I can tell you, I’ve read thousands of blog posts. I’ve written hundreds myself.
Throughout all this time of reading and writing blog posts, I’ve come to notice some things.
There are some blog posts I’ll read, and I just can’t wait to get off the entire blog, and there are some I’ll read, and I just can’t wait to go through other posts on the blog.
There are some blog posts I’ll read, and I’ll be thinking I just wasted the few minutes I spent to read the post, while there are others I’ll read, and I feel very happy that I saw that blog post because it’s just the answer to what I’ve been looking for.
There are some blog posts I’ll skim through, and try to get to the end as fast as I possibly can, while there are others I savour every word in it, making sure I don’t miss a single one.
There are some blog posts I bookmark in my browser after reading it, while there are others I don’t even want to remember the name of the blog I just read it from ever again in my life.
I’m sure you’ve had your own experiences with the blog posts you’ve read on the web or written yourself. And I’m pretty sure you know what I’m talking about when I talked about the different experiences I’ve had with different blog posts above.
One thing is sure though. There are blog posts we read and we love right away, and there are others we just don’t want to see with our eyes ever again.
So, the golden question is,
What makes a good blog post?
I thought about this question while writing a different blog post, and I thought to myself, that you know what? I’m going to write about it.
I thought that’s a question most bloggers and marketers, both newbies and pros would like to know the answer to.
So, like I said at the beginning of this post, I’ve read a lot of blog posts over the years, and there are certain elements that really affect the quality of a blog post, or that makes it pleasing or satisfying to people when they read it.
They include:
A compelling headline
Now, the first thing you want your post to have is a compelling headline that will grab the attention of people.
After all, all the content in your post amounts to nothing, if no one opens and reads it. So, you need an attention grabbing headline to get people in the door.
Strong lead or intro
Apart from the headline, I believe the intro or lead is the most important part of a good blog post.
Once you’re able to convince people to click and read your blog post through a catchy, compelling headline, the next thing people are going to come face to face with is your into.
Your intro have to assure your readers that they’re on the right page, that you really want to talk about what your headline is about.
Your intro should draw readers into the body of the article.
Optimized post structure
A good blog post is easy to read. If you clump all the content you have into one huge blog of text on the page, most people are going to lose interest before reading one or two sentences on the page, because of the big boring block of test you have going on.
A good blog post has a well optimized post structure with headings and subheadings dividing the post into smaller sections that makes the whole post easy to digest.
The length of the post
I truly believe the length of a blog post doesn’t really matter. You don’t have to have a particular word count you should be aiming for, every blog post you write.
I believe what truly matters is if the content of the post delivers on the promises made in the headline.
If your post headline says “how to tie a tie”, you better make sure the content in the post delivers on that promise.
That’s what matters. It’s whether the question or statement in the headline was properly answered or explained, as the case may be.
Engaging visuals
Visual elements like images, graphs, infographics and even videos are very important parts of a good blog post.
Although different types of blog posts in different niches will require a different set of visuals, all you have to do is find out the right visuals that will help your readers understand your message better.
Relevant links to related content and resources
A good blog post does not just stand on its own. It has to contain links to related info and resources that will help your readers find supporting information about what you’re talking about.
Apart from helping your readers find supporting information, it’s also a good SEO practice to include relevant source links to your posts. That will make it easier for search engines to understand your content better, given the type of sites you link to.
Clear call-to-action
After reading your blog post, you need to make it very clear to your readers what next you want them to do, using a clear call-to-action.
If you have an action you want them to take on your blog, then let them know what it is. You should use the concluding part of your blog post to either get the user to stick around, maybe read some of your other posts, or get them to opt-in to email list, buy your product or perform any other action of your choosing.
Updated regularly
A good blog post is regularly updated.
If you visit any blog post, and you check the date and find out it was last updated 10 years ago, you’ll find it hard reading further or trusting the information in the post, because you know, it’s been 10 years and some of the information in that post may be wrong since it has not been updated.
So, if you don’t want people to bounce away from your posts when they check the day, make sure you update regularly. At least, yearly.