How to write the perfect blog post

Spoiler – there’s no one size fits all approach. We know, we’re sorry.

Blogs are on the rise within businesses – people like to be seen as experts within their industry, whilst some just like to give out useful information in the hope that it helps someone.

The perfect blog post depends on your industry or company. For example, BuzzFeed can get away with short form posts because theirs are heavily focused around imagery and videos, whilst a technology company might like to write lengthy, whitepaper-like informative pieces.

While achieving perfection for your blog post may depend on your industry, here’s a helpful guide of things to consider along the way:

You’re not writing for you

You’re writing for Google, and you’re writing for your audience. Typically, Google rewards posts that are longer – roughly 350+ words. The more words, the higher you rank in Google’s search results.

Only a great writer, however, can write something that’s incredibly long (1000+ words) and still make it an easy read, so don’t go overboard.

In saying that, it’s important to note that Google is constantly changing its search algorithm, so keep an eye out on any changes that might affect how well your content is being found.

If you’ve already written a range of posts of varying lengths, do some analytics tests on them – which ones have performed best? That will give you an indication as to what your audience prefers.

If you haven’t written any yet but you do have an active audience, it would be advantageous for you to carry out some audience surveys to see what they want in a blog post. If you’re not sure, ask!

Make sure your audience is getting something from the post

There’s no point in just writing for the sake of writing – your audience should be able to take something from your post.

Brainstorm a list of topics that would be of interest to your audience and then create a few subtopics that you can create posts around.

For example, if you’re writing for a car company, your topic might be “engine” and you could come up with some subtopics for a variety of blog posts, like we’ve done below:

It’s important to find topics that your audience will care about, answering any questions that they may have. You have the chance to be their go-to source for information, so make the most of it!

Take SEO into consideration

You’re going to want people to find your blog once you write it, so if you’re using popular search terms, you’re much more likely to get found on a standard Google search.

Do an online search to find out what popular words you should use in relation to each blog post, and then try to include them in the title of your post. It’s normally important to have these key words in the first paragraph of your post, as these are the bits of your post that Google is most likely to read – however with Google’s ever-changing algorithms, it’s important to keep a close eye on this so you’re getting the most out of your blog.

Keep it fresh

Try writing content that hasn’t been written about before. Take popular topics and put your twist on it to ensure the posts you’re writing are viewed as fresh, relevant and thoughtful.

A great place to start is by reading blogs that you particularly admire or gain a great level of traction, and trying to find an angle that hasn’t been tackled yet. This will help you create a credible name for yourself within the ever-growing blogging stratosphere!

We believe in you!

It’s not easy starting a new blog and preparing content for the days, weeks and months ahead, but if you’re determined to engage with your audience and bring in a fresh view of your industry, then there’s nothing stopping you! If you need a helping hand to get yourself started, contact us at Roland Dransfield and find out how we can be of service.

If you have any helpful advice for new bloggers, comment below and share your wisdom!