When it comes to blogging, you may be wondering, "What makes the perfect blog post?" In my opinion, this is both an art and a science. It needs to be visually appealing with text breaks, a good amount of white space, and visual elements. But it also needs to be written in a way that provides value, engages the readers, and encourages them to take a specific action.
In other words, writing a good blog post is no easy feat. Understanding the basic building blocks of the perfect blog post is a great start.
Studies show that 80% of people will read your title, but only 20% will go on to read the post. Your title is the first, and maybe only, opportunity to capture your readers attention and convince them to read the rest of the post. Make sure your title is catchy, engaging, and captures what will be included in the post.
A few tools available that help create great titles are CoSchedule's Headline Analyzer tool. It gives you a grade based on several factors, and also tells you areas that need to be improved to create a great title for your blog post.
Another study found that readers will decide within 10-20 seconds of opening your content whether they want to stick around or bounce. Similar to the title, your introduction is another opportunity to capture the attention of the reader, and convince them to read the rest of the post.
You can achieve this in several ways such as:
The key is to get them past the introduction in order to get them to the 'meat' or the body of the post.
More often that not, readers will skim the content rather than read the post in full. It's our job to make sure that it's quick and easy for readers to find the information they need to be on their way. Sub-headers help with this by breaking up the content into separate sections, making it easy for them to scan the post for the information they need. It also gives the post structure and breaks up large amounts of text in order for readers to consume and digest the information easier.
It is a proven fact that people process visual information faster than text. By implementing visual elements like videos, infographics, and even GIF's in your content, you can help drive home your point and support your content. They key is to make sure the visual content you include is on-brand, appropriate for your audience, and also relevant to the content to be effective.
Every blog post serves a purpose, and that's to get your reader to take a specific action. When choosing a call-to-action (CTA) for your blog post, ask yourself, "What do I want the reader to do next?" Include a CTA that helps you achieve that goal.
This wraps up the five basic elements of a perfect blog post. By including these elements, you'll be on the right track to creating a post that drives engagement, increases conversions, and keeps readers coming back for more.