How to Write a Compelling Blog Post
Are you a blogger? Do you secretly desire to create content that will attract and keep your readers? If you answered yes to these questions, this post on "How to Write a Compelling Blog Post" is for you.
What is a compelling blog post?
In this post, I’ll cover four factors that’ll determine a compelling blog post;
Research: Audience and the topic.
Content: The quality off your content.
Structure: How your content and blog is organized to ease reading.
Style: Your writing style
From the above, we can conclude that we need two parties (you and your reader) to develop engaging content.
Without any further ado, let’s get right into it.
Research (Know Your Audience)
Research is important in every writing process, and blogging is not exempted. In content writing, research is divided into two;
Content topic research
Audience research
Many writers have said a lot about content topic research, so, my focus will be on audience research.
Your audience research should focus on key areas that will unveil the needs of your ideal audience. I believe that for you to successfully create engaging content, your audience research should precede your topic research.
Your audience is your first topic, therefore, understand them and their desires. Use the research process to discover what they want, not what you think they want.
What to research about your ideal audience;
Who they are i.e. students, undergraduates, entry-level professionals, etc.
Where they’re from.
What type of topics they enjoy reading.
Length of post they are comfortable reading.
Their age range.
Where they converge i.e. social media, forums, etc.
If they are tech-savvy.
If they would prefer reading blog posts written in plain English or with technical jargon?
Honestly, this list is not exhaustive, there’re lots of things you need to know about your target audience. Use the list above to come up with more questions that you’ll need to understand your ideal audience. Your understanding of your ideal audience will determine how well your post will be received.
Online places to research your ideal audience;
Social media groups e.g. Facebook groups, LinkedIn groups, etc.
Online forums e.g. Nairaland, Quora
Online education platforms e.g Udemy, LinkedIn Learning, Coursera, etc.
Affiliate marketing sites e.g.
Online book stores e.g. Amazon Kindle
Video sharing platforms e.g YouTube
Etc.
Content
After researching your audience and the proposed topic, the next step is to write the blog post. When creating your blog content, you have to pay attention to the following;
Title/Header
Body of the blog post
Blog content image(s)
Title:
In writing a good blog title, you should see the blog title as your promise to the reader.
Your content says to the reader, “here is what you’ll learn if you read this content”.
To write a compelling title your title should do at least 2 things from this list;
Call out your ideal audience i.e. Attention job seekers
Highlight a problem i.e. having problems finding a job?
Offer a solution i.e. discover recent entry-level job openings here.
Example 1; (Audience + Problem + Solution)
Attention job seekers having problems finding a job; discover recent entry-level job openings here.
Your title for a blog post may not be this lengthy. To clarify, I was only trying to explore the possibility of having a title that fulfills all three conditions.
Tip: Ideally, an 8 words title is the best for a blog post.
Example 2; (Problem + Solution)
Receiving Negative Blog Comments? Avoid These Costly Mistakes (Problem + Solution)
Example 3; (Audience + Problem)
The challenges of being a remote worker (Problem + Audience)
Body of Blog Post
The body of your blog post is where you fulfill the promise(s) you made on your title. Ensure your title is not misleading.
Tips for writing good content;
Be knowledgeable about your topic.
Have a friendly tone.
Be consistent with your ideas.
Make your content easy to read and understand.
Your content should satisfy a desire i.e. desire to; laugh, learn something new, be updated on recent happenings, etc.
Assume your reader is a dummy. This is a rule I use in my career blog, I assume that my reader knows little or nothing about the subject I’m covering. Therefore, I explain my ideas down to the basic.
Structure
The way you structure your post affects how your readers interact with the content. Have a mental picture of how you want the content to be arranged.
Just by scrolling through this content, you’ll quickly discover the structure I laid out for it. Almost all sections of this post follow that structure.
Always agree on a suitable structure for your content before you start writing.
Things to consider when deciding on your content structure;
Headers: Will you be using headers to separate points?
Length: How long will you post be?
Bullet points: Will bullets ease the readability of your post?
