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9 tips for creating stronger blog content

November 5, 2019 8:25 pm

How can I make more people read my blog?

Short answer: high-quality content

In my last post, I shared seven reasons why I blog and how my blog has become a crucial element for growing my business and booking great clients. This blog post will show you nine proven ways to make your blog content informative, helpful, and engaging. If you struggle with coming up with great content, this blog post is for you! Don’t forget that these tips are meant to give you more insight into blogging intentionally and strategically, rather than make you feel stressed with more things you have to do. 

9 tip for creating stronger blog content

1. Create solution-focused content

If you were to tell me this a year ago, I’d probably have rolled my eyes, because the last thing I wanted to do was to make my blog sound like an academic paper. While I still love sharing my personal life and some non-business-related topics, I’ve noticed the importance of producing content that solves problems. 

I love how Laura Hooker puts it — People are selfish”.

People usually go online to look for something – a new recipe, a funny video, a tutorial to help learn a new skill, an informative blog post, etc. Like I’ve said before, people read blogs for three main reasons: to learn, to be inspired, and to connect. 

3 things to consider:

  1. What can your blog offer your audience? What problems can you address and provide solutions for? 
  2. Are you just adding to the noise, or do you truly have something unique to offer that can help someone solve a specific issue?
  3. Do you write content that speaks directly to your ideal client? 

Solution-focused content is an effective way to showcase your knowledge and expertise, and it can still be interactive and engaging. One of my biggest fears with writing informative content is that I don’t want to sound like a robot. I want to be relatable and personal. However, I find that if I’m reading a blog post just for fun that has nothing that I can take away from it, I usually don’t stick with it and stop reading before reaching the end! 

So for example, instead of sharing blog posts using common formats such such as life updates or Friday Favourites, I’m working on being more intentional in building a library of resourceful blog posts (like this one!) to help my audience. I will definitely keep throwing in a few personal/fun blog posts here and there, but those aren’t my priority right now. 

2. Know exactly who you are speaking to

You’ve probably about narrowing in on your niche in order to reach your dream client. Creative entrepreneurs hear about this all the time, and that’s because not having a clear picture of your target audience can hurt your business and your brand big time! 

By trying to serve everyone, we end up serving no one. 

Your blog posts need to speak to your specific audience and address their unique needs. 

When I launched my business, I didn’t have a clear client profile. I wanted to work with everybody (because why not, right)? I quickly realized that that wouldn’t be possible.

If you are unsure what kind of content you should create, first make sure that you have identified exactly who you want to talk to.

You can’t serve what you don’t know. Even if you feel as though you’re not ready to implement most of these tips today (you don’t have to have it all figured immediately btw), I’d like to challenge you to do one thing: work on your dream client profile or review it if you already have one.

Pro tip: It’s easier and more effective to think of your dream client as a person rather than a group of people. Be specific. Is she a mom? A wife? And what’s her personality like? What does she do and what values does she hold that are important to her? 

3. Get into the details

I used to be a big fan of writing shorter posts (300-500 words) — not because I enjoy reading or writing shorter posts myself, but because I was afraid people wouldn’t finish reading them if they were longer. However, longer blog posts allow me to elaborate on what I am sharing in a way that a 300-word blog post can’t. Longer posts allow my audience to explore subjects in-depth and receive definitive advice rather than just vague ideas.

However, I am not recommending that you add words just for the sake of increasing your word count. A wordy blog post is not the same as a lengthy blog post. Utilize length to add value to your content. Going deeper into a certain topic allows your audience to get the full picture of what you’re teaching, and you may quickly become their go-to source for content!

So how long should a blog post be? As long as it takes to clearly get to the point.

4. Keep your blog posts conversational 

This is my best advice for how to show personality and allow people to get to know you better through your content. It’s okay to use big words here and there if necessary, but  as most creative entrepreneurs are looking to build a personal brand, keeping posts conversational is a great way to do that. It is okay to write like how you talk!

5. Use data and other references to support your points

People are often more convinced when they see numbers and references, but that doesn’t mean that you should make up numbers to support your arguments and call it a day. Do your research on the subject that you’re planning to write about and find a few references to support your points. 

The quality of your references matters too! It’s worth spending extra time to look into them. Don’t forget to link back to the original source, as this will help boost your SEO! It’s truly a win-win situation. 

6. Remember the 80/20 rule

When it comes to planning your blog content, it’s okay to include sales pitches in some of your posts, as long as you keep in mind the 80/20 rule.Eighty percent of your posts should  focus on serving your audience without asking for anything in return (a.k.a. direct sale), and 20% of your content can be promotional content that talks about your services or products and includes a call to action. 

This helps avoid consumer fatigue. The last thing you want is to make people feel like all you care about is obtaining their money. 

“Serve, serve, serve, before you sell.” — Jenna Kutcher

7. Include infographics

Infographics are a great way to attract more readers visually. Having a couple infographics (or even just one) for each blog post can also help show people that you are so serious and passionate about your content that you’ll spend extra time making graphics to help explain it further. 

Here are 5 examples of infographics a business coach might use with their blog posts:

  • A step-by-step process for business coaching
  • A checklist for building a successful business
  • A list of effective ways to market yourself
  • A print-out diagram to help clients manage their time
  • A before and after display of what business coaching can do

Infographics are easy for people to digest. They can also capture readers’ attention and make them want to read a whole blog post if they spot something they’d like to know more about. 

8. Use proper grammar

While it’s totally fine to keep your writing conversational, using proper grammar ensures credibility and professionalism. Don’t underestimate how poor grammar can negatively influence the quality of your content. Double-check, triple-check, or even better, have an extra set of eyes to edit your content like I do! Trust me, this is where you want to invest extra time and/or money.

9. Use catchy titles

I wish I knew the importance of this when I first started blogging. Why spend so much time planning and writing a post when no one even clicks on the heading to check it out? Not fun! Using catchy titles can effectively help drive traffic to your blog. 

Think of your content as the king, and its title as the queen. They are equally important. A strong title gives people an idea of what is in the post and is usually how people decide whether or not to read it. This is why it is so, so important to put more time and effort into crafting titles that cultivate.

Phew, that’s a long post! Remember, consistency is everything – don’t expect to complete all of these steps once and immediately see results! These are habits that you will need to commit to and maintain long term. In addition, committing to ONLY producing high-quality content is what retains a loyal following! If you have any further questions, let’s keep the conversation going in the comments below! Better yet, share a link to your blog so I can check it out!

9 tip for creating stronger blog content

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