You’ve come up with a great blog topic and you’re excited to craft your next article.
But how do you ensure it will be your best one yet; that it will generate the website traffic, social media shares and comments/likes that it deserves?
Simple – by including six key requirements.
From the article’s first few lines to its final sentence, here’s what to include in every blog article you create to maximize results!
A Compelling Title
In a maximum of five seconds, a reader will decide whether they’re going to read your blog article or not. Without an interesting title, the chances of a reader continuing on is virtually zero. Why put all that effort into writing an entire blog article, without dedicating even more effort to crafting the perfect title?
A headline plays an important role. Besides clearly informing people what your article is all about, it gets readers excited to read your entire article. Plus, integrating SEO techniques into your title can compel people to click on your site in search engine results instead of your competitors’ websites.
Topic Generation
When writing a blog article, you need to write about what your reader wants to read, which may differ from what you actually want to write.
Blog articles are targeted to a certain audience and must address their needs and wants. Why would they choose your company over your competitor? How can your company’s products/services fulfill their needs?
Coming up with topics can be tough if you aren’t an experienced copywriter. You need to not only generate an interesting topic but one that will be searched on Google, too. Conducting some keyword research is key during this stage and our Toronto copywriting services can help you do that successfully!
Length
One question that we often get asked by our clients is in regards to optimal blog article length: “How long should each and every blog post be that we create?”
There’s no simple answer to that. Blog length depends on your topic, your audience and your intent.
Does your audience enjoy reading long-form copy, or are you targeting people who are already crunched for time?
How much information do you have to discuss while keeping your audience engaged?
Do you want to provide a broad overview of a topic and encourage readers to reach out to you for more information? Or do you want your blog article to address numerous questions so that you only get traffic that is more likely to convert into customers?
When it comes to blog length, we always tell our clients that it’s the quality that matters. A 1,000-word long blog post is useless if nobody will want to read it!
Readability
Your blog needs to be easy to read which is why you need to make readability a priority.
Keep sentences short, avoid flowery phrases and edit, edit, edit! Target your writing to your audience – ie. depending on who your blog’s intended for, it may be okay to use acronyms.
Don’t forget about the power of subheadings! They help break up your content so that readers short on time can skim to the exact information that interests them.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
The world of Google is constantly changing and it can be difficult to keep up.
Staying on top of the newest algorithms and SEO techniques helps your content get found by search engines. SEO cannot be learned overnight – and even the most experienced copywriter is constantly learning new tips.
Title length, keyword research, meta descriptions and more help get your content in-front of the audience you’re targeting.
Call to Action (CTA)
Each blog article you write should include a CTA that encourages some sort of action by your reader.
Maybe it’s to sign up for your e-newsletter, email you for an estimate, or download your newest e-book. Whatever you decide on, including a CTA in each of your blog articles will help grow your audience base and convert more customers.
The Bottom Line
Many company owners think that blog writing will be a very simple task. But in order to get the best results, your blog needs to include the six items above.
At the end of the day, you want to increase website traffic and get more sales. Your blog is a great way to help you achieve these goals!
For the greatest chance of blog writing success, hire a Toronto copywriter that’s experienced with writing effective blog posts. Contact us today for a free consultation!