Format: Will you prefer to use a blogging template that centralizes your post or the one that aligns it. Note: The best blogging template will be the one that makes reading easy for your audience.
Use of picture: How often will you use pictures in between your text? etc.
Decide on how you want your blog content to be laid out and stay consistent with it. You could have different structures for different contents.
Style
The fourth component of writing a compelling blog post is style. Your writing style is your writing voice. When a reader recognizes your content immediately they read it, then they are conversant with your writing style.
To develop a good writing style you need to do a lot of digging and practice. The easiest way is to write as though you are talking to just one person. The way you would engage someone in a physical conversation will also translate to your writing pattern.
Are you the kind of person that talks in detail? Do you enjoy conversations where you can make your comments and give examples or proofs to back up your point? Do you enjoy using quotes, and/or parables? How about humour or sarcasm? These things and more will determine your writing style.
More so, these things will also strengthen your writing style;
Passion: Are you passionate about the topic?
Sincerity: Are you being sincere with your points? If there's something you are not sure of, can you point it out and make references that will enable the reader to get more details?
Questions: Do you like asking questions in your content?
References: Do you reference other writers or blogs in your content?
Layout: How do you break down your points (bullet, pictures, headers, quotes, etc)?
Call to action: Do you invite people to contribute or ask questions at the end of your post?
One hack to discover your writing style is to write like your favourite writer. For example, the renowned Chimamanda Adiche writes like Chinua Achebe, and she has noted that she read a lot of Achebe’s books when growing up.
Conclusion
Writing a compelling blog post is possible for any blogger who stays consistent in learning and improving on themselves. Pay attention to the points raised on this post, and you will be a step closer to creating the type of post that will be appealing to your audience.
Hope this post was helpful? Do you have any questions or additions to make? Kindly leave a reply in the comment section, I’ll be here to engage you. Cheers!
Written by Richard Okiasi. Richard is the team lead at FasthireNg. Fasthire is the job board for entry-level and mid-level careers in Nigeria.
Are you a blogger? Do you secretly desire to create content that will attract and keep your readers? If you answered yes to these questions, this post on "How to Write a Compelling Blog Post" is for you.
What is a compelling blog post?
A compelling blog post is a post that is easy to read, understand, and prompts a reader to take action. A compelling blog post engages a reader and empowers them to do something.
In this post, I’ll cover four factors that’ll determine a compelling blog post;
Research: Audience and the topic.
Content: The quality off your content.
Structure: How your content and blog is organized to ease reading.
Style: Your writing style
From the above, we can conclude that we need two parties (you and your reader) to develop engaging content.
Without any further ado, let’s get right into it.
Research (Know Your Audience)
Research is important in every writing process, and blogging is not exempted. In content writing, research is divided into two;
Content topic research
Audience research
Many writers have said a lot about content topic research, so, my focus will be on audience research.
Your audience research should focus on key areas that will unveil the needs of your ideal audience. I believe that for you to successfully create engaging content, your audience research should precede your topic research.
Your audience is your first topic, therefore, understand them and their desires. Use the research process to discover what they want, not what you think they want.
What to research about your ideal audience;
Who they are i.e. students, undergraduates, entry-level professionals, etc.
Where they’re from.
What type of topics they enjoy reading.
Length of post they are comfortable reading.
Their age range.
Where they converge i.e. social media, forums, etc.
If they are tech-savvy.
If they would prefer reading blog posts written in plain English or with technical jargon?
Honestly, this list is not exhaustive, there’re lots of things you need to know about your target audience. Use the list above to come up with more questions that you’ll need to understand your ideal audience. Your understanding of your ideal audience will determine how well your post will be received.
Online places to research your ideal audience;
Social media groups e.g. Facebook groups, LinkedIn groups, etc.
Online forums e.g. Nairaland, Quora
Online education platforms e.g Udemy, LinkedIn Learning, Coursera, etc.
Affiliate marketing sites e.g.
Online book stores e.g. Amazon Kindle
Video sharing platforms e.g YouTube
Etc.
