Creative Tactics to Craft a Compelling Blog Post
by guest author Anuradha Chawla
One of the famous sayings is: “Anybody can cook, but only the courageous can be great”? You can easily revise these inspiring words as, “Anybody can compose a blog post, but only the courageous bloggers can be great.”
See, an excellent idea or question, proper spelling and grammar, and a strong knowledge of the essay form makes a good blog post. But if you require writing a great blog post or one that makes people go “Wow! I’ll share this on Twitter!” rather of “Meh, this is nothing special,” you have to go farther than the essentials…
In my experience, one of the best ways to write great content is to make time to write great content. I’ve got some tips that are certain to help the content you produce, connect with your audience.
- Begin with a kick-ass headline that makes an impression:
Insert attractive words that would spark people’s curiosity. Start with an engaging subject or most-used search terms such as “How,” “Why,” “How-To,” “Do,” etc. Using numbers and attention-grabbing attributes are also an excellent way to attract users. For example, instead of using “Craft An Effective Blog Post,” here the title is “10 Creative Tactics to Craft a Compelling Blog Post.” Still, don’t ignore to keep your title accurate and straightforward to understand.
- Hook Them With The Commencing Sentence:
Certainly, this is the toughest section of drafting a blog post. As the first statement in the article should be able to stumble in the reader, and at the same time, give them an view what your story will be all about.
You can begin with:
- Thought-Evoking topic – “Do you know what a blog post and a sandwich have in common?”
- Quote – “Stephen King once said: ‘If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot.’
- Statistic – “Article posting (79%) and social media excluding blogs (74%) are the most popular tactics for B2B content marketers.”
- Source: http://contentmarketinginstitute.com/2011/12/2012-b2b-content-marketing-research/
Story – “The another day, I had a Newtonian adventure. That is, an apple dropped on my head.”
- Make Every Word, Phrase & Sentence Count:
These days you have to struggle harder to retain your users’ attention from the opening till the conclusion of your blog post. To do that, every statement, phrase, sentence and even punctuation marks add something to your piece.
A convenient method is to read your draft out loud. If it seems like you’re describing things too slowly, or you’re slipping asleep to your voice (gasp!), you may require editing the irrelevant bits. Your draft could probably feel “incomplete,” in which case, you can embed additional message to explain your ideas or enhance your arguments.
- Shrink Your Sentences, If Possible:
Do you read a statement out loud, and drop your breath by the end of it? Do you notice too many adverbs, adjectives and other words that don’t add something to a sentence?
If any of these occur, compress it! Otherwise, that kilometric sentence is seemingly fine as is.
- Play With Analogies:
Blogging is like dating. It’s not ample that you make a great impact on the first date. You also have to show, again and again with your subsequent visits, that you’re a person deserving someone’s time, commitment, and love.
- Use Easy, Yet Definite, Words:
Users hate it when you swamp them with highfalutin buzzwords. Not only do these jargons acidify the reading experience, but they also give your blog post seem egotistic and showy.
Rather of attempting to look “smart,” attempt to sound sensible. Use words that best send your idea and can be understood by the amateur. Like, “to utilize sources” can be abbreviated as “to use resources.”
- Create Your Article Unique (Even If The Idea Isn’t):
Let’s face it: coming up with 100% real blog post ideas is anything but easy. If you run your topic in a quick Google search, possibilities are someone else has previously penned on it. So, what should a blogger do in this situation? It’s easy.
Get a new perspective.
If someone previously came up with “5 Reasons Why You Should Try Freelancing“, you can draft a post about the darkened view of freelancing like “15 Reasons To Say ‘No’ To Freelancing“. Or you can work with “5 More Causes Why You Should Work on Freelancing”.
Tip: If you are suffering from lack of blog post ideas, I recommend you to read out an ultimate list of blog post ideas with an awesome infographic.
- Close With A Punchy Result:
So, you’re finished with your introduction and body. Now, it’s time to wrap it up, which is just as hard to write as (if not more challenging than) the initiation. The simplest way out of your difficulty is to compile all your tips in conclusion. Then again, that would be dull, since that’s what most bloggers do.
Rather, you can either end with a thought-evoking query or a call-to-action; or rephrase your main point, and persuade your user to consider your point.
- Review the quality of your Blog Post:
Make certain your post is valuable. Keep it simple but meaningful. Ask yourself before publishing:
– Is the content of my article related to the headline, and vice versa?
– Are my readers getting the learning that they seek?
– Will my target readers be able to understand my ideas?
– Did I benefit them resolve a problem?
– Did I convey what I promise?
– Did I give alternative solutions just in case?
- Spray the Love:
Of course, you require promoting your new post to drive traffic back to your blog. Spread your post over multiple channels such as email newsletter, social networks like Google+ or groups in Facebook or LinkedIn, and forums.
Feel free to use these tactics– or not – based on what’s suitable for your piece. The value is consistently reproducing posts that are appealing, informative, and unique to keep your readers coming back for more.
Are there any other ways you use to make a blog post useful?
We’d love to hear from you! Please leave your thoughts and comments below.
Author Bio: Anuradha is the co-founder of DHost.com, a website specially designed for Web Hosting Shoppers who are looking for effective tips for blogging and reliable hosting reviews. Anuradha has been in the web hosting industry for more than four years. She is a professional blogger and actively engages with readers. In her free times, she loves reading novels along with some soft music.
Follow Her: Website / Twitter / Facebook
Thank you, Anuradha for your great guest post !
Kathryn Maclean http://www.facebook.com/marketingofflineonline
A certified Social Media Campaign specialist using Facebook, Twitter Pinterest and Google +. Affiliate Network Marketing using resources such as PAC Power Affiliate Club – PAC Welcome Coordinator.
