Understanding how to create blog posts that go beyond ordinary is a Blogger’s dream come true. Unfortunately great blog posts are not that easy to achieve.
Blog posts that go beyond mediocre have to start with creating great content, but the real road to success means pushing the envelope a bit to include the elements that help you better connect with your readers and provide value. That's what we'll discuss here.
When I recently asked several bloggers for their feedback on how to create blog posts that go beyond ordinary the most common comments were that posts needs to be fresh, unique, interesting, useful, and easy to read.
Don't get me wrong, these are all important elements that you should employ even if it's your very first blog post. But if you want to go beyond mediocre you need to push the envelope and create blog posts that invite comments, likes and honorable mentions.
There's no one specific way to create great blog posts but there are things that successful bloggers do consistently that we can use to improve our own posts.
Here are 8 ways to create blog posts that go beyond ordinary
1. Develop Stellar Content
A great blog post always starts with quality content. Quality is defined as a degree of excellence or superiority. That can mean different things to different people but in my mind quality, when applied to content, can be expanded to mean the following.
Whatever content you write should be well developed and researched, but to expand on that I've found that exceptional blog posts go on to include a uniqueness that is achieved through adding your own personal experiences or expertise to a post as opposed to simply stating generalizations. In other words, successful bloggers don't simply state facts, their content is based on what they've done and they expand on that with personal tips, suggestions and recommendations. Ms. Ileane is an awesome example of that.
The key is not to offer ideas that can be found everywhere on the web, share your mistakes, your secrets and personal suggestions. Look for creative ways to gathering or curate information like this:
- Answer questions that come to you
- Teach your readers new things you've learned
- Curate content already out there into things like ‘My latest book reviews. The webs top 10 best ______. ‘My 10 least favorite______’.
- Interview experts
- Provide book reviews
2. Know your target Audience
There's no substitute for knowing who your target reader is. If you know your reader, their motivations, likes, dislikes, and needs, you'll know the kinds of content you can create that peaks their interest. Without that it's a lot harder to get their attention.
Ways to get to know your target audience would be to:
- Find forums in your niche and look for issues, questions and concerns your market has.
- Ask questions on Facebook or your favorite social media sites.
- Look at your best performing blog posts, which ones get the most comments and likes.
3. Create Content that is Scannable
Blog posts that are easily scannable with the eye attract more readers. Scannable copy allows your readers to absorb your information faster and readers appreciate that. Don't focus so much on blog post length, just be sure to break things up with headings and images too.
Easily scannable content is concise and succinct. It uses easy to understand ideas that are formatted with numbers or bullet points where appropriate. Paragraphs are short and concise with no longer than 2-4 sentences, and it avoids repeat ideas and incomplete thoughts.
4. Create a Catchy Title that is Irresistible
Your post title is the first thing a reader sees, so it has to say something that gets your reader's attention. We attract attention with unusual ideas, remedies and benefits. Start your blog post with a title that captures as much irresistible punch as you can, but make sure your title is relevant to your content and that it is not misleading.
Use these ideas to develop your next catchy headline.
Be specific. Amazing _______ turns your ______ into ________”.
Use a specific time frame. “Lose 5 pounds in 7 days”.
Add a powerful benefit. “Ways to ______ so you can ________”.
Raise curiosity. “You're about to discover which _______ gets the most _______”.
5. Create a First Paragraph that Keep Readers Reading
The first paragraph of your post is like your welcome mat. It has to be inviting but it also has get your reader to the next paragraph. A long winded first paragraph that doesn't add value or interest will lose your reader almost immediately.
Unlike other forms of content writing, blogs don't necessarily need long introduction paragraphs that set the stage for the reader. Many successful blog posts are simple and to the point. But simple or not a good introduction paragraph must invoke enough interest to keep your reader reading.
Here are a few first paragraph ideas that many successful blog posts have used.
- Make a bold, attention getting statement.
- Lead in with a story.
- Connect with a commonality.
- Lead in with why you are witting the post.
- Lead in with an attention getting quote or statistic.
6. Include Useful Links that Add Value
Your blog post should contain both internal and external links that add to the value of your post. Note I said adds value. The purpose of using links isn't to satisfy search engine requirements, certainly the search engines appreciate the use of links, but the links you use should closely relate to the topic of your post while adding value to the subject matter adding detailed information that goes beyond the scope of your post.
Use one link that connects to an internal post and at least one link that connects to an external post or page.
7. Use Good Keyword Placement
Keywords are significant to the success of any blog post. Know what your best keywords are and then place them correctly within these areas of your post.
- Post title
- Post URL (blogname.com/post title)
- First and last paragraph of your post
- In the post description tag
- In H1, H2 and H3 Headings tags
- Post Summary
- Post image alt tag
Here on Basic Blog Tips, Ms. Ileane uses the WordPress content management system and the SEOPressor Version 5 Plugin to ensure that these elements are included in everyone of the blog posts.
8. Be who you are with your own voice
Create an individualism that's all your own by developing your own personal voice.
As you create your blog posts don't try to be the person you wish you could be, or the person that's found success that you want to imitate. Be who you are and let that reflect in your writing.
Maybe you're someone that's humorous, encouraging, a little feisty or brutally honest. Whatever you're personality; make it a quality that shines through in your writing.
“Be yourself. Above all, let who you are, what you are, what you believe, shine through every sentence you write, every piece you finish.” John Jakes.
Embedding your YouTube videos to your posts is another way to express your blogging voice. Take a look at how Ms. Ileane does this in this video where she answers a question from one of her readers, Rahul Kantula from Learn Blog Tips, about content creation and How To Determine When To Publish a Blog Post
How To Decide When Is The Best Time To Publish a Blog Post by Ileane Smith
In Summary
Great blog posts don't come naturally at first, so don't be too hard on yourself by trying to create a perfect blog post every time, however the more you practice using the above tips the better your posts will become and over time your blog posts will reach beyond mediocre into the awesome.