Content
After researching your audience and the proposed topic, the next step is to write the blog post. When creating your blog content, you have to pay attention to the following;
Title/Header
Body of the blog post
Blog content image(s)
Title:
In writing a good blog title, you should see the blog title as your promise to the reader.
Your content says to the reader, “here is what you’ll learn if you read this content”.
To write a compelling title your title should do at least 2 things from this list;
Call out your ideal audience i.e. Attention job seekers
Highlight a problem i.e. having problems finding a job?
Offer a solution i.e. discover recent entry-level job openings here.
Example 1; (Audience + Problem + Solution)
Attention job seekers having problems finding a job; discover recent entry-level job openings here.
Your title for a blog post may not be this lengthy. To clarify, I was only trying to explore the possibility of having a title that fulfills all three conditions.
Tip: Ideally, an 8 words title is the best for a blog post.
Example 2; (Problem + Solution)
Receiving Negative Blog Comments? Avoid These Costly Mistakes (Problem + Solution)
Example 3; (Audience + Problem)
The challenges of being a remote worker (Problem + Audience)
Body of Blog Post
The body of your blog post is where you fulfill the promise(s) you made on your title. Ensure your title is not misleading.
Tips for writing good content;
Be knowledgeable about your topic.
Have a friendly tone.
Be consistent with your ideas.
Make your content easy to read and understand.
Your content should satisfy a desire i.e. desire to; laugh, learn something new, be updated on recent happenings, etc.
Assume your reader is a dummy. This is a rule I use in my career blog, I assume that my reader knows little or nothing about the subject I’m covering. Therefore, I explain my ideas down to the basic.
Structure
The way you structure your post affects how your readers interact with the content. Have a mental picture of how you want the content to be arranged.
Just by scrolling through this content, you’ll quickly discover the structure I laid out for it. Almost all sections of this post follow that structure.
Always agree on a suitable structure for your content before you start writing.
Things to consider when deciding on your content structure;
Headers: Will you be using headers to separate points?
Length: How long will you post be?
Bullet points: Will bullets ease the readability of your post?
Format: Will you prefer to use a blogging template that centralizes your post or the one that aligns it. Note: The best blogging template will be the one that makes reading easy for your audience.
Use of picture: How often will you use pictures in between your text? etc.
Decide on how you want your blog content to be laid out and stay consistent with it. You could have different structures for different contents.
Style
The fourth component of writing a compelling blog post is style. Your writing style is your writing voice. When a reader recognizes your content immediately they read it, then they are conversant with your writing style.
To develop a good writing style you need to do a lot of digging and practice. The easiest way is to write as though you are talking to just one person. The way you would engage someone in a physical conversation will also translate to your writing pattern.
Are you the kind of person that talks in detail? Do you enjoy conversations where you can make your comments and give examples or proofs to back up your point? Do you enjoy using quotes, and/or parables? How about humour or sarcasm? These things and more will determine your writing style.
More so, these things will also strengthen your writing style;
Passion: Are you passionate about the topic?
Sincerity: Are you being sincere with your points? If there's something you are not sure of, can you point it out and make references that will enable the reader to get more details?
Questions: Do you like asking questions in your content?
References: Do you reference other writers or blogs in your content?
Layout: How do you break down your points (bullet, pictures, headers, quotes, etc)?
Call to action: Do you invite people to contribute or ask questions at the end of your post?
One hack to discover your writing style is to write like your favourite writer. For example, the renowned Chimamanda Adiche writes like Chinua Achebe, and she has noted that she read a lot of Achebe’s books when growing up.
Conclusion
Writing a compelling blog post is possible for any blogger who stays consistent in learning and improving on themselves. Pay attention to the points raised on this post, and you will be a step closer to creating the type of post that will be appealing to your audience.
Hope this post was helpful? Do you have any questions or additions to make? Kindly leave a reply in the comment section, I’ll be here to engage you. Cheers!
Written by Richard Okiasi. Richard is the team lead at FasthireNg. Fasthire is the job board for entry-level and mid-level careers in Nigeria.
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