20 Blog Post Must-Haves

By Lorraine Reguly

© 2013, updated Feb. 2014

Copyright 2013 by Lorraine Reguly,

From

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold

or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person,

please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. Thank you for respecting the

hard work of this author.

You do, however, have permission to print it and keep it near your computer so that you

may refer to it while creating and publishing your blog posts!

Introduction:

Countless articles have been written on how to write and publish the best blog post

ever, but each offers only a snippet of what you need to know. In my opinion, there are

20 blog post must-haves. These are the essential components of successful blog posts

and, ergo, successful bloggers.

By spending some time reading the material covered in this ebook, you will gain a

deeper understanding of the steps you need to follow in order to write a superb post and

become the envy of all your blogger friends!

Take a deep breath and dive in!

Step 1: Choose Your Topic and Be Interesting

This should be simple. Often it's not. If you're unsure of what to write about, create a

mind map. Think of your favourite subject and look at it from a different angle. Check

Twitter to see what's trending. Perhaps there's a question that you want answered;

chances are, if you want answers, others do, too! Write about that. It's your blog, so

write about whatever you want!

To be interesting, use personal experiences, creativity, and humour. These are the most

popular ways to be interesting!

Further reading:

How to Write a Good Interesting Blog

How to Choose a Topic for Your Next Blog Post

Stuck For A Topic To Write About? Brainstorm My Way!

5.5 Tips To Write Amazing Blog Posts Even If You Are A Newbie (SEO without SEOing)

Step 2: Outline the Main Points of Your Post

What are the main points you want to make? These points will become your

subheadings! Studies show that most people scan a post instead of reading it from

beginning to end, and only look at the highlighted points. If you capture your readers'

interests, they'll read more. It's that simple!

Step 3: Fill in the Blanks, and Mix It Up

Write the meat and potatoes of your post under each subheading. Then, further

categorize your content into subheadings, if you have a lot to say!

Enhance your text by adding a video or a podcast. We are auditory and visual learners,

and often welcome something different to hear or see. Videos provide both. Mix it up for

your readers!

Further reading:

3 Subhead Blunders That Make Readers Bounce From Your Blog

How to Elevate Your Blog Posts in Three Easy Ways

Step 4: Add Relevant Images and "Label" Them

Including an image in your blog post is useful for a few reasons. First of all, it helps

boost your ratings in search engines. Secondly, people like to look at pictures! Posts

that have photos or images are more likely to be shared on social networks, too!

There are several places on the web from which you can “borrow” images. Some are

free, others are not. Using images of your own creation is always safe. Some people

even use stick figures in their posts! (My stick figure guy, Gimpy, made his appearance

in a "guest image" in this blogger's post.)

I like to take pictures with my cell phone. I am able to transfer them to my computer

using an adapter that fits into the slot on my laptop. I copy and paste them into my

Pictures folder, and organize them accordingly, depending on their content. Perhaps

you have a digital camera or a phone that has such capabilities. If so, use it to your

advantage. Owning your own images means you don't have to worry about accrediting

others for theirs!

Also, when you are adding an image to your post, give it a title, a caption, and a

description. Do this for both your readers AND for the search engines! Search engines

cannot "look" at pictures, so filling out the “alt text” field is important! Simply describe in

a few words what your image contains.

Further reading:

Foter

PHOTOPIN

Use of Free Images

Legally Using Images

Public Domain Photos

Free Digital Photos.net

Public Domain Pictures.net

5 Things To Avoid When Using Stock Photography

50 Places to Find Images for Every Small Business Need

Top 5 Free Websites for Quality Copyright Free Photographs

How to Make Your Blog Images Awesome – Even If You Aren't Picasso

Step 5: Use the Colour, Bold, and Italicize Features Properly, and Never Underline!

Highlight important points by using bold text or italics, and add colour to your post in

the subheadings. Never underline, though, since underlining generally indicates a link to

another website. Note that links may also be indicated with a colour, so choose and

use your colours wisely!

Step 6: Don't Forget the “White Space”

Write using short paragraphs. Write one-sentence paragraphs, too. This makes reading

and comprehension easier.

Use lists, or bullet points, to help highlight important points.

If you are telling a story, you probably won't use lists, but you can remember to include

a lot of white space. It's easier to read a couple of lines than a long paragraph of twenty

sentences! Break long paragraphs into shorter ones!

Further reading:

Which Works Better: List Posts or Stories? Let's Ask a New York Times Editor

Step 7: Proofread Your Post and Edit Where Necessary

Writing is an art form. It is easy to overlook errors, especially since our eyes often “see”

what our brain tells them. Unfortunately, our brains are not always correct, and using

the spell-check feature won't always work.

For example, if you meant to write “from” but wrote “form,” this is not an error in the

eyes of a spell-checker, but it is an editing error!

