How To Write The Perfect Blog Post

Hi, do you want to learn how to start blog writing and create a blog post that goes beyond all your expectations?

I’ve written this in depth guide in the hope that it helps you out.

(There is also a 23 minute video further down if you would rather watch me demonstrate how to do this)

 

Writing the perfect blog post is something more and more people are trying to make sure they do properly.  You can’t just put 500 or 1000 words up and hope for the best.  You need to take special attention to content length and answering the users question thoroughly.

When you also include links to useful resources, helpful pictures and video’s you are making the content a much more valuable resource that people will want to come back to and even share.

I’m sure you would be more than happy if your 5000 word content got shared 400 times (and gave you dozens of powerful backlinks)

In this ultimate guide to writing a blog post that is as close to perfect as possible, I am going to be sharing all I know, such as the following:

• What is the best content length
• How to write great titles
• How to structure your content (bullet points, sub headings etc)
• Making your content scannable (like a story)
• Linking to useful resources
• Including images and other content
• How not to create a blog post
• And so much more…

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“Aaahhh… If only typing away at your keyboard was a simple process..”

We would all be multi millionaires, sipping cocktails under a palm tree in the Maldives.

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If it were that easy, many people would be great at it, and sitting on the beaches… then the beaches would be crowded, and industry might grind to a halt if everyone was good at it.

Well that just isn’t going to happen.

To create great content requires a little bit of structure.

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I will quickly tell you where I come from.

Ive written for over 10 years, professionally writing sales letters for a few marketers over the years.  Since that I have gone on to write for myself, for this blog, and for other websites I used to manage.

Nowadays it’s pretty much just 2 blogs.  This one, and one more.

During the last 2.5 years Ive been intensely working on my other site and trying things out.

Everything changes, and often, but the basic workings of writing good content stays pretty much the same.

Sound good?

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OK.. so where do we start?

An overview, then a breakdown, if that’s ok

• Your blog post needs to answer a question.
• There you go, job done, now go do it.

If only it were that simple.. be great wouldn’t it, huh.

I could end this article here if you could truly see this.

Truth is, if you can really go way out of your way and massively over deliver in helping your reader(s) with the answer to their question you will be walking the right path.

So, bear that in mind, because it is THE MOST IMPORTANT thing you will ever need to remember.

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Let’s say, someone types into Google:

“How can I improve my golf swing?”

Most people would agree that the best way to learn anything is to be shown.

For example, you and a coach are on a golf Green.

Coach shows you the right stance, grip and swing and where to cast your eyes.

You make an attempt and the coach will talk you through your work and offer suggestions to help improve.

Now for many of us, this isn’t an option, but what we can do is turn this into a blog post.

• If you are an expert at this, you can create a video explaining this, upload it to Youtube and embed it into your blog post.
• Or you could write out all the steps necessary and hire an illustrator to show pictures of each important point.

(be sure to watermark the pics and videos with your brand).

That is helping someone out.. and that is good content… and that is answering someones question.

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Video demonstration of writing the perfect blog post

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How not to write a blog post:

Carrying on the above example, the wrong way to write the blog post would be something along the lines of:

To improve your swing you need to up your fitness, turn sideways and keep arms straight.  Then go buy this ebook on proper technique (and pay me a 5% commission).  You’ll also need these gloves (inserting your affiliate link), this cap (and your link again) etc. and so on.

Is this helping your customer?

Well yes, but you are asking them to take more steps to get to where they want, and they will grow tired.. and many people are now wary of obvious affiliate links.

So, the user came to YOUR site “for the answer”.

So you need to strive to deliver useful content that over-delivers.

Plus, Google knows from your site metrics that you’re not really being super helpful, and they give you a ranking drop, as a reward.

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So when you really sit back and think about it.. you need to serve other selflessly before thinking about yourself.

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Content length that converts

This changes frequently.  Just a few months back people were expressing that your content should be at least 2400 words long.

Note that just a few years ago you could get away with 500 word blog posts.. and you could pay someone to write 100 of those posts for $5 each.. now a good writer can cost you $500 for one excellent article.

How times have changed, and for the better.

This blog post from Neil Patel explains why blog posts should be at least 3000 words long.

It all makes sense.

A Youtube video from Income school explains that out of his 50 best performing blog posts,  all of them were over 4000 words in length.

Coincidence?

I think not.

So,…  do not think that you MUST write 4000 or more words for every last post.

You SHOULD think that you have to thoroughly answer the searchers question, no matter how many words it takes.

If this is done properly with 500 words then so be it, if it takes 20,000 words to provide all the facts then so be it.

• With more content, the chances are you will naturally include a lot more related topics within your content.
• With more content you will naturally embody the whole rounded subject.

People want the full picture.

So, any given topic will talk about the topic itself.  But a thoroughly researched topic will also mention things that are closely related to the main topic.

For example if we are talking about Pink Golf hats, we would discuss these, show images of pro golfers wearing them and talk about their costs, materials used and which are the best brands.

BUT we would also include topics that are “very closely related” so we embody the whole topic.

For example we would also discuss:

• Pink Golf caps
• Pink golf sun visors
• Possibly a mention of Pink golf clothing
• Personalised golf hats
• Winter golf hats

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You can find ideas for these other terms in places such as:

Google suggest (at the bottom of a Google search):

 

Or using the likes of Lsi Graph

 

Or even Answerthepublic.com.

