Writing awesome blog content is very important to ensure everything goes as smoothly as possible. You have a handful of visitors who are depending on the information you provide to learn something new each week. These readers are loyal and it’s important your content is in-depth and structured correctly. In the world of blogging, there is no shortage of competition so if people don’t find what they are looking for on your blog they’ll simply head to another. I always encourage my clients to pay close attention to the formatting and structure of their content because you can learn a lot by simply viewing the way it is displayed. For example, when people arrive on your blog and the page is cluttered they’ll MOST likely leave because they’ll feel finding value is going to be hard. Next, when content is structured correctly it’s easy to read and get your point across which is great for user engagement and conversions. I always tell people to follow this basic structure…
- Awesome headline
- Introduction
- Sub-headings
- Body
- Conclusion
Let’s go over each of these elements in more detail.
Awesome Headline
Crucial because this is displayed at the top of your content and within search results so it’s important to attract the reader. For example, in search results your content will be displayed with 10-12 others similar to the keyword typed by the searcher. You have to standout and having the right headline is a great way to attract the click-through. This means knowing what to incorporate and how to structure it. Here’s what I recommend.
First, always include the keywords people are searching for within your title. These people are obviously typing in a phrase to find specific content so include that in your title. This will be eye-catching and will increase your CTR. Secondly, try and mix as many related keywords into your title because this will increase CTR and help when ranking within the SERP’s. However, keep in mind your title should NOT be more than 60 characters long.
Introduction
This part should be where you entice the visitor to keep reading and should be right to the point. I use to believe in writing lengthy introduction, however, learned that people want to find proof your content will give them what they need. Make your introduction concise so the reader knows exactly what to expect if they keep reading. Your goal is to entice them so they continue to keep reading the entire content however if you take too long to do this they might leave.
It might help to write this part last because once you’re done it might be easier for your to put together a concise introduction. You’ve written out everything and now know what to include so I personally write this part last.
Sub-Headings
Every section should be divided and I like to include “target” keywords within the sub-heading. This helps keep the user attracted to continue reading. Make them right to the point and cover EXACTLY what’s stated in the sub-heading. It might help to include an image, but make sure it’s fitted and doesn’t mess with the structure of your content. Some bigger images can mess up the format when being displayed on screens with different resolutions or on mobile. Again, focus on writing what the sub-heading is based on and nothing more. You don’t what to mix things up adding irrelevant information under the wrong heading.
Body
This section is essentially including under the sub-headings. However, when referring to the body of your content, I’m talking about the entire content between the introduction and conclusion combined. Just wanted to emphasize the importance of making sure the text is spaced out and formatting correctly. You might want to consider bolding “target” keywords and even using underline, italic, H1, H2 and H3. You main objective is to ensure your visitor can read the content clearly so might want to consider adjusting font color and size.
Conclusion
You should have any problems writing out your conclusion because you’ll be summarizing everything you’ve written within your content. I like to consider this section as a point from section however lengthier in the sense that you should write it out in sentences. You should skim through what you have written through your content and compress it into the conclusion. You should reiterate important points to get them into the reader’s mind before they leave the page. Make it memorable and ask them for feedback. There’s a reason why all blogs have a section to leave comments. However, keep in mind that if people are leaving comments it’s important to reply to increase engagement and start a debate.
At this point, you can consider adding images or a video to help people understand your material. Both are useful especially if you have written a tutorial or “how-to” content.