How to create great content for your blog
by Sharon Chihaka Chanyau
Did you know?
What you put on every page on your blog is very important, when you create a page it will be indexed in the SERPs (search engine result pages) every time you publish a blog post from your website. Search engines like Google, Bing, Yahoo and Ask.com spread your materials and content to the world wide web for you for FREE, thus your brand is out there for everyone to see and evaluate. Blogging alone places and markets your content and brand out to the public thus it is very important to create worthwhile and authentic posts. How? You ask. Below some of the tips you can use to create great content for your blog.
Do Your Research
Blogging about a certain niche does not make professional bloggers experts. Your audience deserves quality information so please do your research! Professional bloggers (myself included) are not keen on their audience knowing that they don’t actually know everything. But to be honest, most of the great stuff that you see and read in blogs come from hours of research. Sometimes we don’t know anything about a topic before we sit down to write about it.
It is always good for one to use various sources of information to do the research. It almost goes without saying, but relying solely on Wikipedia as a primary source is almost always a bad idea. It is very true that Wikipedia does have a wide range of brilliantly researched articles, but is it dependable? Unfortunately no! There are many sources out there that you can use to do your research depending with your audience.
Well-researched blog posts can differentiate your content from your competitors. Being known as a reference point or a trusted source of information in your industry will help make your blog and brand stand out. I find that utilizing a variety of sources helps with gathering. It may sound outdated in this day of the World Wide Web but libraries are a great source of good information too.
Create Strong Headlines
The headline, or title, of your blog post must be created to capture the interest of potential readers and your intended audience. Keeping in mind that thousands of headlines and topics flash by in social media newsfeeds or in search results. Make use of great keyword phrase so that people searching on that particular subject will easily find that topic in your blog. Make sure the keyword phrase is included in your headline. A strong headline will sell the whole article to your audience; it will communicate the full message to your intended reader plus an added bonus of grabbing and keeping their attention until they finish reading the whole body text.
Make the introduction fun
Let the introduction be captivating. People love stories. You can use an anecdote in your introduction or have a story woven into your blog post. Stories can also help put across a point more clearly. Whenever possible, add a story to your post content. It will make it more appealing and may also help the reader learn. Once again put to use your targeted keyword phrase for search at least once in this paragraph.
Create Engaging and Thought Provoking Content
Engage your audience to a point that they hang your every word and take in all that you write or say. The only way to do this is to make engaging and informative content. This centers on you and what you write. The first body paragraph of your blog post will either keep or bore the people reading. Make sure that it encourages your readers to carry on reading the rest of your content. Most readers probably decide within the first few sentences if the post is worth reading . Readers should feel drawn and not want to cut short the read. Make them want to read your current post and then browse through the next articles in your blog.
Leave readers with questions and wanting more. This doesn’t mean to have an incomplete post, but rather to include questions that make readers reflect on how they can implement the knowledge you provided.
Stay in tune with the reader
Readers like bloggers who care about and acknowledge them. The best way to stay in tune with your readers is to make them part of the blog. Some ways to do this include replying to comments, responding to queries from your comments section. Take and thank them for their advice and suggestions. As you do this, you will build stronger relationships with your readers and learn more about what they want, something that can help inspire your future content.
Check your facts
Everyone makes mistakes, it is human but it is important to avoid blunders like wrong and misinformed facts at all costs. This is quite costly if you are a new blogger and just starting out. Publishing incorrect information will ruin your integrity and authority, and even if you have millions of loyal readers, your regulars will be quick to jump and splash the error in your face. Always double check your dates and references. In the event that you have made an error, acknowledge it and fix it fast.
Lastly check your blog for grammatical errors. Do not be afraid to ask someone or a friend to proofread your work, it’s not a weakness but part of quality control.
The trick is:
If you provide content that sparks a flurry of comments, the search engines will notice that your post is important and is being updated regularly. This is a great way to get the engines to come back to your site more frequently.
I loved all of your tips and I agree toe very single on of them. I use them all the time!
Thank you so much. I am so glad we agree
Great post! Always in need of tips for the blog!
Great tips, thanks for sharing! I always struggle with writing a good introduction to be honest but I will work on that in the future!
Aah – this is awesome 🙂 I have made a note of your points and will be trying to ensure that my posts include them in the future. Thanks so much
Excellent blog and very informative! Beautiful
Hey Sheryy
Definitely this is an awesome for who looking to learn best write style ! Thanks for sharing useful steps.
