Anatomy of a Brilliant Blog

Good website content (like blog posts) drives sales, encourages consumer trust, and increases traffic to your website, which is why you’ve accepted the undeniable truth that your website – yes yours – needs a blog.

“But I just want to sell pools!” you say. “I don’t even like writing,” you say.

We hear you! But the fact is, websites with blogs average 55% more traffic than websites without. Yowzer, that’s a lot more eyes on your business! Since we know that’s a statistic you can’t pass up, we’re going to tell you how to turn a run-of-the-mill blog post into a brilliant one, so you can write posts that are going to get results!

1) Optimize with the right keywords. Quick! Which is the better phrase for being found in Google results? Restaurants or Korean BBQ, Washington DC? The better search term would be Korean BBQ, Washington DC, right? Assuming you’re in Washington and you’re hungry for Korean food, of course.

If you Google search a generic term like “restaurants” you’re going to have to wade through a bunch of results that don’t apply to what you’re looking for. The same principle applies in reverse as well. If you use generic terms in your title and blog posts, you’re not going to pop up on the first page of search results for your target customer. For instance, let’s look at pools. Sure, people may Google swimming pools, but if you don’t appear until page 582 of those search results, that doesn’t help you. Instead, you want to narrow your field.

In your title and blog post, use keywords like “saltwater swimming pools, inground pool builders in Washington DC, most popular swimming pool water features…” Suddenly, you jump to the top of the search results for someone looking for information about what you’re blogging about! Who cares if you’re #1 in a search for “pools” by a guy in Romania? What’s important is being high in searches for the kinds of pools you sell in the city your business is in.

Sound tricky? Try a keyword tool like MOZ.com or SEMScoop which will help you pick the best keywords for your target audience.

2) Break up the text. Reading a book and reading words on a screen are just different. Long paragraphs, even grammatically-correct ones, look like giant walls of text on a computer screen, and that’s especially true on a smaller screen like a phone.

Don’t be alarmed, but often people skim articles online instead of fully reading. Your readers are likely jumping from the title to the subheadings and any bold text, and then will dive into the rest of the blog post if they want to know more. Do you know what will happen if they click into your blog post and encounter an eye-numbing wall of text?

Yup, click away, click away!

http://gph.is/2p8So0I

They’ll go back to the search results and try another website. Don’t let your good content go unread! Break it up into bite-sized pieces.

3) Be the expert. One reason blogging is so impactful for your business is that it gives you the chance to earn consumers’ trust by giving them meaningful, trustworthy information. Whatever product or service you’re selling, we bet no one knows it like you, which is why you should love blogging! You get the chance to educate customers about the subject you’re most passionate about it and, by doing so, you develop a relationship with them. That’s a serious win!

4) Know your audience. Are you selling baseball cleats to athletes, spa days to soccer moms, or lawn care service to busy corporate workers? You can’t appeal to all people, and that shouldn’t bother you. Know your audience and talk to them directly.

5) Make it both interesting and helpful. You can be the most knowledgeable person in your field, but if your blog post is… ahem, boring, no one will read it. Pack it full of personality and use storytelling whenever possible. For instance, we mentioned “most popular pool water features” earlier. Which one of these is more interesting?

The most popular water feature for pools this year are bubblers.
My personal favorite, and the one that has kept my children entertained for approximately 700 hours already this summer, are bubblers!

The second one brings emotion into your post, and emotion both captures the reader’s attention and builds loyalty with your brand. People love those “behind-the-scenes” and “insider secrets” type of information.

6) Make your title attention-grabbing. A strong title makes a promise (that you’ll satisfy in the body of your blog post) and stands out. Employ one of these easy tricks to make your headline impactful.

Numbers – 5 Ways to Save Money on Groceries
Adjectives – 5 Fun and Easy Ways to Save Money on Groceries
Negatives – Never Overspend at the Grocery Store Again!
How to – How to Stretch Your Money at the Grocery Store
Questions – Are You Tired of Overspending at the Grocery Store?
Urgency – Don’t Go to the Grocery Store Again Without Doing This
2nd Person – You Won’t Believe How Much Money You’ll Save on Groceries with this Trick!

7) End with a Call to Action. There needs to be a “next step” for your reader, and contrary to what you may be thinking, that doesn’t need to be a call to purchase your product (and often shouldn’t be). Instead, try:

Soliciting a response by asking your readers to answer a question or to leave a specific comment, like their tips for handling an issue, etc.
Direct them to other informative content, like another blog post, an eBook, or a free download.
Leave a link to your contact page.

Now, that’s just 7 steps standing between you and a brilliant blog post. Seven steps are totally doable!

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