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If you want to know what sort of topics you should be including then think about related keywords, and LSI keywords.

When you perform a Google search you can see at the very bottom “people also searched for”… this will give you ideas for related topics.

You can use tools such as LSI Graph to find ideas for semantically related keywords and try to write about those subjects within your content.

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Just be the BEST and be better than anyone else with what you write.

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So, let’s move on to the title and the opening bits..

 

The title has to make people stop what they are doing and want to find out more..

• Nothing else…
• No selling…

The Google searcher has a split second to make a decision.

Google serve up several listings, and the user looks at them..

What they click on comes down to your headline/title.

So all you want to do is get them to click to your site..

How?

• Be real, be truthful but make it a little bit interesting.

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WRONG:

10 ways to lose weight

 

BETTER:

How I lost 14 pounds in 10 days using this one exercise

 

BETTER STILL:

127 of us have tried this, and we have all lost at least 14 pounds in 10 days.  This is about to open up peoples’ eyes to weight loss.

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Did you read it, did you get it?

Did you think “I want to know what this is!!!“..

Curiosity is spiked.. that’s your job when crafting headlines.. nothing else.

For the first few paragraphs you need to give a very brief overview of your blog post.

It could be done through paragraphs or bullet points (You’ll notice that this article you are reading has a few bullet points`which tells you what you will learn).

What we have done at this point is to encourage readers to carry on reading.

But how, Shaun?  You’ve just given it all away in the first few lines, why would they carry on?

Simple.

People have a very very short attention span these days.

They want the facts and they want it fast.

If they can’t understand the topic in the first 30 seconds or so they will click the back button (thinking “this is boring”).

So we’ve given them a taster of the article, and if they truly want to know more they will now be keen to read on.  They KNOW with all certainty that this article WILL give them the answer.

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So now let’s move on to the main part of your post.

How to structure your content

With any luck you will have captured the users interest – enough for them to read on.

I find that it is useful to jot down on a piece of paper, or on a text file on your computer, a list of main points you want to cover.

Put them into some sort of logical order.  When happy, you can start to write the main key points for each of the points you wrote down.

As you write, you don’t want to just write a large block of text.

• You need to break it all up into short paragraphs of one to 3 sentences, and when needed use bullet points to emphasize key items.
• Use sub headings in a H tag.  If you know of any keywords you want to include it is useful to pop some of these within the subheadings.
• As you write be sure to sprinkle in some related key phrases and lsi keywords.
• Include relevant images and videos where necessary in order to get the point across clearly.

How to make your content scannable

Quite simply, imagine that your whole post is a story..but the subheadings outline each part of the story..

So, what I am trying to say is, you want to be able to scroll down and “only” read the subheadings.. and STILL be able to get a general feeling for what the article is about.

So, someone should be able to read each subheading, scroll down and at the end they will have understood the outline of your article.

Why would people do this?

Well, not everyone has time to read the whole thing.

Other people aren’t looking for all of the information.  They may already know a lot of what you are writing about, but might be looking for a particular nugget of information that they have been trying to find..

With subheadings you can point out the the reader “hey, here’s that nugget you were looking to find..”

Linking to useful resources

So, here’s a back to front way of thinking…

Instead of thinking about you, and how you can make money out of this blog post, switch it round and think how you can help the reader.

In fact go further still and over-deliver.  If you find a website who has some brilliant information on your topic why not link to it.  The reader will appreciate it.

Once you’ve truly and selflessly helped the reader get their solution, you can then add in your “money maker” whatever that may be (joining your mailing list or buying your ebook etc.) – just be 100% sure you “GIVE” first.

The key takeaway here is NOT to hit the reader with your affiliate links as fast as humanly possible and as many times as possible.

• You do that, and more of them will click the back button.
• Google loves to reward you for this with a rankings drop.

 

It’s called “time on page”.

• The longer they spend on your page the better, so don’t give them a reason to click the back button.
• It’s not hard to understand how then you have to give them what they want.

Bummer hey!

But that’s life, and that’s the business we are in.

Help others first, and over deliver.

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Is blog writing profitable?

There is no doubt about it, blog writing can make as much or as little money as you can imagine.

• If your traffic strategy is right and people are visiting your blog then you can make money.
• You can spend months creating great content that answers peoples’ questions such as those on answerthepublic.com and include ads on your blog.  Google Adsense is a great way to start out.  Later on when your traffic numbers increase you can apply to other ad networks such as Mediavine.
• You could craft a brilliant sales letter and use this to get people excited to purchase a course you have created, or even a monthly membership website where people pay you a monthly fee.
• If you enjoy writing you could make a career out of it by writing for others.  Starting your own writing service and charging set rates will get you going, or you could offer to write for magazines or you can even offer your services on freelance websites such as Fiverr.

I know several people who are very wealthy using just these strategies.

 

Over to you

I hope you’ve reached this point and picked up some nuggets?  let me know.  I’m human and genuinely trying to help you out.

if you really really like this stuff and what I am all about, you can become a subscriber of mine and I’ll happily send you an email when I’ve something new I’ve written.  If so, you can use the quick form below to pop your details in.

 

Shaun

 

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