Solid tips!
i totally agree! We see a lot of blogs just sharing other people’s content or posting stories without checking… they should read this 🙂
This is actually so helpful! Especially for me who’s only now starting to think about blogging seriously. Thank you for the advice 😀
Great tips. Maybe with all this info, I will get more people to my website
Great tips. Thank you for sharing this. As a new blogger I appreciate the information 😊
Hi Sherry, Congratulations! I have been nominated you for ” Blue Sky Tag Challenge ”
You can check the rules here
https://degusstace.wordpress.com/2017/07/01/the-blue-sky-tag-challenge-1/
So many great tips! I use an app that helps me create a strong headline. It has been such a huge help for my content.
Wow interesting. Please share the name of the app. Would love to get my hands on it.
I recommend blogging what you like. When you share your passion, your audience can tell and will be more likely to be engaged.
Hi, great tips that many of us will no doubt find helpful. My personal gripe is that when you take time to read and comment on a post and font get any acknowledgement of this.
Lol. I hear you. Writers should take time read and respond and appreciate their readers. Thank you for the comment. Much appreciated.
Always good reminders!!
Hi, thanks a lot for this great tips!
I will definitely use them for my blog.
I hope you have an amazing day!
Christoph
http://www.trendablaze.com
I’m loving the blog Sherry. Keep up the good work 🙂
Thank you. Just when I was getting discouraged!
Great Tips!
Great advice, thank you. Sometimes it’s great just to take a step back and reevaluate what you’re doing!
Great post, thanks for the solid tips – it helps when you get a block =)
Checking your facts and spelling is so important. I will have to share this with my friend. She is just starting out in the blogging world.
Thank you Claudia, I hope your friend finds it useful as well. All the best to her!
This is a great way to simplify what google and bing does. I know with a blog that has been around for 8 years, I really need to clean up SEO on a lot of posts and unindex ones that google wouldn’t deem valuable but I might.
You wrote about such important tips, ones that maybe not everyone thinks of! Especially an attention grabbing header…so important!
Thank you for the great tips, very informative and useful. I will definitely put them into practice.
Thank you for the tips! As a new blogger, this is greatly appreciated. I love the idea of doing research, this will ensure your content is valid. I also LOVE the story part…stories definitely crab readers. Thanks!
You are welcome Kevine. I am glad you liked it! Cheers
This is great info! I always hear bloggers say how only a small portion of your time should be dedicated to making content and most should be spent on promoting your blog. While the promotion is important I think that unless you have solid content then you are wasting your time.
Great tips. Completely agree with your point – Well-researched blog posts can differentiate your content from your competitors-
I am glad we agree! Thank you. Cheers
These are really good points. Thanks for that. In my opinion, if some blogger will do that, not only will the content be great, but from the SEO point of view, great boost of traffic and increase in the number of visitors.
Thank you very much for providing such a useful article. I found a big value in it and I hope others will as well.
Good tips, thank you for sharing! 🙂
Elisabet | http://www.fashionpoetry.eu
Great tips!
Great tips! Thank you!
Thought provoking and insightful content is what I aim for on my blog – thanks for the tips!
These are really great tips and things to always keep in mind!
Great Tips! I’ll be sure to use these in my blog 🙂
Great tips, thanks!
~Melissa
https://freshairandfalselashes.com
This was GREAT info! Thanks for the tips. My blog will be better for it.
Breanna | breannaraine.com
These are great to keep in mind. I pinned this post to my blogging board. It’s always great to have a reminder.
Thank you Leslie.
This is full of great tips for content and general SEO! Saving it for later so I can refer to it again 🙂
Having great headlines is so important! I love your tips – it makes for a great checklist to remember before publishing posts!
I really appreciate all of these tips! So helpful! I’m definitely going to try to put some of these to use with my own blog!
Great tips! Thanks for sharing them!
Such a great list. I definitely agree that having a catching intro is super important.
Very helpful tips, thank you!
Thank you Matthew
It never hurts to review what we need to create blogs that inspire and convert. Great advice and helpful as well.
Great article. This is very helpful as we always wanted our blog to be substantial and effective. Thank you for the advises and tips.
These are great tips. It is so important to follow these guidelines, especially connecting with your audience.
I agree
Great suggestions and tips so on point. I love reading blog post like these as i believe we always need to learn new things for our blogs.
Thank you for the kind words
These are all great tips. I always struggle with content.
