How to write an engaging blog post

It is VERY difficult to do.

There have been a number of different programs developed that aim to serve the purpose of making blogs more engaging, like Yoast. Whilst Yoast is aimed at optimising blogs for SEO, the purpose of optimising for SEO is aligned with making a blog engaging and popular.

So we thought we would scour the web for some of the most popular blogs and see what elements are consistent throughout. It’s important to note that we looked at blogs who don't have content matter that is so outrageous or desired that it would go viral regardless of the medium it was shared through.

An engaging title

One thing consistent throughout all viral blog posts is a title that grabs the reader's attention.

Fantastic you’ve stated the obvious, so what sort of blog titles are engaging and popular.

From using a very useful tool called Buzzsumo, we know that articles titled ‘how to’ are very popular. We know this because the content of these articles isn’t phenomenal. But they do attract a lot of visitors.

The same can be said for articles that are ‘top …’. These articles are usually lists, like the top 10 reasons to eat vegetables or the ‘Top 10 Premium WordPress Themes in 2017’.

Finally, the ‘Best’ and ‘Worst’ articles attract a lot of attention. These titles are very attention-grabbing because humans seem to enjoy seeing what the best and worst of something are.

Article Structure

The structure of your article is very important in helping the reader to process and keep their engagement in your article.

There are a few common techniques that can be used to keep readers on a page for longer periods of time, a factor valued highly in SEO.

• Subheadings:
  You’ll notice this article has a few subheadings. This is done to break down your article so it's easier to consume. Large blocks of text can be fairly off-putting to the reader, especially as doing a quick scan of what they may read is a time-saving necessity in today's world.
• Line breaks:
  Line breaks are excellent at keeping the reader scrolling down through your article and breaking up the points you are making throughout your article. Keeping the text to paragraphs should serve to keep the reader engaged and your points easily digestible.
• Dot Points:
  Ironic, I know. Breaking your content into miniature lists serves to outlay your content well to the reader. Lists are great because the reader doesn’t have to read the content next to the heading of the list, to still have a good understanding of what point is being made.

What are you saying and do you even care?

It’s easy to do anything if you are passionate about it.

The same goes for writing. If you care about what you are writing about, it will be better written and more engaging for the reader. A reader can tell if you care about what you are writing about by how its written, the points that are made, and the general feeling they get when reading the article.

Put effort into the research you need to conduct to write your post. Don't search for a piece of information once and pick the first source that comes up, check different sources from different places, keeping in-mind that the more credible the source, the more respected the article will be.

Linking out

Linking out is almost a necessity in SEO circles for any good blog post, but it also serves other purposes.

Having the ability to show example videos of articles that can be immediately accessed through a click is one of the major advantages digital media has over print media, and you should utilise this advantage!

If you are referencing a certain video or article, insert the link or even embed (for videos) what you are alluding to, as to give the reader a better understanding of the point you are trying to make.

TL;DR

What does TL;DR mean. Too Long, Didn’t Read.

Don’t make your post too long. It’s pretty simple.

If you have to write something long, break it up into a couple of parts to make it more digestible, memorable and mostly time-saving for the reader.

All of these tips will hopefully result in you making your next blog post at least marginally better than your last. Engaging blog posts and all manner of digital marketing are our specialties at Matter Solutions, so give us a call today to find out more.