ZZZ...HOW TO WRITE ENGAGING BLOG POSTS (SO YOUR READERS DON'T FALL ASLEEP)
Are you awake? Are you listening? Just checking đ
It's insane just how popular blogging actually is. Iâm doing it. You could be doing it.
But think about how many blog posts are out there and think about how many of those donât get read.
Iâve used this fact before but I just want to say it again hereâŚ
8 out of 10 people will read your content, but only two out of 10 people will actually click through to read it.
That just goes to show that youâve got to do something extra special to get people onto your blog and Iâm gonna share some of those with you today.
#1 | USE THE WORDS "YOU" AND "I"
Blog posts are all about having a conversation with your reader and thatâs why using the words âyouâ and âIâ is so important.
Even when I make videos, I say things like âyouâve got to do something extra specialâ, or "this is how Iâm going to help you today."
If they donât feel like youâre talking to them, theyâre just going to feel really bored and leave.
When youâre actively having a conversation with them, theyâre more likely to read your content and engage with you on and off your blog.
#2 | MAKE YOUR PARAGRAPHS SHORT
And by short, I mean five or six lines max.
The moment they go over that, your reader will become too overwhelmed and you guessed it - theyâll leave.
There are a lot of times when people will leave actually.
But people donât want to read large chunks of text. Take a look at this blog post for instance. A lot of my paragraphs are two or three sentences and some are just a few words long.
#3 | USE SUBHEADINGS
Weâve spoken about this before but subheadings really help to break your content down for your reader.
Subheadings help people to understand what your post is all about. Without them youâre just making life more difficult for your reader and that means youâll get fewer readers.
So with a subheading, if thereâs a particular section people want to navigate to, they can. Your readers will really appreciate that because youâre taking their reading habits into account.
#4 | WRITE A CONCLUSION
So many people donât do this and itâs something that I tell all my blog coaching clients when I do a review of their content.
A lot of people think they donât need a conclusion but you do.
A conclusion should be in your blog post template, it needs to be in there.
Youâre just keeping it really simple, but youâre letting people know what your blog post is all about. Itâs like saying okay, this is what youâve just learnt.
A lot of people read the conclusion first. Itâs like when youâre thinking about buying a book and you read the last few lines on the last page.
Your readers can then decide whether they want to scroll back up to the top and read your blog post. But itâs actually a really popular pattern that people do.
#5 | LINK EVERYTHING
If youâre sharing a fact or a stat, donât just write it without linking back to the source.
If you donât link back to it, your readers might think youâre making things up or you donât know what youâre talking about and then they wonât come back.
#6 | ALWAYS INCLUDE AN IMAGE
Using graphics and images helps to explain the message or point that youâre trying to get across. This is a great way to help people stick around on your blog post which will increase your time on page.
#7 | MAKE SURE YOUR CONTENT IS VALUABLE
And by this I mean make sure itâs thorough and actionable.
You want people to finish reading your article and then think âthis is great, Iâm gonna go do this nowâ or "Iâm going to add X to my to-do list so I can try this out."
The worst thing for your reader is when your headline says your article is going to deliver something and then it doesnât deliver it.
Youâre not gonna go back to that site if it wastes your time.
If you implement even one of these tactics, I promise you your readers wonât fall asleep. Even if theyâre really really tired!
Which one of these tips are you going to implement first? Let me know in the comments!
Remember to boss your blog posts so your readers don't fall asleep, so you can get one step closer to a breakthrough.
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