11 Essential Ingredients very blog needs: infographic

This blog post is curated from Rafal Tomal at CopyBlogger. I love it because it tells you quickly and simply, how to create a blog post that people will want to read and engage with. Remember that people are also more likely to share your post with their networks if it is well-written and helps readers to answer questions or issues they are dealing with.

Getting a handle on blogs

Business blogs provide resources to visitors in the form of content, advice, guides, reports, etc. The Atlantic states that a blog is a list of posts often in “reverse-chronological order” (meaning newest-at-top), written by a single author or a set of them, with a collection of topics connecting the whole business together.

Gone are the days of the blog post that consisted only of written text. Increasing access to modern technology has seen more availability of tools that facilitate creating a variety of content. Now, social media posts, videos, webinars, infographic and galleries are routine ways to showcase ideas on blogs.

Distribution strategies for blog posts have also evolved! Businesses no longer wait for website visitors to find their blog and consume their content. Nowadays, the distribution mix includes email, social media (free and paid), search ads, apps, affiliates and content distribution platforms.

Blogs – who has them and why bother?

A rough estimate suggests that there are at least 152 million blogs on the Internet. Given that blogs come and go as well as the fact that many blogs are started but abandoned yet remain online, it is perhaps better to work with more reliable figures suggesting that there are 1.13 million blog posts per day. Every blogger is competing in a fierce market to get people to see their blog and spend time engaging with the content. Getting the 11 essential elements in this post right will help to ensure your content is high quality and, therefore, more likely to get readers

Regularly updated blogs bring a wide range of business benefits including these:

• Help search rankings through having more indexed pages, website visits, time spent on page, etc.
• Demonstrate expertise and authority in a niche.
• Build a relationship with potential and existing customers.
• Drive traffic to websites.

These benefits ultimately help businesses get more leads in their sales funnel, convert them into paying customers and build long-term success. The finding that 61% of consumers have made a purchase based on a blog post proves this.  See this Ignitespot infographic for many more statistics on the benefits of blogs.

With so many business benefits, you will not be surprised to find out that  I advise all of my Digital Marketing clients to consider having a blog as part of their business’ online marketing mix.

Writing blog posts

So. You think you’ve got yourself a good blog post.

You chose your writing style. You knocked out the first draft. You allowed it to sit for an hour or a day.

Now it’s time to edit that bad dog — ruthlessly. So that it has a fighting chance in the trenches [Think: get attention among the other millions of content on the Web].

You’ll want to pay attention to the details like avoiding goofy, but common,grammar mistakes. You’ll want to choose your words carefully so you say what you mean.

This will allow you to shed excess copy so that you have a lean, muscular article.

But you’re not done. You also must ensure that your blog post has all of the essential ingredients it needs.

This checklist of essential elements is to make your life simple because creating great content on a regular basis is hard work.

With each blog post you look at this list and say “Did I craft a magnetic headline? Did I open with a bang?” And so on.

The last thing you need is to wonder whether your article has everything it needs to satisfy your readers. Now you can evaluate your content at a glance and be sure it has every element it needs to deliver the results you need.

Like this infographic? Get content marketing advice that works from Copyblogger.

 

Want more information on any of the 11 essential blog post ingredients? Use these links:

1. Craft a magnetic headline.
2. Open with a bang.
3. Use persuasive words.
4. Write damn good sentences.
5. Insert killer bullet points.
6. Create exquisite subheads.
7. Tell a seductive story.
8. Keep attention with internal cliffhangers.
9. Choose an arresting image.
10. Close with style.
11. Be authentic.

 

Conclusion

I love this infographic for its simplicity and completeness in outlining the essential ingredients to create a captivating blog post. Use these elements to turbo-charge your content marketing activities. I hope you have enjoyed this post and I wish you success with creating your next blog post.

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We’d love to have your feedback and suggestions about this post. What key strategies do you employ for your small business blog? What challenges have you experienced in making your blog work for your business ? Please leave your comments in the Comments Section below.

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