A Copywriter's Guide To How To Write A Blog Post
If you're a start-up or business owner looking to DIY your own blog content, chances are you're wondering how to write a compelling post that taps into SEO and gets more eyes on your business. So, you've tried some snappy headlines, worked on creating concise and readable paragraphs, and even included a few images to engage readers. And even still, you're struggling to boost organic visibility!
A blog isn't just a way for you to get your business and services out there in the world. It also allows you to address common customer pain points directly, creating a seamless transition from brand awareness to conversion. Plus, you can share educational content that positions your brand as an industry leader and voice of authority in your chosen industry.
But with an online landscape that can often feel overwhelming with so much content available at our fingertips, the question becomes: how do I create a blog post that cuts through the noise and rises to the top of search engine results?
Thankfully, by implementing these tips and tricks, you can ensure your blog reaches the correct audience already searching for your products or services. After working with 50+ clients across the startup ecosystem, we've rounded up our top insights, best practice tips, and expert advice to bring you a copywriter's guide to DIYing your own blog writing like a pro. Let's dive in!
Why should you write blog posts?
At its heart, a blog post is a carefully curated piece of content that addresses a specific topic, niche, or industry question. Given that each post contains information, knowledge, or opinions that are of value to an audience, it’s not surprising that blog posts can greatly impact audience engagement and drive organic search traffic.
Don’t believe us? Consider a recent study conducted by marketing software company, Hubspot. It found that regardless of the size of the company or customer base, all those who blogged 16 or more times per month grew their leads 4.5 times more than those who blogged zero to four times a month.
Blogging is a cornerstone of audience engagement and when used effectively with consistent posts, it can be extremely impactful. For business owners and emerging start-ups, blogging has never been more important, with major benefits that include:
Boosting your organic search visibility
Addressing customer pain points and FAQs directly
Positioning your brands as the market leader in your sector
The ingredients of a great blog post
If you want to write blog posts that draw readers to your site, increase audience engagement, and foster greater reader loyalty with return visits, it’s important to have a few basic ingredients down. Below are the key elements any successful blog post contains:
An engaging title: keep it short, use topic keywords in the headline, and avoid clickbait. E.g. "How to make a podcast: 6 tips from a top 1% podcaster" tells the reader what the article is about and how many tips they can expect to discover.
A strong first paragraph with a compelling hook and introduction: address the topic and use keywords in the opening sentence, consider using a strong statistic or fact, and include an outline of what the reader can expect from the post.
Content that relates back to your headline and delivers valuable insight for your readers: to avoid clickbait and misleading readers, always ensure you're coming back to the key topic ideas and keywords.
Sub-headings and strong imagery, along with digestible formatting: make the content accessible for the reader by using bullet points, lists, bold formatting to highlight key points, and include subheaders (H2 or H3) to signify primary and secondary topic areas.
A clear structure for an easy reading experience: the content should flow from one point to the next in a logical order.
Expert insights in the form of interviews, quotes, original research, or personal anecdotes: engage the reader by drawing on personal anecdotes and expert interviews. This also positions your blog as a market leader in the sector and increases your authority.
Internal and external links: by creating blog posts that are easily shareable, you'll drive traffic to your website and keep readers on your page. Four links for a 1,500 to 2,000 word post is a great place to start.
A comments section to encourage audience engagement: respond to every comment from your readers. Often, you might get ideas for another blog post from questions they might ask or topics raised.
A clear call-to-action with links to further reading or relevant sales: inspire your readers to take action with a CTA that encourages continued loyalty and engagement. E.g. "Found this guide useful? Subscribe to our newsletter for weekly industry tips!"
5 tips for writing blog posts like a pro
As important as blogging is, it’s safe to say that it’s a fairly saturated market. With a plethora of blogs out there covering all manner of topics and industries, you need to be able to cut through the noise with effective and engaging content that stands out. These five tricks will ensure you write like a pro with blog posts that deliver results for your readers.
Tip 1. Conduct keyword research
To increase readership and audience engagement, you first have to reach your target audience. Keyword research is an essential part of this, forming the foundation of Search Engine Optimisation (SEO). By spending time conducting keyword research, you’ll ensure your blog post gets more eyes on it and is delivered to the right target audience.
Before writing a blog post, you want to consider what people are most likely to be typing into the search engine. When you have an idea of these terms, these are the keywords you’ll use in your blog post to ensure you rank higher. Another way to think of keyword research is as a guide to understanding your audience and what they want.
When you understand what your audience is looking for or the questions they want answered, you can use these results to create better content that caters to these needs. This ensures you not only reach your target audience but also deliver quality and engaging content.
Consider using keyword research tools to streamline your workflow and garner greater results. Start simple with a Google search for keywords and topics to assess what blog topics come up most frequently and any FAQs that may appear in related terms. Google Keyword Planner is a free resource and is great for organic SEO keyword research. Moz has several tools for keyword research, analysing everything from SERP position history to the total number of keywords a competing result ranks for.
SEMRush is another great paid tool that will see you garner the greatest results, you can find the best keywords, variations, search volume, and other answers to supercharge your SEO ranking for your blog post.
Tip 2. Write for your target audience
Audience is everything and when it comes to blog posts, the intended and target audience should inform your writing - from the content and questions covered, to the style and tone of voice.
With this in mind, it’s helpful to define your audience before starting writing. Take into account specifics like target demographic, interests, relevant industries, and what you want readers to take away from your post. When you have the answers to these questions, you’ll be able to write with greater confidence, knowing that your content is of value to your audience and serves their specific interests and needs.
