I’m not an inbound marketing guru, nor a writing expert, but I do have an opinion on what makes a great small business blog post. I’ve only been reading, writing, and commenting on blogs for about 8 years now (I know, I’m still pretty green). However, there are a few things I look for in a good business blog post.
An Intriguing and Clickable Title
I think that the title is one of the most important aspects of a good blog post. Everything starts with the title. A good title draws attention and gets people to click and visit your website.
Your title has to attract a reader’s attention, have good keywords (for SEO purposes), and must be followed up by exceptional content.
Bonus: Hubspot offers up this great advice on a simple formula for writing kick-ass blog titles.
Skim-ability
If your article can easily be skimmed, your read ratio and engagements will increase. Some suggestions I have in order to make your blog articles easier to skim include: a bold font, pictures, bulleted lists, numbered lists, and short paragraphs.
Think about when you are reading articles and consider your own habits. When you get to an article and all you see is words, words, and more words, what do you do? You hit the back button don’t you? Pictures, bold fonts, and the like make it easier on the eyes and therefore easier to digest.
If a reader skims an article and finds it somewhat interesting, there is a higher probability that they will go back and read it in more detail.
Something Different
One of the keys to a good blog post is writing something different. When you have an idea for a new post, the first thing you should do is Google your subject matter and see what others have already written about it.
Find a way to say something different from everyone else. Remember its OK to be different and even a bit edgy.
Exceptional Content
If you are not putting out top-notch content, then all of the above steps don’t matter and this was a waste of time. If you have a great title plus an article that can be scanned quickly and contains unique writing on the subject, but your content is shit, then you have failed.
Content was king; now context is king.
What advice do you have for writing great blog articles for a small business?
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