Research is an incredibly important aspect. I like to link back to the sites I quote that are high-ranking. Google looks at this and it helps your SEO!
ohh that really nice I will try to do your advices while wiritng on my blog thanks a lot
Great advice for new bloggers, thank you!
I just love the learning that I get from other bloggers. I need to start working on my headlines
Such helpful tips for bloggers!! I will be using some of these 🙂
It’s great to have posts like this to always fall back on for advice and tips .Thanks.
These are perfect tips for bloggers. For me, the headline is so important, especially with recipes. I spend time making sure my headline is SEO friendly. I rely on Search engines a lot for traffic so I am always looking to improve Seo and links
These are some great tips and I think it’s so important to check every post or page you upload to double check if everything is there etc.
Lea, xx
asnippetoflife.com
Having accurate and researched information is so important! Posting rubbish isn’t going to be read by anyone!
What great ideas. Thank you for sharing this info with us. It’s interesting to see how others progress with their blog and how I can incorporate some into how I do things to make it better.
I agree that the first paragraph is important. Readers decide right away whether they want to keep reading a blog post or article.
I agree, constant research is a must. That’s why most of my post are editorials than post from parties and launche 🙂 I enjoyed it
Really great tips I am just starting and that was so helpful for me. Thank you for share them, love your advice, i am growing so much with them
These are great tips. i like seeing what others do and to always keep learning. Thanks for sharing
Excellent tips! I love when a post starts off fun right away. Makes me want to keep reading it.
The post is especially helpful for new bloggers like me.. Will make it a point to utilize the same.. Thanks
Doing your research is so important before you write your post. I will have to share this with my friend. She is just starting out.
I definitely agree! You have to keep things interesting without fabricating. Xx-Doran @HauteBeautyGuide
Loving these tips! Great ideas! This is perfect for those just getting started on blogging, or those who want to revamp and ramp up their blogging content! Thanks for sharing!
This is great information. I like the fact check suggestion. I also like the comments idea. Sometimes I think unfortunately the negative attention draws more readers.
I think some people really miss how important doing good research is for blog post! It really is essential!
These are great tips. I am really learning that research is where it is at. Research your content, research your keywords and research your competition!
Great tips for new bloggers! Content is king!!
These are such great tips for any blogger!
These are handy tips to read everytime before I write a blog post. I should keep this close by!
This is very informative and worth reading. I totally agree with your awesome tips. You really have to think before you click and post that blog post.
Lots of great tips here. Creating engaging content that keeps people hooked is so important.
This is very true. Bloggers don’t just write, they write with wit and passion. They put their heart into writing so the readers can connect with them.
These are all great ways make sure your content is good. Writing about things you love and believe in really help.
I very much agree with knowing your content! I am a big fan of citing actual research and peer reviewed journal articles. Thanks for sharing these tips!
I love these tips! Writing about things you love really shows – if you are writing about a topic you could care less about people can tell!
Thanks for sharing these tips! I would appreciate it if you could follow me back please 🙂
I have followed you back.
I agree with all of these particularly the one about doing your research. I like to see stats in posts but also like to see where they got them from xx
Sophia http://sophiawhitham.co.uk
There are some great points in there. It’s a lot to think about when writing a new blog post, but in the end it will pay off because you have great quality content. Thanks for this post and summing it up nicely!
These are some great tips you mentioned here. There’s really a lot to think about with every blog post you write!
Lea, xx
asnippetoflife.com
Absolutely love your tips! Research should be done as it would help to create original content.
You seem to have done an in-depth research about seo and content building. Love your tips! gone follow them all 🙂
These are all great pieces of advice. Research is so important! Thanks for sharing 🙂
I agree with doing your research and checking it facts! I’ve come across a few blogs that make me cringe with the inaccuracies, doesn’t make me want to read anything else on their site 😩
these are great tips for those starting out or even a reminder for those who have been in the blogging world for quite sometime! I agree and try to abide by those with each and every post… (the research is ALWAYS the most time consuming, but I think bloggers in general like the research part of it ‘at least I do!’)
I love to read blogs that have taken the time to do their research and try to do the same for my blog. I think it’s also a way to find your real readers, as most probably they are interested in the same things as you 🙂
I’ve read this at the perfect time, you have given me so much inspiration! So important to follow these steps, thanks for all the tips!
Great content is key to readers coming back. Great tips especially for new bloggers.
Because I’m a fashion and travel blogger, it’s so easy to find content to post about. I usually have a lifestyle post once or twice a month and there’s just a boatload of stuff to post about in this area.
http://www.keepingupwithcandy.com