Content Development General Guidelines: Blog Posts
Introduction:
Blog posts are a great way to generate buzz about your organization/company, build brand awareness and also generated higher search rankings. Within this post, there are many
tips to help you create better and more appealing content.
Length:
Around 300-350 words; excluding the title.
Keyword Density:
1.0% (keyword mentioned once per 100 words)
Title:
The title must be an “appealing hook” to entice someone to read the your post. It should be up to 80 characters, and need to use keywords in the title.
Body:
Think carefully about the ‘style’ of writing you want to develop. Remember that a blog, like your clothes, is an extension of you. For many people, your blog site may be the only thing they identify you with, so ensure the blog reflects “who you are.” Blog writing does not follow hard rules and guidelines, so feel free to develop your own style. Share personal experiences, stories etc. which tends to make the user feel comfortable and ‘at home.’ You can also provide additional links, video, documents and images, within blog post.
Internal Linking:
As you have seen above, you will want to mention your targeted keyword at least once per every 100 words. In addition, you will need to link instance of this keyword to an associated/appropriate page within your website. If you don’t have an associated page, you can link to your home page by default.
Here are few things you can do right now to improve your blog posts:
1.Add some graphics. Visually appealing graphics or images (diagrams if they suit the post) will help generate interest from your readers. Using multiple media techniques (text, images, audio, video, etc) mean more people will be engaged in your content.
Example of a related image
2.Put a lot of effort into your title. A title should not be an afterthought; in many instances, it will be the only part of your post someone reads. Make it count. A headline is almost always the reason why someone decides to take time to read your blog.
3.Call your readers to action. Give them a clear choice of “what to do next”. Make sure you very clearly state the action you are requesting such as leaving a comment, or email you, or clicking a certain link.
4.Make sure your post benefits your readers. Many bloggers write with the obvious priority of using YOU to benefit THEM. Think about how to help your audience, whether by informing, encouraging, educating, or even just amusing them. What comes around goes around… when you serve and help your readers, it will come back around to benefit you.
5.Organize your content so it can be easily scanned. Many of your readers will just pick up your main points rather than reading every word. If your main points clearly stand out, there is a better chance of people reading them. Use subheads, bullet points and call outs to help the reader “scan” your content. There is no better way to run off visitors than dumping a truck load of verbiage on them with no clue as to its content, only to have the reader feel like they wasted their time.
6.Be brief. Before you hit “publish,” go through your post and remove anything that does not benefit your post. Weed out unnecessary words and try to streamline your writing as much as possible. Your readers will appreciate that you value their time by not asking them to read ten paragraphs when only two paragraphs would have accomplished the same. TIP: Twitter is a great way to learn how to “write lean”. Chopping out unnecessary words, cutting out the fluff, using one word instead of four to convey the same idea… concise writing is successful writing.
By following the above recommendations, your blog writing should improve and this will help build bigger audiences.
About the Author: Rhett DeMille, the owner of PalmettoSoft, is a leading search engine optimization consultant located in the Florida and Greater Carolina areas.
Updated: 10/17/2014
