The 7 Essential Elements Of A Perfect Blog Post

Writing the perfect blog post is a bit like the California Gold Rush. Everyone believes that if they can they’ll have oodles of followers and better yet buyers.

In the mind of many, there is no such thing as perfection when it comes to human ability. I often go back to a well-written article months or years later and can find things I missed, ideas I would express differently, or grammar errors not seen originally. In this article, let’s focus on the 7 essential things you want to accomplish in your writing and blogging.

 Making Your Perfect Blog Post Zing

 

 

 Headline – The 6 Words That Count Most

One of my favorite websites is Copyblogger. They suggest that you pay 50% of your time to constructing your headline. Most people never do or decide not to write at all when they hear the research.

Since 8 out of 10 people read, only the headline, with 2 reading the article, making your headline grab attention is the single most important thing you can do to make a perfect blog post.

The better your headline the more likely you’ll have readers view your blog post. A few details will ensure they come back to read other articles as well.

The article body must deliver on the promise of the headline, and the content is of high value. Do headline writing exercises

A quick example: How I Lost Weight Without My Mother-In-Laws’ Help

It’s a different title and anyone married will be intrigued.  The article body can go into what a great cook the author’s mother-in-law is and how they kept putting on pounds. It then can deliver how they got back into their size 6 dress.

This headline does one thing wrong. It breaks the 6-word rule. I want you to think about what to do differently.

Here’s an idea: My Mother-In-Law Made Me Fat

This doesn’t follow the key word search ability rules however if you word is ‘lost fat’. For more about keywords, Google SEO, and how not to overdo it visit: http://bit.ly/MySEOsolution once I started using this plugin my blog started ranking better. It helps you create that perfect blog post.

Something to consider when writing headlines is with a share button it goes out over social media. Make it exciting enough for someone to want to click. Asking a question has power.

Search engines pick up titles and if you want to share about dogs and dog parks, don’t title your article, “Tim and I love parks” unless you only want friends of Tim, your dog and you, to know your favorite dog parks.

A better solution is, “Why Tim, Loves Chicago Dog Parks.” With a subtitle, “How Time the dog, sniffed out the best social parks for dogs and their owners. 

Subtitles can add contest and clarity to your post. This goes in the body of the blog before your content or H1 tag.

Dog park, Chicago are the keywords and with the subtitle you explain who Tim is, or in your first paragraph.

 

Some title enhancers include using numbers, negatives, or trending topics.

 

Storytelling Hook

A perfect blog post tells a story. It opens the door for the reader into your world and it has to hook them in to keep them reading. There are 2 hooks with the lost weight story. They are weight and mothers. They are both hot topics for either good or bad. 

Tell the story of how you married a man whose mom loves to cook as much as you do. Share how before you knew it and child or two later, you’re several dress sizes bigger. Do it with color, vision, and touch.

“I put on my favorite silk dress that I bought at the  beginning of the year it was only May,  and I couldn’t zip it.  Blue always made my eyes sparkle today my soft azure attire bunched unforgivingly as I struggled with the plastic zipper. I’d lost weight after the baby only to put it right back on…”

 

Fewer Characters Per Line At First

When editing look for ways to make your sentences shorter. Cut paragraphs into smaller chunks and use images. One image per 300 words can break up heavy content.  Always identify your content and image sources.

Some images are sold through many suppliers this will keep you from paying a use penalty for an article you rightfully own.

Featured Images In Blog Post 

The idea used to be an article over 300 words is too long. Today most articles I read are close to 1000 or 1500. It’s about quality. Try saying something in just 300 words, it might as well be a post or short enough to tweet.

Each featured image should match your story line. With our example, you can have a mom, a person frustrated with their weight or losing weight. These are some of the ideas.

Subheads For Scanning

Okay look at this article. Can you scan the topics and get a feel for what you’ll learn?  I have headers with title tags. I have also used topic headings in bold. The reader is more likely to scan this article see what stands out and read that section.

If I did a good job, I may get them to read the entire article.

Header tags are coding to tell the search engines details about your post.  They look like H1, H2, in the html view of your post if you use WordPress.

Mapping can track how long someone stays on your post, and intelligently suggest what they’ve read.  This I an advanced tool or plugin that tracks mouse movement or other details of the reader.

Smart devices also mean content is delivered on smaller screens. It is easier for your audience to find what they are looking for if they can scan your material. They are more likely to bookmark someone who delivers usable content and come back again.

 

Content And The 1,500-Word Sweet Spot

Are you wondering how long a perfect blog post should be today? Quick Sprout has data that shows longer is better for social sharing.  

It turns out people like to read a short social post that leads to a well-written article than a shorter article that makes them hunt for the research. This means your articles should contain links to your findings.

While baby-boomers make up a large part of the population, it’s Generation X driving the online school bus and they need social proof and ‘data proof’.

Making your information compelling is more important than word-count. If you need 600 words to give the reader what they want use only 600 words.

Sound Bites For Sharing

People love to quote people. How many sentences can others share in their social feed is a great final question before editing.  Ask yourself, how many can I share from my article?

If you use automation to update social media, or want to tweet your posts over the month this list is vital.

These are some in my article. I would add hashtags, and of course a link. 

See if you can find these in my article.

 

• Are you wondering how long a perfect blog post should be today?
• Writing the perfect blog post is a bit like the California Gold Rush
• The 7 essential things you want to accomplish in your writing and blogging
• The single most important thing you can do to make a perfect blog post
• Okay look at this article. Can you scan the topics and get a feel for what you’ll learn?

You can be watching social media for these sound bites.

By the way, each article should have a call to action.  My call for you is to comment with your ideas, best heading, or successful finds on the topic. Most importantly, I want you to like and share this article.

Writing that perfect blog post simply means taking the time to do it right and create something you would want to read, too.