How to build a blog post – or how I do anyway…

I’ve written more than 150 blog posts now, for my own blog as well as guest spots on other blogs.

And some of them, frankly, are terrible.

Lack of structure, poor grammar, no effort to engage the reader, too long, too short, too boring, not appropriate content for the audience… I’ve pretty much made every possible mistake a blogger can make.

I’ve also done a LOT of split testing of my blog posts to see what works with my readership and what doesn’t. And I reckon that I’ve now gotten to the point where my blog posts have a uniformity and formula that results in the best possible user-experience when reading my blog.

Your blog might be completely different to mine and so might your readership, but every one of my blog posts now includes a compelling headline, an appropriate and engaging image, introductory copy, sub-headings, bold text, lots of links, a blockquote section to break it up, a final teaser, questions to prompt comments, comments made easy, database sign-up feature, Facebook comments and then WordPress comments.

So let’s look at each in more detail:

Compelling Headline

With so many other blog posts popping up every day, what is the first thing that’s going to set yours apart? Especially if it’s read on a social media update or in a newsletter? The headline. And it’s where even the best written and engaging blog post can die a sudden and horrible death.

I try to limit myself to one of three winning combinations for my headlines: make a list (The top 13 ways to increase blog traffic without spending a cent), explain how to (How to use Linkedin more effectively), or share a secret (The secret to designing Facebook Ads that actually make money).

Try not to make your headline too abstract (your image can be) and try to meet a perceived need in your reading audience – if they are wondering, “How do I build a blog post?”, then this post would probably seem pretty enticing to them.

Also, for some reason, in the split testing I have done over the years, making a list with an odd number of points (17 ways to…, the top 9 things…) works better than an even number of points, but I still don’t really know why.

Engaging Image

This is where you can be a bit more abstract and make the reader think a bit. There are hundreds of thousands of free and royalty-free images you can choose from to include at the top of your blog post and I always try to use one that is slightly less than obvious.

For instance, on my post, The secret to designing Facebook Ads that actually make money, I used an image of an arrow hitting a target. The Facebook Ads can be very targeted (in fact, that’s one of the things covered in the post) so the image is appropriate for the post without being too obvious.

I tend to use only one image in the top-left of the post but when I have used images throughout the post, they have also tested well. I’m probably just a bit lazy to keep looking for great images, so I tend to just stick with one at the top.

Introductory Copy

Johanna Baker-Dowdell from Strawberry Communications told me once to always use the journalistic tool of ‘important stuff first and then the rest’, and I always try to stick to that in my blog posts. This is particularly important for me because I use the ‘read more’ feature to entice the reader to open the whole post rather than just reading the featured bit that appears on the front page.

I generally use the introductory copy to lay out what will be covered in the post (regardless of how long it is going to be) and I find that also helps the ‘skimmers’ to just read the bits that they want as well – remember, there is a chance that not everyone thinks what you have written is as vitally important as you do.

Sub-Headings

Which brings me nicely to the next point. A lot of blog readers like to just skim through posts – especially if, like me, they look at more than 20 or even 50 blog posts every day.

So I always try to break my posts up into sections with clear and engaging headings. I make those headings a different colour and font size and in effect make the entire blog post one big list of bullet points that help define the different sections but also make it easier to skim through and just read the bits that are either interesting or applicable to that particular reader.

Bold text

I often use bold text throughout the post to highlight people’s names or links to other articles. From an Search Engine Optimisation point of view, I also like to use bold text on keywords and phrases that might help with the optimisation of the post, although there is some conjecture whether that actually helps Google index your post better.

I also tend to favour bold text over italics in the body of the post.

Lots of links

I’ve spoken before about the importance of having links throughout your blog posts – linking both to your own articles within the blog as well as linking out to authorative sites that are related to your content.

Aside from the SEO benefits of this, it also adds something to the user-experience and helps to engage your readers longer on your site.