Another thing to consider when it comes to your audience is the relationship you’re looking to build with them. Do you want your post to be educational? Or is it intended to persuade? Do you want to inform your readers, or have them question?
These are also helpful questions to consider ahead of the writing process, allowing you to craft more compelling content. Always be sure to use examples and anecdotes that are suited to your audience and be specific in your copy, rather than using generalised statements that do little to add value.
Tip 3. Prioritise a great headline
While the main body of your blog post will need to be compelling and well-written to ensure readers stay engaged, it’s equally important to spend time thinking of a great headline. Just like a newspaper article will have a catchy headline to snag your attention and pique your interest, so too should your blog post.
In many ways, writing headlines is the secret to every successful blog post. In a single headline, you’ll not only grab a reader’s attention and encourage them to click through on your article, but you’ll also tell them what it’s about and why it’s of interest to them.
When coming up with a headline, don’t be afraid to get creative and think outside the box. Always use numbers when needed, and consider using words that generate an emotional response, or humour to encourage readers to click through to the post. Examples and formula structures for high-performing blog heading include:
Listicle blog posts: "16 Thought Starters For Your Next Strategy Day", or "10 Inspiring Article Ideas: How To Write Regularly For Your Blog"
Guides: "Summer Running Guide: How to Train Through Hot Weather"
"...No one will tell you" posts: "10 Things No One Tells You About Running a Business While Travelling Full Time"
Where, What, When, Why posts: "Where to Buy The Best Furniture On A Budget" or "Why Successful People Swear By The 5 AM Club"
Comparative posts: "Android or iOS: Which one is right for you?"
Tip 4. Use formatting to your advantage
An informative and engaging blog is one thing, but it means nothing if readers aren’t sticking around to read your content. These days, it’s easy to feel like retaining a reader’s attention span is an uphill challenge impossible to navigate alone, but this is where formatting proves a most advantageous tool.
Effective formatting will encourage readers to stay on your blog post for longer, as it often makes content easier to read and more engaging. Consider the below formatting tips to ensure readers get the most out of your blog posts.
Use headings and subheadings: You never want to litter your blog posts with unnecessary headings or subheadings, but when used effectively, they are an incredibly powerful tool. They break up the text, tell the reader what will be covered in each section, and make your blog post an easier read. Optimise your SEO by using H1/H2/H3 titles and adding keywords into your headings and subheaders. H1 is the most important section, while H2 and H3 refer to subsections.
Be sure to break up your paragraphs: With 60% of searches being done on a mobile device, big chunks of text are both intimidating and difficult to read. For any blog post, aim to keep your paragraphs to 100 words or less and only cover one idea per paragraph. Be sure to pepper in punchy one-liners to break up your copy, too.
Add links to relevant content: The trick to keeping people engaged on your site is to link to other relevant material. As well as helping to boost your search engine optimisation, links to relevant content help position you as an authoritative source of information in the eyes of your reader, so they’ll keep coming back to your site for more information. The trick here is to ensure your links are relevant to the content covered.
Give readers a summary for longer pieces: A summary is an effective tool for those covering longer blog posts. It allows you to give readers an overview of what the post is about to ensure they feel compelled to keep reading. You can also consider using a table of contents to help give readers a guide to the information you’ll be covering and allow them to easily refer back to the parts or sections they want to read again later on with hyperlinks to the relevant subheadings. Whether a numbered list or bullet points, this should feature in the introduction section of the blog.
Use numbered lists and bullet points: As well as being easier to read than a wall of text, bullet points and numbered lists also help readers understand concepts and are more visually appealing. It can help them scan the key details and encourages you to keep things simple for the ease of the reader.
Don’t be afraid to use imagery: Quality imagery should never be underestimated. As the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words, and as well as being appealing to the eye, images also serve to break up blocks of text and help readers stay more engaged with the content. Don't ignore other ways to bring imagery into your content, though. Graphs and diagrams are effective ways to communicate processes or complex ideas, while tables are best for price and feature summaries as well as comparing one tool to another.
Tip 5. Deliver on your promise
As well as encouraging audience engagement, a great blog post should also inspire audience loyalty and continued readership. To do this, it’s important to deliver on your promise - no matter what that might be. Too often, audiences find themselves lured to a blog post by a catchy or clickbait headline, only to find themselves disappointed when reading as the content doesn’t align. Essentially, the blog has overpromised with a strong headline, only to fall flat on key takeaways and depth of insight.
A great blog post will avoid this at all costs, going above and beyond to not only meet the audience’s needs and see their every question answered but also deliver on the promise outlined by the headline itself. You want to make sure you’re always putting the reader first and coming back to the main topic of the blog so that your content answers the questions (think back to the keyword searches) of your audience and delivers on value.
For instance, a blog post with the title “Your step-by-step guide to becoming a yoga instructor” will need to provide readers with actionable steps, as well as the courses required to take, experience needed, equipment necessary, and other resources.
Need help producing quality blog posts?
When it comes to writing a great blog post, there's a lot to consider. The blog posts that will grab a reader's attention and lead to increased organic visibility are tailored to your ideal target audience, deliver actionable and expert-led content that solves problems or addresses queries, answers questions, and offers tangible tips and tricks that can be put into place to achieve great results.
And of course, each post needs to harness the principles of SEO to leverage keyword research, strategic backlinking, and search-friendly copywriting to get high-intent audiences reading your content at scale.
Phew, that's a lot to digest, huh? Blog content writing is a long game and requires a consistent investment of time and energy. Not sure if you're up to the task? Our team of copywriters is here to help. Get in touch to find out how we can take SEO blog writing off your plate to get you back to growing your business.