Often, when I am typing, I type “teh” instead of “the.” I know what it is that I'm typing, but

my fingers don't! I even type “Lorriane” instead of “Lorraine” in my emails, and this is my

name. Surely I know how to spell my own “mane,” don't I?

The best ways for editing your own writing:

Leave it alone for a day or two, or even longer. Then, take a look at what you wrote.

You'll spot errors more easily than if you were to read it right after you write it.

Have someone else read what you've written, and ask them to look for errors. You'll be

amazed at how having another pair of eyes on your writing will help you! My mom is

often my go-to person. (Yes, even editors have editors!) She rarely finds errors, but

when she does, I'm really happy to have her input.

Join a writing group or have a friend, relative or blogging buddy proofread your work.

This will help you because the proof-reader may ask you something about what you've

written, which will enable you to edit your work accordingly. Remember, your goal is to

publish a polished piece, not a dreadful draft!

You can always hire an editor to help you, too! (Yes, I'm available, and my rates are

extremely reasonable.)

How to Help Readers “Get” Your Blog Posts is a guest post I wrote whose focus is on

editing blog posts. Be sure to check it out!

Further reading:

30 Quick Editing Tips Every Content Creator Needs to Know

Step 8: Create a Compelling, Clickable Title

Poor titles take a short time to create, good titles take a bit longer, and great titles are

worth the time and effort you put forth into crafting them, since they will get you noticed.

It is a well-known fact that people click on titles that have certain properties. These

include “How To” titles, titles that are “cryptic,” titles that ask questions, titles that offer

value, and titles that evoke curiosity.

These examples represent a mere fraction of the many different types of strategies you

can incorporate into your headline. In fact, many blog posts have been written on how to

craft compelling titles or headlines, and courses have even been developed to teach

you how to write mesmerizing, attention-grabbing headlines!

Some of the best ones are:

How to Write Effective Headlines

Writing Headlines That Get Results

Writing Headlines that Grab Attention

10 Sure-Fire Headline Formulas That Work

5 Quick Tips For Writing Headlines That Work

9 Proven Headline Formulas That Sell Like Crazy

5 Easy Tricks To Help You Write Catchy Headlines

The Four Best Practices to Writing Magnetic Headlines

How to Craft Post Titles that Draw Readers Into Your Blog

The Power of the Double-Whammy Headline: How to Increase the Chances of Your

Content Being Read

Step 9: Make Sure Your Opening Sentence is Awesome!

Creating a compelling opener is as important as creating a compelling title since it is the

only thing, other than the title, that is seen on places like Networked Blogs and Google+

postings. Your opening sentence is what draws readers in, and makes them click on the

“read more” or “continue reading” tag (link).

Your post might be great, but if your opening line is not, you are drastically reducing

your chance of your post being read. Give your readers a reason to read your post.

Create a compelling opening line. Then follow it with another! (And another, and

another, until you are finished!)

Further reading:

How to Nail the Opening of Your Blog Post

11 Ways to Open a Post and Get Reader Engagement

Step 10: Add Relevant Links and Attribution

Linking back to your own content keeps readers on your site, but providing links to other

sites demonstrate that you have done your research and, therefore, possess authority

on the subject on which you are writing. Using both types of links is the best. (This

neatly summarizes what Pamela Wilson said in 8 Incredibly Simple Ways to Get More

People to Read Your Content.)

Providing credit where credit is due is something I always do. It is common courtesy to

do this, even if what you are saying is an improvement upon or a reiteration of what

others have said.

For example, when doing my research for this article, I read many blog posts and

picked the greatest points from each of them to create this book. Since I used some of

Pamela Wilson's ideas and words, I can either publicly note that I got them from her, or I

can link to the article she wrote. I can also provide the title of the article, and give her

credit, or I can simply say that one of the informative articles I read is 8 Incredibly

Simple Ways to Get More People to Read Your Content. Whichever way you choose to

give credit is fine, as long as you give credit where it is due!

Remember, if you copy someone's words, you are committing theft! Plagiarizing is not

acceptable behaviour! Fair use, however, is.

When in doubt, provide attribution. It's better to be safe than sorry!

Step 11: Include a “Call to Action” at the End of Your Post and/or Invite Reader Comments

When your reader is finished reading, what do you want him/her to do next? Subscribe

to your blog? Buy your product? Enrol in your class? Share your content? Comment on

your blog? Do something else? Whatever it is you want your reader to do, let them

know!

Your “call to action” may include one or more of these things. However, don't ask for too

much, because you won't get it. Limiting your request to one or two things will ensure a

more positive response from your readers then if you ask them to do ten things!

Further Reading:

Calls to Action – 12 Tips to SNAP Readers Out of Passivity

Step 12: Categorize Your Content and Add Tags

This is a step that many bloggers fail to do but should always remember! Adding

categories and tags to your posts helps your post's search engine rankings as well as

your reader’s experience, especially if you use a category widget and/or a tag widget on

your blog!

