9 steps to write attention-grabbing blog posts
How to engage your readers through to the end
Nothing can be more frightening for a writer than having readers find the blog post not meeting their expectations. After clicking on your blog post, if the reader finds that it’s different from what they’re looking for only in a few paragraphs, they’ll click away from the blog post, to never return.
For any query, there are two questions a reader has for the blog post:
What’s in it for me?
Can I understand and use it without spending time figuring it out?
Get these right, and you’re ready with a hit blog post!
Now I want you to picture yourself reading a blog post. What would trigger you to click away from it? If it doesn’t tell you how it can help you solve your problem. If it does, the language makes it difficult for you to get value from the blog post.
As a writer, I found these two issues with blog posts the most off-putting. If you can come up with a template that can ensure you write blog posts that people actually read, how easy it’d make life? Oh, how we’d want our life to be easier, won’t we?
Let’s dive into the template, where I’ll explain to you how it helps you hit the 1200-word mark while making your reader read through to the end.
How to engage the reader in the blog post?
Let’s think about why you find something useful. It answers your questions in the most effortless manner possible.
That’s what it takes to create a blog post people want to read. Remember the two questions we talked about in the beginning? Answering those questions can be achieved in two simple steps.
It would make your blog:
Worth remembering
About 6 million blog posts are published every day. It doesn’t take much for the reader to forget your blog post easily. How would you answer their first question, then? By making it worth remembering. This is what I do:
1. Make the reader the hero of the story
The blog is not about the solution you have; it’s about the problems your readers face. When you make the blog post centered around the reader’s problems and less about how good your solution is, you empathize with the reader.
Everyone is living a story, and they are the main lead of their story. When your blog post aids the main lead (the reader) in solving their problem, they feel resonated.
With your blog post, you should want to ease their concerns rather than portray how well you know the solution.
How to make the reader the hero? Talk about their everyday life. Start with painting a situation they would end up in because of that problem. Make them imagine the consequences of not finding a solution.
Now you have their complete attention. Hit them with your solution, and you’ve satisfied the reader.
Not to forget, use words like “You” and “Your” instead of “I”, “We”, or “Our”.
2. Talk about the Transformation
You now have your reader’s complete attention. They feel safe relying on you to solve their problem. But how will they know your solution will work?
By showing the transformation they’ll experience after using it. Again, as the main lead of their story, they are not interested in your solution. All they want to know is the change it’ll bring to their lives. Talk about that change.
Less calorie-burning
Now we discuss why your reader faces friction when reading your blog post. The result of the friction? An unsatisfied reader who clicks out of the blog.
You can have the best solution to the reader’s pain points, but if it’s not presented in a way the reader finds accessible, the reader is still without a solution.
The reader’s life has become difficult because of their problem. Having to burn extra calories and figuring out what you suggest is another problem for them — which they’ll want to avoid. If your blog post uses complex language, it’ll repel your readers from the blog post.
A good blog starts and ends with the reader. The blog needs to be easy to process to make the reader indulge. Don’t make them burn extra calories.
Here’s how you can make your blog post less calorie-burning (efficient):
3. Write short sentences
No one is a fan of run-on sentences that reveal little about the meaning. Breaking a long sentence into short ones brings out the meaning more effectively.
Writing longer sentences that don’t add much to the reader’s knowledge but make it confusing for them to understand the meaning can make them lose interest in reading your blog post.
Long sentences don’t add much to the reader’s knowledge. They confuse the readers instead of making the solution accessible. It can make them lose interest in the blog.
Can you feel the difference in both sentences? Both convey the same message. But the latter one makes it easy to understand. It sounds less overwhelming.
4. Don’t be formal
Blog posts are not the same as research papers. Using words like “hence”, “thus”, and “therefore” unnecessarily complicates the simple message of blog posts.
If your tone of voice allows it, using some slang or a bit of informal language can do wonders in making the blog posts conversational.
If reading your blog doesn’t feel like reading but talking to a friend, you’ve solved a big problem of keeping the reader engaged.
5. Use short paragraphs
Reading long paragraphs online can be hard on the eyes. Using white spaces in between paragraphs gives the eyes rest from reading information.
Consuming so much information at once takes more time and energy. Keeping paragraphs only 2–3 sentences long helps in skimming and makes it easier for the eyes to read.
Fewer sentences mean less work. The same amount of information cut down into smaller chunks becomes easy to process.
6. Use simple language
The purpose of a blog post is to sound clear, not clever. But you should be clever in using simple language without adverbs that add no additional meaning and adjectives that complicate simple terms.
Use the language your reader is familiar with. If your reader uses jargon, there’s no need to dumb down the jargon. But don’t use complex language if your reader doesn’t use it while talking.
7. Use contractions
Here’s the time to forget a few lessons taught in school. It’s a good practice to use contractions when writing a blog post.
You don’t need to follow all the rules.
Sounds better than
You do not need to follow all the rules.
Time to change the urge to always follow the rules.
8. Ask questions
Asking questions makes the reader think about a situation, thus making them engage more with the blog post. When you ask the reader a question, you alert them and set their expectations about what to follow.
9. Maintain the flow
Ensuring the blog post flows logically allows the reader to make the most of it. A smooth transition from one point to another makes the blog post easy to read through to the end.
Bonus: A complete blog post outline
Here’s what the outline of a blog post looks like:
- Title: Keep it less than 70 characters. Titles 70 characters long get the highest click-throughs. Use long-tail keywords, numbers, and power words to make the title powerful.
- Introduction It’s a good idea to summarise the blog post in the introduction. It can be done by rewording the reader’s pain point, calling out a common reason for the problem, and assuring the reader you have the plan to solve their problem. It helps to:
- Grab the reader’s attention: It lets the reader know what they can expect from the post, grabs their attention, and gives them a reason to keep reading.
- Set expectations: It helps the reader stay engaged and follow along with the structure of your blog.
- Save time: Readers can quickly decide if your post is relevant to their interests and if they can get into the details.
- Set the tone: It helps the reader understand the main topic and points you will discuss, making it easier for them to follow along.
- Help with skimming: Many readers skim blog posts to get a quick overview of the content. Summarising your blog post in the introduction makes it easier for them to understand it quickly.
3. Creating headers: Each header solves the searcher’s intent and questions.
4. Adding subheaders to answer the ‘Wh’ questions:
- Why did the problem occur?
- What is the solution?
- How to implement it?
- How does it transform the reader’s life?
Did you reach the 1200-word limit?
Once you know how to answer the two questions readers ask every blog post, you can create an outline that allows you to hit 1200 words and even 1500 words like a cakewalk.
When your blog post tells the reader what’s in it for them and makes it accessible for them to understand your solution, you’ve crossed the hurdles in making them read the blog post till the end.
I hope this blog post will help you crush your targets in no time.