How to Create a Captivating Blog Post: The Complete Guide

Despite the growing popularity of video in the advertising world, blogging is still huge, with more than 77% of internet users admitting to reading blog posts on a regular basis. Knowing how to create a captivating blog post for your site is a valuable skill which will help you stay ahead in your industry.

Fortunately, it’s not as difficult as it appears. If written well, a blog post can help you attract hundreds of potential clients and make more sales.

That being said, the purpose of this guide is to help you create better content for your blog. Of course, it’s not the perfect approach-you can always add your own personal twist to meet the needs of your target audience.

1. Choose a Topic

Before everything else, you need to have a specific idea on which your post will be based. Look at what your competitors are writing about. Also, you can get ideas from social media, or idea generation tools such as Buzzsumo, Toluna and Hubspot Blog Ideas Generator. As a rule of the thumb, your topics should be driven towards:

• Answering relevant questions from your readers, or even your colleagues.
• Achieving your overall goals and objectives; are you trying to promote something or just to educate your readers?
• Focusing on your clients pain-points.

2. Write a Captivating Headline

This is a no-brainer, really.

Great headlines are key drivers of views and clicks towards your site, and are also vital when you want to rank higher in search engines. An excellent case in point is Upworthy’s catchy headlines which helped attract around 88 million monthly viewers within their first two years.

Basically, a headline should conclusively tell the reader what the article is about, and entice them to click the link to your blog. To write an effective title, you need to understand your target audience.

Statistically, titles that include a number attract more viewers than the others. You can follow a formula popularized by famous author Jeff Goins. Here it is: A number + an adjective + main keyword + a promise (optional). For example, “9 Healthy Weight Loss Diets That Will Help You Stay in Shape”.

Another SEO-friendly way to write headlines involves using the phrase “Best of” or “Best Way”, as in “The Best Way to Learn How to Drive on a Highway”. You can also go the traditional, tested and proven route and do a listicle title, such as “7 Things You Didn’t Know About YouTube”. Whatever method you choose, just make sure to include at least one of your main keywords in the headline, and to keep it between 8 and 12 words.

3. Brainstorm and Create an Outline for the Post

Great blog posts are created, not just written. And even the most seasoned writers need to have an outline to give them an idea and keep them on track. It takes hours, or even days to craft an article, so an outline helps one avoid losing sight of the main objective.

It can be a few lines scrolled down on a paper showing all the sections of the article, from the title to the specific sub-headings. The idea is to have the points you want to address and think of how they will be spread out throughout your post.

4. Research and Write the Article

Now that you have a good idea of how your blog post will, or should look like, fill the blank space on your computer. Start by writing the introduction part to give the reader a general outlook into the article. Some people prefer to write the introduction after completing the body, which is also okay.

Read through the most authoritative blogs in your niche so that you know the main topics to tackle in your blog. Do some more research for the points you want to put in the body. Make sure to verify any information you see and decide to include in your post as some sites give false information.

Most importantly, always include a links to authority sites in your post. This way, you readers will benefit by gaining more insights on what you’re talking about in your post. Note that this is a great search engine optimization technique which help you rank higher in your niche.

When writing your piece, you may choose to take either of the two main approaches; writing everything in a single session, or doing it over several sessions.

Some people prefer writing entire articles in a single session – of course, with some small breaks involved. That way, they’re able to stick to the topic, and avoid the undesirable effects of procrastination. Alternatively, you can divide your draft into manageable sections. Remember, there’s no universal rule on how to create a captivating blog post. Just make sure to avoid distractions whenever you have to write.

5. Include Images

One of the most repeated phrases in blog writers’ circles is; images speak a thousand words. Indeed, your readers may not have the time, or attention span to read through your entire body of text. In fact, for most people, full blocks of texts are bland, monotonous and not worth reading.

Don’t make your content sound like some boring medical journal. You know readers will simply click the back button and look for another blog, right?

Include images that explain, illustrate, or just complement some of your points. You can also incorporate other visuals such as short videos and infographics. It’s a fantastic way to make your blog posts more readable.

6. Edit and Proofread Your Post

After finishing up your piece, take an hour or two to refresh your mind. You can take a stroll in your hood, listen to music or take a nap – do anything that relaxes your mind. After that you can start proofreading and editing. Do a second and third edit to ensure your article is perfect before publishing. The first thing to check and correct are spelling mistakes and grammatical errors.

Some of the grammar checkers you can use are Grammarly and Turnitin. These will help you discover errors that may have escaped your eye and even check for plagiarism.

If you have a writer friend, request them to read through your article and check for errors and poor flow. Or better yet, get a great professional editor to do the job for you. While you will have to pay for their services, their feedback on your articles will greatly improve your writing.

Conclusion

On the outside, writing excellent blogs seems an easy job until you actually do it. Just follow the above tips on how to create a captivating blog post and you’ll be good to go. You’ll be surprised at the increase in visitors and the high conversion rate. If you don’t have the expertise or enough time to do this, just get in touch with us and we will do everything for you.