So you’ve heard that you should start a blog to bring traffic to your website. But, you’ve never written a blog before. Where do you even start? Try these tips on how to create an effective blog post.
Keep It Short and Sweet
Your blog readers are likely going to be reading on mobile – so they don’t want to read a lot, and will mostly skim for information. Paragraphs always look longer on mobile, so try to break them up with more paragraph breaks and subheadings. This is better for skimming and SEO.
Add Some Images!
Let’s be real – we all get bored easily when reading on our phones. If we’re scrolling through Facebook, we probably won’t stop to look at anything without a picture. The same goes for your blogs – keep your readers entertained by including more images (even gifs and memes, too) throughout your text.
Link Your Text
Linking text is one of the best ways to create an effective blog post. How many times have you read a blog where it says “Check out our amazing ____” with no link to it? Then, you had to go find the link yourself. It would’ve been so much easier if they had just linked the text, right? Well, that’s where you can start with your blog posts: add links! These links will also get them to other pages of your site, so it’s a win-win. Just make sure to link your text like this: “Learn more about SEO”; never use “Click here”. Screen readers read the link text out of context, so those readers won’t know where your link is taking them, and likely won’t click on it.
When you’re linking text, though, be careful about linking to sites other than your own. It is great for search engine optimization (SEO), but takes readers off of your site. So, you don’t want to do that often. A good rule of thumb is to limit external links to source citations or manufacturer sites that will bring the reader back to your site, but never to your competitors’ sites.
End It Big
If a reader makes it to the end of your blog, that means they’re really interested in what you’re saying. So, the perfect way to end your effective blog post is with a call to action. Get the reader to do something, preferably something where you can get their contact information to keep in touch. Do you sell pools or hot tubs? Encourage them to get a free quote. Do they need to come in to get the full experience? Have them sign up for a test soak or personalized appointments. Do you have a brochure or information packet? Ask them to sign up with their email address to learn more.
If you want some more help to create an effective blog post, schedule a free, 30-minute consultation with The Get Smart Group. We’ll discuss your marketing goals and how we can help you meet them through blog posts and more.
