Blog Article Basics: 7 Things All Impressive Blog Articles Have in Common
Blog articles may seem insignificant but the truth is that they’re not just about providing information—they also introduce people to your business. If you haven’t yet set up a blog on your company website, it’s about time you do so.
But we’re not here to tell you why you should write articles. The most important thing is that you know that you should write! And the next step is to make sure that all your articles have what it takes to rank highly in the search engines.
When it comes to search engines, we’re most likely talking about Google. Your articles should have what it takes for Google to identify it as a top article. This means the content you provide should be valuable but there’s also much more to it. You’ve got to optimize your articles for Google—such is Search Engine Optimization: “the practice of increasing the quantity and quality of traffic to your website through organic search engine results…optimizing a website in order to make it easy to find via search engines like Google”. It’s definitely highly recommended that you spend some time reading about SEO to familiarize yourself with it but if you continue reading, we will make it easier for you by giving you free tips to instantly make your articles rank high.
But hold on. Ranking high on Google is not the same as receiving high click-through rates (CTR) or being high-converting. In other words, you might be the first ten articles that Google lists when someone types a keyword into Google, yet when people actually get to your articles, whether or not they are convinced and impressed about your writing and whether or not they choose to learn more about your business remains a totally different thing.
What we’re trying to say is that it’s important to create blog articles that make people want to discover more about your product or service. For that, we’ve written this article, in which you’ll receive knowledge about 7 things all impressive blog articles have in common.
Read on and your business will definitely stand out online.
7 things all impressive blog articles have in common
Blog article tip 1: They have a catchy headline with power words that are also positive
The first thing readers see is the headline. Even before the Internet and social media, the first thing that determines whether or not people decide to read an article in a newspaper is…the headline. It makes complete sense, therefore, that headlines should always be catchy and attention-grabbing. Just because they consist of a few words, never forsake them.
Blog article tip 2: They add value and knowledge to the reader
Impressive blog articles are impressive because they truly contribute something useful to the reader in some way. Content quality matters, and we couldn’t agree more. According to Full Funnel Marketing, “quality is one of the three top ranking factors in Google”. So there’s no running away from doing some research and really thinking about what you’re writing. In other words, high-quality content is what makes it easier for your potential customers to find your business because SEO is also about writing for human beings, which means writing in a way that answers a question and provides a unique perspective.
People are not robots— they have to be engaged by what they read and they have to find an article helpful to be able to be impressed by it. Pro-tip: It’s about sharing something most people haven’t heard of before but more importantly, it’s about sharing something in a way that they’ve never heard of before.
Blog article tip 3: They focus more on providing examples and how-tos instead of explaining “why”
You’re reading this article right now: notice, that this article is on the whole, a “how-to” article. It tells you what to do to write impressive blog articles. Have a catchy headline. Do research. Include images. Break down your points into short paragraphs. All of these points are not about why you should write a blog article because that would be quite boring.
Blog article tip 4: They include images (with captions!)
Tell us, would you rather read something with or without pictures? That’s one thing—the other thing is that Google ranks your article higher if it has images in it. In addition, be sure to write something into the alternative text section because that affects SEO too. It’s very easy to write alternative text; just describe the purpose of the image in very simple terms.
Also known as “alt tags”, the alternative text will describe images to visually-impaired readers or in the case that images fail to load. In short, by adding alt tags, you’re also being very kind! It’s a win-win situation.
Blog article tip 5: They avoid lengthy paragraphs
Always separate your writing into paragraphs. Even if you have multiple points that connect with each other, having them all in one paragraph will mess up your article’s readability.
Blog article tip 6: Their sentences read well
You may have very good information to back up your points and you may have perfect English grammar. But without a nice flow and an informal, conversational style of expressing your points, not many readers will feel convinced about, say, why email marketing matters.
Again, remember that people are not robots, and to engage people, you have to write in an engaging way. Use simple words and talk about different points at different times. For information on how to write great copy during COVID-19, check out this article.
Blog article tip 7: They conclude with a call to action
Let us remind you that the whole point of having a blog on your business website is to attract readers and followers who will share your content, discover more about your business, or most ideally, take action. Thus, including a call-to-action (CTA) at the end of your articles are a must. An example of a CTA is “Join us now to receive updates on our offers and discounts”. You can see that it encourages people to do something.
Call-to-actions can be of any length. The key to an impactful CTA is its impact on readers: ask yourself: does it make people want to join, share, subscribe, or learn more?
Call-to-actions can also be found on website landing pages, email newsletters, social media advertisements, and youtube videos.
We haven’t forgotten our promise at the beginning of this article to share with you our best tips on how to up your article’s ranking. Here they are:
- Include images, GIFs, or videos in your content
- Use power words and positive words
- Have a focus keyword and use it frequently and in the right places
- Include your focus keyword in your URL, SEO Meta Description and title
- If possible, your focus keyword should appear in at least 10% of your content
- Include a number in your title
- Write up to at least 600 words
- Break up all text for readability (you’re not a phD student)
Conclusion
Writing an impressive article is easy…as long as you abide by these 7 points. You’ve read these amazing tips for free, so all that’s left is to put them into practice. Go on. Impress your target audience.
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