How to Write Successful Blog Posts

Many people who write blogs struggle to come up with new ideas. I’ve been writing both business and personal blogs for many years now, and there are a few tips I have learnt along the way. They may not work for everyone but I hope they give you some ideas, and help with the writing process.

35 Tips and Ideas for Successful Blog Posts

1. Don’t write just for the sake of it. If you are not engaged with the article you are writing then it is unlikely those who read it will be. There is nothing wrong with going away and coming back to an idea later.
2. Write about subjects you are interested in. It makes it a lot easier to demonstrate your passion for what you are writing about if it is something you are interested in.
3. If you are on a roll keep going. You don’t have to write blog posts one at a time. If you are in the ‘mood’ keep going.
4. Keep a few posts stacked up so you always have something to fall back on.
5. Have a plan and stick to it.
6. Sit down and have a brainstorming session about topics. You can often come up with lots of ideas when you just concentrate on coming up with topic titles, rather than producing one blog post after the other.
7. Look at your previous posts, what can you learn from those that were very successful? Write about associated subjects, or in more detail about topics that proved successful.
8. Research what you are writing about. Even if you are very knowledgeable about a subject it pays to read more about the subject you are writing about, you may learn something new!
9. When you are writing, it can be tempting to always write about facts, the ‘what’ is important but if you can share the ‘why’ with your audience they are more likely to be engaged with what you are writing.
10. Write for your audience. Posts that can provide informative, helpful information to the audience you are writing for are a key to success.
11. Consider search engine optimisation, (SEO) when writing your posts, but always write for a human audience.
12. Think about your layout. Posts that are solid blocks of text, without additional headings are harder for people to read.
13. Posts with images are a lot more likely to engage your audience. Read my blog post – A Picture is worth a Thousand Words for more information about the power of images as part of your content.
14. Mix up your content. Use videos, animations and infographics as an alternative way of connecting with your audience.
15. Don’t waffle, keep posts as concise as possible. Don’t use more words than necessary just to get your word count up, (have I just waffled? – I could have just said don’t waffle!).
16. If you get an idea for a blog post, make a note of it there and then. If you are anything like me you are most likely to come up with good ideas when you are doing something entirely different, so make sure you have a note of the topic idea to enable you to go back to it later.
17. Let it sit. I find it useful to write a blog post, but not to publish it straight away. Go back to it at a later time and you are more likely to have additional ideas, or notice areas of your writing that don’t work so well.
18. Read through it and check it several times. Even if you use an automated checker it still makes sense to read back what you have written to make sure it reads well, and does not have any grammatical errors, (I am doomed to make a mistake in this article now, am I not?).
19. Add a call to action, (CTA) at the end of your content to encourage visitors to engage with your business. What is a Call to Action?
20. Make it easy to share your content. Adding social share buttons can help your audience to share your content, which can help with SEO and attracting new traffic.
21. Add easy links to further content on your website to keep your visitors engaged. Related content, or more content from your blog is a good way to encourage your audience to discover more about what you are about.
22. Pick a title that encourages people to read more. Keep it snappy wherever possible. Try to use strong, attention grabbing words.
23. Even if you are writing about a popular topic make sure you put your own unique stamp on it. Nobody wants to read the same information time and again. Be creative!
24. Think about the ‘ageing’ process of what you are writing. Some content provides relevant up to date information that has a short shelf life. It is dependent on what your business and blog is about but is worth bearing in mind. Evergreen content that will not go out of date is always good to have on a blog.
25. Solve a problem. One of the major reasons people read information on the internet is that they are looking for a solution to an issue, or some helpful advice. Content of this nature can be very successful if you can assist your audience.
26. Don’t get obsessed over statistics for your blog, and don’t check them too soon. Sometimes content is immediately popular, sometimes it takes more time for it to become successful. It may be that the post you write today is the post that secures your business its biggest contract in six months time.
27. Include links to other related content but don’t overdo it.
28. Lists are a great way of sharing content in an easy to read informative manner. For example the 10 best, or 20 tips to help. This article is an example of a list post.
29. Interviews can be a great way of opening up the content on your blog from your normal internal content. They can be a highly successful way of directly marketing your business, if for example you interview a satisfied customer.
30. Engage your staff in the content creation process. Don’t be afraid of asking your colleagues for ideas, or even to write blog posts. It can provide a new perspective on different subjects. Your staff are often in direct contact with your customers, so are well placed to know the needs and requirements of your existing customer base.
31. Case studies are an excellent way of demonstrating your experience and that you can complete successful projects working with your customers.
32. Be controversial, or disagree with something you have seen or read. You have to be on careful ground with this one. Be very sure of what you are doing with your subject choice, as the outcome of this approach can go two ways – highly successful or alienate your business from its audience.
33. Go back and update your older blog posts. If you have more information to add to a post, or it needs updating go back to your blog posts and keep them current.
34. Keep an eye on current trends and use them to your advantage. You can use the increased engagement with a particular topic to drive more people to your content.
35. Don’t give up, but learn from your mistakes. Not every blog post you write will be successful, especially when you are starting out. Just because it hasn’t gone viral doesn’t mean you should give up. Learn from which posts worked, and analyse those that didn’t to try and learn how you can change your future blog posts to make them more successful.

Meemo Digital can help with your business blog – get in touch today!