that have gone the extra mile and have read right to the end, you need to make it worth their while. Make them thankful they bothered to get past the opening paragraph.
You need to include a conclusion in your blog post, but please refrain from pointing out that it’s your conclusion with a big, bold ‘CONCLUSION’ heading. Give your readers some credit, they know what a conclusion is when they see it.
Aside from being your chance to wrap up all of your thoughts and deliver a final blow to your topic, your closing words are your chance to encourage your readers to get involved – they’re your call to action.
Ask your readers what they thought, if they have any comments, if they think you missed anything out, and if they’d have written anything differently. Encourage them to disagree with you; it inspires conversation and, you never know, you may get something out of it, such as a new angle on the topic.
When I wrote my first blog post some three years ago (although it feels like it was more like ten years ago), I just couldn’t figure out the tone of voice or even what I was supposed to be aiming for with my writing. I managed to produce some kind of Frankenstein’s Monster of a blog post, which was utterly useless. What am I saying? That being a good blogger takes patience, time and practice, but that with this list of ingredients you should be able to fast-track the process.
Do you know of any other essential tips? What was your writing like when you first started? Do you think I’m completely wrong, and that writing is something that ought to come naturally, rather than being formulated from the start? Let me know by tweeting us on @theukseo.