How To Write A Blog That People Will Actually Read

Whether you’ve been writing a blog for a few years, or are just warming up to the idea—you’ve probably figured out that the competition’s stiff. Sure, honing your style, coming up with topics, and getting your content found online is all a challenge. But when it comes down to it, the hardest part is often figuring out how to actually write the blog itself.

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Here are six ways to catch your audience’s attention, keep them reading—and most importantly—keep them coming back for more:

1. Solve their problem. Most of us are searching for answers to something online. What’s the healthiest brownie recipe? How do I improve my golf swing in one weekend? Can I get rid of outdoor weeds without chemicals? People want answers: you need to be the one to give them those answers based on your expertise, particularly if you’re running a business where blogs are part of your online content strategy. Write blog topics that have real, usable information, not vague, pie-in-the-sky notions. For example, if someone wants to lose weight, don’t write a post that says “eat healthy” and “exercise”. Ugh, everybody knows that. Instead, give them specific, out-of-the-box strategies to help them reach their goals (e.g. “Save 400 calories by trading-in your chai tea latte for black tea with sweetener and milk”.) If you provide readers with useful information throughout the blog that helps solve a problem, they’ll come back again and again.

2. Hook ’em with a great headline. If you can’t get them to click, they’ll never see how great your content is. But don’t make empty promises. People are getting wise to headlines that draw them in using “clickbait” tactics and then make them work to find answers—or don’t deliver the content they expected at all. Instead, write a short, to-the-point headline that reels in readers, but that’s also reflective of what’s in it for them. (e.g. “How to cut 800 calories a day, without even noticing it”) You obviously clicked on this article because you wanted to learn something. So, make sure those punchy headlines tell people what to expect from your blog post, as well, then follow through with that promise.

3. Keep the momentum with a strong lead in. You wrote a great headline. You got them to click on your blog. One more step and you’re almost there. Keep your promise of good content by ushering them in with a strong opening paragraph. The cold, hard truth is that 55% of readers will click off your page in 15 seconds or less. Write something strong, clear and meaningful to reaffirm that you’ll deliver on your promise in the first sentence or two of your blog post and you just might get them to the next step.

4. Make it easy on the eyes. No matter how good your content is—no one wants to read a novel online. Your audience wants their info fast, in an easy-to-read format that they can scan through to find answers. A seemingly endless, intimidating block of text is NOT THAT. Use anything you can to break up the text, from numbering and bullets, to bolded headers and plenty of spacing. Create content in listicle form, which also makes for great headlines (e.g. 5 things you can do right now to start losing weight) or how-to guides (e.g. How to lose weight when you’re sick and tired of dieting) so people can find what they need quickly—and as mentioned above, make it compelling! This simple technique lets you break down your content into unintimidating, bite-sized pieces that your audience will be happy to digest—and your readers will appreciate you for it.

5. Clean it up. No one wants to trudge through a blog post that’s rife with misspellings, grammatical errors, punctuation and formatting issues, or just lazy writing. While no one expects you to be Hemingway, people do notice mistakes and they get tripped up when the writing doesn’t flow. That said—with all the amazing built-in editing tools available—there’s really no excuse anymore. So, be sure to run a spell and grammar check and then look it over one last time to catch any little nuances you may have missed. Getting an extra set of eyes to read your blog, whether it’s a friend’s or family member’s, is always a good idea, as well.

6. Remember search engine optimization (SEO). SEO… huh? Don’t panic. One important thing to keep in mind when you’re blogging is that content writing is only part of the battle. You’re competing against hundreds of thousands of other bloggers to be found online. Say someone searches online for “How to improve your golf swing in one weekend” Great! You have a blog about that! So, why isn’t your blog popping up in first-page search results? Knowing a thing or two about basic SEO techniques, like using certain keywords throughout your article, or having the right URL structure, can help boost your chances of being discovered. While we can’t cover it here, take a few minutes to learn simple SEO 101 techniques—they could go far in helping your blog get the attention it deserves.

You want to share your ideas with the world! Not only will your blog help a lot of people who need answers, there’s also an overwhelming feeling of satisfaction that comes from sharing your expertise or interests with likeminded individuals. Follow these steps, and you’ll be on your way to creating an outstanding blog that people will actually read.