Break it up with a blockquote

Did you know … that I always include a blockquote like this one with a reference to something that I do for small businesses or an interesting side-fact about the content I am covering in the post? I always start it with Did you know… and usually finish it with a call to action to get the reader to contact me for more information.

And since I started using this toward the end of the blog post, it has resulted in a lot of readers contacting me, hiring me or buying electronic products from me – plus, it breaks the post up a bit for the reader too.

A final teaser

After the blockquote, I usually have a 1 or 2 line teaser for something else coming up in future posts, or I might ask for the readers to let me know what they would like covered in future blog posts.

I have found this helps greatly in engaging the reader to give me some feedback as well as making it easier when it comes to those times when I am stuck for something to write about!

Ask questions to prompt comments

At the end of the post, I ask two questions, in big bold text, that are designed to encourage the reader to leave a comment on the post. “What have I left out?” or “Do you agree or disagree” tend to work fairly well in prompting the reader to leave his or her opinion in the comments.

Honestly, this is also the thing that I have struggled the most with. Even though I knew I was getting great traffic I wasn’t getting hundreds of comments, and it’s still something that I would love to do better on every one of my posts.

Comments made easy

I’ve also spoken before about the importance of making it easy for your readers to leave a comment. In fact, I think you should remove every possible obstruction from someone interacting with your blog. No sign up first, no moderated comments, just have your say and it will appear.

I also make it quite clear to the reader that that is the case.

And remember, the easiest way to double your comments on a post is to reply to everyone that you get.

Database Sign-Up Feature

This is something that I wish I had done sooner because since professional blogger Chris Garrett told me about it, it has had a HUGE effect on the amount of sign-ups I have, which in turn has lead to a lot more products sold and consultancy hours booked.

And it’s simple. At the end of each post, I offer a free copy of my ebook, 34 Things I Wish I Knew When I Started on Twitter, which normally retails for $39 and which has been downloaded now more than 3,200 times, in return for the reader signing up to my database.

I have a great respect for my database and never spam them or clog up their inbox with crap so I think that helps too.

Facebook Comments

This is something that I have only recently added to my blog. The Facebook plugins for WordPress are ridiculously easy to implement and allow the reader (if they are also a Facebook user) to ‘like’ your post without ever having left your blog as well as leave a comment at the end of the post using their Facebook login – which in turn leaves the comment on their Facebook feed too.

It’s early days for this feature on my blog at the moment, so I’m not sure how it will test or even if I will keep it active there yet.

WordPress Comments

At the very end of my blog posts is my general comments which are supported within the WordPress framework. Comments on your blog are great for SEO, great for referring back to from your social media channels and also offer the reader a more rich experience when reading your posts.

They are also in a lot of ways my greatest challenge (and obsession) when blogging. So do me a favour and leave a comment will ya?

Did you know … that Glenn Murray from DivineWrite and Darren Rowse from ProBlogger have teamed up to create an amazing blogging tool called The Copywriting Scorecard for Bloggers? It’s an ebook that’s over 100 pages in length and is an invaluable checklist for keeping your blogging on track. The scorecard alone is well worth the price and I highly recommend you getting it. You can get your own copy here.

If you would like more posts about the structuring and authoring of compelling and successful blog posts, let me know.

Do you include other features in your blog posts that I might have left out? Or do you disagree with any of my inclusions?

Please let us know in the comments below. When you leave a comment on this site, it appears straight away – no signing up, no waiting for the comment to be moderated – it will appear below straight after you have posted it.

Nick Bowditch is an Australian online success story. He has built up three businesses from scratch – all without staff, a shop front, and without any mainstream advertising in print, radio or television – instead opting to promote his new businesses using Social Media Marketing. He now works with other small businesses to show them how they can also compete utilising platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, and YouTube. His ebooks and electronic products have now been downloaded thousands of times, he is a blogger, author, keynote speaker and has a regular YouTube show called SmallBizTV

Tagged as: Blogging, Search Engine Optimisation