Step 13: Add the “More Tag” at an Appropriate Spot

This is a completely different type of tag than the tags mentioned in Step 12.

The “more tag” tells your reader that they can “read more” of your post (that is, read or

see the full post) when they click on the “continue reading” or “read more” or “read the

rest of this post” link.

Because you want them to click on this link, make sure you place the “more tag” at a

juncture that compels them to do so. Remember, that this should be included relatively

close to the beginning of your post, after the first image and a paragraph or two. If your

blog's home page is anything like mine, which shows my last ten posts (this is what I

have set it to show), it is important to keep in mind that you only want to give the reader

a taste of what the post is about. If your new visitor is interested, he/she will click on the

link and read it in its entirety.

Step 14: Include Easy-To-Find Sharing Buttons, and Make Sure They Work!

Make it easy for your reader to share your content by including sharing buttons at the

end of your post. Once they are there, test them to make sure that they work.

By putting your sharing buttons at the end of the post (you may want to put them at the

top of the post, or off to the side), you can get your readers to share your content more

readily than they would if they had to search for them. Ensuring that they work is

important since you don't want to turn readers off or upset them in any way. Plus, you

want people to share your posts, don't you?

Step 15: Look at the Preview and Make Final Changes Where Necessary

The way your blog post looks before you publish it is different than how it looks when it

has been published, especially if you are writing in HTML code (also known as the Text

Editor).

Using the Visual Editor helps you see your post more clearly, but viewing the preview

will let you see where you might need to add a paragraph or line break, whether or not

your images are too close to your text or subtitles, and if your links are showing up in

the correct places (they might be left-aligned, on their own line, and might make your

sentence look funny).

Step 16: Change Your URL to A SEO-Friendly One

Your post's URL is created based on your title. If your title is long, your URL will be long,

too. By simply changing your URL to one that is shorter, your post will rank higher with

search engines, especially if you modify it to include your basic keywords.

Free WordPress blogs insert the date of publication into the post's URL (also called the

permalink). Unfortunately, there is nothing you can do to change this, but if you make

your URL more SEO-friendly, you will rank higher than if you did not change it at all.

Further Reading:

10 Best SEO Practices for URLs and Blog Permalinks

URL Optimization: 5 Best Practices for SEO

Step 17: Consult Your Posting Schedule and Consider the Timing of Your Post

If you don't have a schedule yet, it's time to create one! You can use any one of several

methods to do so: a paper calendar, a calendar on your computer, or a plug-in such as

the WordPress Editorial Calendar.

By having a schedule, you will be able to see if your posts are balanced, and improve

your content marketing strategy. If you're not sure how to create one, this post will tell

you how.

It's also important to consider your posting frequency. Although everyone has a different

opinion on this, there are a few things to keep in mind. Problogger Darren Rowse sums

it up best in this post, and adds to his ideas in this one. To put things simply, people are

less likely to read your blog post on a Friday night at 11 pm than they are on a Tuesday

morning. Ergo, it makes sense to publish your post when readers want to read! (This is

not rocket science, but simple common sense!) Many bloggers often experiment with

this and publish their posts at optimal times. Here are the findings of one particular

blogger.

Once you have determined the optimal time for publishing your post, (and have

completed the 17 steps listed above!) you can schedule it to be published at a specific

time, regardless of the platform (WordPress, Blogger, etc.) you are using. This will

ensure that you post will be published even if you have other things to do at that time,

and it will make your life much easier.

Step 18: Promotion

There is no point to writing a fantastic post for multiple people and having no one read

it, right?

The solution? Promote it!

You can do this by using social media, by enlisting the word-of-mouth help from your

friends and followers, and by asking other bloggers with larger followings to help you.

There are many more ways of promoting your post, too. Learn about 13 ways here or

check out Ana Hoffman’s How to Promote the Ish” Out of Your Blog Posts.

Within your post, you can also add a quote for your readers to Tweet. To do this, you

can follow the instructions given in How to Use “Click to Tweet” Links In Your Blog

Posts: 10 Easy-to-Follow Steps or install a plugin that will help do this for you.

Whatever you decide, make sure that your quote is related to the content of your post!

Step 19: Engage Your Readers

Don't just hit the publish button and disappear for days on end. Make sure that you are

available to publish your readers' comments (especially if you moderate comments) and

engage them in conversation. Readers like to know that they are valued; don't leave

them hanging! When you leave a comment on someone's website, don't you like it when

the author responds to you? I bet each and every one of you answered “Yes!”

Listening to your readers and learning about their interests is a great strategy to use not

just for building relationships, but to determine what you should write about in the future.

