Learn The 3 C’s of Writing A Good Blog Post
When it comes to writing a good blog post there are many things to consider. Actually I could list many things about what is needed to write a blog post but it would end up being a book so I’ll just keep it to the 3 C’s of writing a good blog post.
The Three C’s of a Good Blog Post Would Be:
l'd probably switch around the order depending on your thought process. Many times I think of the topic and then just start writing and then go back and modify as needed. Other times I just start writing and then fill in the other blanks.
So Let’s Get Started...
Creativity
Being creative affects the other two C’s and that’s why I decided to start here. You need to be creative about coming up with a blog post that someone would want to read. It’s okay to write about what you want to write about but if you’re wanting a successful blog it all starts with being different from other blogs in your niche or chosen field.
What makes your blog different? The Creative difference may be just the way you write, or the way you look at things and reflect on that. Maybe you’re more visual and add more images. Or maybe add a video into your post.
Creativity also comes into researching to know What keywords to use. Yes, that fits into copy writing but, you can guess at the keywords or do a little research and find what keywords people are using to find your topic. Even be creative and come up with long tail keywords.
If you’re unfamiliar with that term a long tail keyword is sometimes thought of as a keyword phrase. In my case I might write about a website which would be “a” keyword. I would also include websites as a keyword. In testing both come up with a different result.
But in a long tail keyword I would need more than just one word. Like Direct response website, or small business website, creating a lead generation website. Those would be considered long tail keywords and that is where you need to be creative in coming up with those phrases.
Copy
Otherwise known as copy writing or the text. Most would think "isn’t copy writing the content on the page?". Well yes but, to me there is more to copy than meets the eye. I look at copy writing as the art of using words to make the content special. It’s thinking about the person you are writing the content for and crafting the words to be appealing to them.
As I mentioned in the previous section creativity comes into play in the copy portion in the three c’s because you have to be creative about the word usage and massaging in the keywords and long tail keywords so that they are incorporated into the content without looking like you just dropped it in for search engine benefit. You can check out a recent blog post I wrote titled “Method Acting and Copy writing” that will give you a better understanding about copy writing creativity.
Also, when you think of the copy on your website you need to consider what will be headlines sub-headlines or even pull quotes. Not only are they important to the reader that just likes to scan to see what section they want to read, but search engines love them and it adds even more relevancy to your article.
So, if possible use your keywords in the headlines and subheadings of your content. Many times when we write copy we think more like “What Do I Do Next” instead we should think more like “What Do I Do Next When Writing A Good Blog Post”. It is more explanatory and would catch the readers eye better as well as hook the search engines.
An additional pointer when thinking about the copy writing of your headers is to use "power words". I look at these as words that enhance the words around it. Such as "Learn How to Improve Your Blog Post With These Steps." In this situation using "Learn How" and "Impove" are power words that will increase clicks.
Content
This is the easy one, or is it? This is the section that utilizes the other two areas but also gets your point or message out. The content is where you can open up and just start writing, adding images, videos or whatever else you’re going to add to your post.
When it comes to content for me I just start typing whatever that comes to mind and get it down then go back and edit. What also works for me is to go back and read it out loud. I find that when I read it to myself in my head it’s different or makes sense. But when I read it out loud I catch myself stumbling on a word. Or find I pause and should add punctuation. This is also when I think about would it make sense to my audience. Am I using words that they would use?
Are you conveying the message you really wanted to get across when using images. Sometimes I spend more time on adding images to the post. Some would say do I even need them. But I think it’s important because some people are visual people. They see large blocks of text and see a river of black and white and move on. But, if you add some images to break up the text that accentuate the story you are telling it’s a win win.
In addition to it helping the reader, adding images also helps the search engines. Again, it is something that they look for as well. Plus this gives you another opportunity to add keywords to your post. As you add the image you will want to add your long tail keyword as the Alt tag in the image. This will add even more search engine love and relevance to your post. Also, it’s a good idea when blogging to add a featured image that ties into your headline. I’ve seen some posts where people just throw in any image they find and I scratch my head as to what it means, or how it belongs to the article.
Earlier I mentioned a river of black and white when it came to the text content on the page. A good exercise here is to step back and not look at the words but the blocks the words make. If you see a large block of text that looks like a lot to read at once, it’s a good idea to split it up. While not being grammatically correct, it is best for the reader.
People read differently online than they do offline. If it looks like a lot of text, chances are they won’t read it at all or just skim through.
That is another element to creativity in the content. White space on the page is a creative element that takes place in the content. It is more visually appealing and creates better results.
Closing
Yes a bonus C, when writing a good blog post you will want your post to come to a natural close. But it also needs to serve a purpose. Some finish there blog posts with a default signature sign off or maybe a quote. I think it’s important to close with a call to action. I mean they’re there and going to do something else why not give them something to do?
Maybe instruct them to comment on the post or share on Facebook, tweet on Twitter etc. If possible, maybe you’re providing a service, provide a link that makes sense to what you’ve just written about.
In my case I would close by saying something like if you’ve found this post useful, be sure to check out my coaching page or try out one of the trainings on the product page of my website. When doing that be sure to add a link using the words such as trainings, or products. Yet again search engines look to see if you are adding internal links to your site as well as external links where possible.
In any case I hope you’ve found this post helpful. Feel free to check out the links above or check out my tutorials, and reviews on my YouTube channel. If you visit there I’d appreciate if you could like the channel while there.
[See what I did there 😉 ]