If you run a small business, it is highly advisable that you maintain a blog along with it. However, your posts must meet the mark, always. Readers must be captivated or at least genuinely interested in reading your work. There are numerous benefits of this. By providing useful information in your posts, your readers are being enabled with information, and these readers might become part of the ones who convert into customers. It’s all in your writing and presentation. Isn’t it worth luring readers towards this transformation into customers? In this post we’re going to help you do just that. We’re going to give you a check list of essential things to include in every blog post.
1) A catchy title
This is of utmost importance. The title of the article determines whether the internet user is going to click on your link or not. A good, catchy title is definitely a must to include in every blog post. If your article can be looked at as a book, the title is like part of the cover, and not many people follow the rule of not judging the book by its cover in the internet world. If your link is going to be passed on on social media, you should know that a lot of people judge their interest in your content, and even share them, solely because of the title of that article. So make sure, your title catches attention while at the same time does not compromise on the point of the article. As in, have a good title, but you should have a worthy article that follows it, unlike the swarm of click-bait hooks that are all over the internet.
2) A good featured image
There must be an image. There always must be an image. Along with the title, the featured image forms the “cover” of the book which is your article. It’s always the best idea to have an image created for you or for you to create one yourself. It doesn’t have to be too elaborate, but it should convey the point of the article in one glance. Here, you’re free to be as creative as you wish. If you don’t want to hire a designer, you can use free images from a number of sites online and put something together. However, never steal. The image you release with the article is going to be associated with it forever, so make sure you’re absolutely satisfied with it.
3) Good text
Here’s where your writing skills come in handy. Know your audience, know the purpose of your article and know how to achieve your writing goals. It’s obvious that your best writing effort is something you should include in every blog post. Knowing how much text to write to make it ideal for readers is another thing. Search engines like it if there’s at least 300 words, but also be aware that super long posts also don’t keep readers engaged forever. If you notice that your post starts getting super lengthy, consider breaking it into a series. Don’t plagiarize your content. Keep it original and fresh. You owe your readers that much at least.
4) Images
It’s good to stick to the word limit you’re targeting. However, if you want to say more about the topic, you can always add images, each image being worth a thousand words. Readers love images. You should fill your article with images wherever you can. Make sure the images are high resolution. Although you don’t want your article to be too crowded with images, these pictures make a definite yes when it comes to things to include in every blog post.
5) Outbound and inbound links
It’s a good SEO practice to have both, inbound as well as out bound links in your article. Inbound links (or Backlinks) are links that direct the audience towards pages of your own website. Outbound links are those which connects a user to pages outside your website. Search engines rank articles higher that have inbound and outbound links. It’s, however, a good practice to customize and make sure that the links open in new tabs. You don’t want your readers to have their articles close midway and be directed to a new site, do you?
6) Call to action (CTA)
This is something you don’t have to include in every blog post, as it might start seeming like you’re pitching too hard. However, a post is often incomplete without a CTA. It serves as the link that summarizes the very purpose of the article. ‘Go check out this new store’, ‘Click here to buy my e-book’ or something as simple as a question, the CTA suggests the audience an action that might be beneficial to both parties.
7) Yoast SEO checks
Every post should utilize Yoast’s SEO tools. Make sure your article is green lit for SEO before it goes out published. It tells you all the things you need to do in order for your article to be SEO friendly. The plugin makes it super easy to SEO optimize, so install it and start using it ASAP.
Conclusion
A good article is easy to produce if you allot some amount of time and dedication to it. The more you write, the better you become at it. Keep these above points in mind, and you’re good to go. These were essential things to include in every blog post.