Many people like to read others' comments, too, and often add to the conversation

taking place, rather than simply repeating what they have said. By listening to the

several different viewpoints, you can tailor your content to resonate with your

reader. After all, isn't that what blogging is all about? Giving readers what they want?

Without readers, our blogs would wither away . . . and that is one of the reasons why

there are so many abandoned blogs in the blogosphere. On the flip-side, that's also one

of the reasons why there are so many successful bloggers out there – they fulfil a need,

and they give their readers what they want. Which type of blogger do you want to be?

There are a variety of things you can do to engage your readers. The most common is

to ask them a question at the end of your post that they can respond to in the comment

section. When you are growing a community, it is helpful to remember details about

your readers’ blogs so that you can ask them questions, too, to bring your conversation

to the next level.

Step 20: Update Your Content

Once you have written several posts, completing the above steps will get easier and

easier. Blogging is an art form that takes time to master. The great thing about blogging

is that you can always go back and edit your posts. Updating them with links to new

posts will show search engines that you are staying current. It may even improve your

rankings!

For example, when I wrote my post on the Top 10 Tips To Make a Good Impression, I

had no idea that I would eventually turn it into a Slideshare presentation. When I did, I

went back to the post and embedded my presentation in it.

Another, perhaps better, example is linking two related posts to each other. When I

wrote Google+ Circles: What You Need To Know About How To Manage Them, I did

not know that I'd be writing Google+ Circles: The Unanswered Questions,

Answered! Once the latter post was published, I went back to the first post and added a

sentence to it, including a link to the second one. I also included a link to the first post

when I wrote the second.

Keeping your content updated is not hard to do! Of all the steps listed in this book, it is

probably the easiest one!

Final Thought:

Now that you are armed with the best information that can be found regarding how to

write and publish the best blog post ever, go write an awesome post that everyone will

love!

Don't forget who helped you learn how to become a great blog post writer, either! (Yes,

it was me, Lorraine Reguly!)

~Lorraine, from

BONUS Section (As promised!) A Printable Checklist for You: The 20 Blog Post Must-Haves Checklist

□Step 1: Choose Your Topic and Be Interesting

□Step 2: Outline the Main Points of Your Post

□Step 3: Fill in the Blanks, and Mix It Up

□Step 4: Add Relevant Images and "Label" Them

□Step 5: Use the Colour, Bold, and Italicize Features Properly, and Never Underline!

□Step 6: Don't Forget the “White Space”

□Step 7: Proofread Your Post and Edit Where Necessary

□Step 8: Create a Compelling, Clickable Title

□Step 9: Make Sure Your Opening Sentence is Awesome!

□Step 10: Add Relevant Links and Attribution

□Step 11: Include a “Call to Action” at the End of Your Post and/or Invite Reader

Comments

□Step 12: Categorize Your Content and Add Tags

□Step 13: Add the “More Tag” at an Appropriate Spot

□Step 14: Include Easy-To-Find Sharing Buttons, and Make Sure They

Work!

□Step 15: Look at the Preview and Make Final Changes Where Necessary

□Step 16: Change Your URL to A SEO-Friendly One

□Step 17: Consult Your Posting Schedule and Consider the Timing of Your Post

□Step 18: Promotion

□Step 19: Engage Your Readers

□Step 20: Update Your Content

A Bonus Resource for Bloggers on WordPress.com:

There are many blogging platforms in existence. I began on WordPress (WP), and

although I experimented with Tumblr and Blogger, I found I liked the WP platform the

best. Many blogging gurus recommend this platform, too. It seems to be the best one

there is!

The WordPress support site has some really great articles, videos and tutorials that

teach you about blogging and getting started. They helped me immensely! Of course,

you have to spend some time on each section. (It took me days to comprehend it all, but

I also took my own notes, too, as though I was in school.)

Even though I have my own website now, my poetry blog is still on WordPress.com, and

I still check the “Help” every now and then, too, which you can access anytime.

Look at the numbered steps in the following screenshot to show you where, exactly, to

find HELP (and note that I have since moved from a free blog to my own self-hosted

site).

If you are thinking of moving, too, you will definitely want to check out my informative

web hosting guide.

Wow. You made it to the end! Congratulations! Now go write that blog post you've been

wanting to!

Related articles on writing blog posts:

The Art of Writing Great Google+ Posts

6 Simple Steps to Writing Seductive Web Copy

How to Write and Publish the Best Blog Post EVER

How to Craft a Blog Post – 10 Crucial Points to Pause

26 Essentials for Blogging Success: What You Need to Know

41 Blog Success Tips from 10 Years of Blogging You Can Learn Today

How to Write a Good Blog Post Super-Fast (and the Joy of Slow-Blogging)

Your Ultimate Guide to Creating Amazing Content that Draws Readers Into Your Blog

Cheers to better blogging – and see you on Wording Well!

~Lorraine, from