The Anatomy of a Successful Blog Post

Did you bring your scalpel? We’re continuing our dissection of successful marketing tools to narrow in on what makes them work. Today we’re slicing open some successful blog posts to see how they’re built.

What “success” will mean to you depends largely on your audience. Generally, you want to aim for:

• A consistent number of readers that shows growth month over month
• The bounce rate (% of people who leave the site after looking at one page) is less than the average rate for the rest of the site
• A post that increases your organic SEO (in simple terms: it helps your website show up higher on Google)

Relevant Topic

One of the biggest roadblocks when it comes to blog posts is knowing what to write about. Start by banishing the idea that blogs are just online diaries. The blog on your website should provide value to your customers by giving them information that’s useful, educational, funny or emotional.

That sounds like a tall order, but brainstorming topics is easier than you think. Start simple: what are the questions your current and prospective clients ask you the most? When you’re ready to start blogging regularly, play our version of 20 Questions to generate topics for an entire year.

Compelling Title

The most amazing blog post in the world is worth squat if people won’t click on it. A standout title is key. What makes a title work will depend on your audience, but there are some general guidelines. First: keep it short. Titles with 6-13 words attract the highest and most consistent amount of traffic. Next, a good rule of thumb is to use numbers or “how.” 

And finally, Hubspot has an excellent title generator that works as a springboard for coming up with your own titles.

Scannable

There’s a certain art to blog posts. A gigantic blob of text is going to send your readers running for the hills. 43% of people admit to skimming blog posts, so you need to make sure they can digest your content at a glance. When writing your blogs, always make sure:

1. Use headings to organize content
2. Keep paragraphs short (under 5 sentences, generally)
3. Make lists (like this one!)
4. Use bold or italics sparingly to highlight key ideas

With that in mind, scroll back up and look through this post. See how it’s broken down into short pieces? Make it easy for your readers to skim-read.

And be sure to check back next week when we dive into The Anatomy of a Successful Website. 

* * *

No Blogs Mo Problems

Don’t have the time to blog? We get it. Our Buzz Builders online marketing programs create regular blogs for you that are designed to increase your rankings in search engines.