Getting people to read your blog can be hard work. Most people try to focus on their writing skills, which is of course important or coming up with unique ideas. However, there are some easy things you can do to generate more interest for your blog. Things like formatting and titling. Here are some ideas and helpful tips.
Plan Ahead
It can take quite a while to create a good blog post, so sometimes people don’t post often. This is a mistake, though, because producing consistent, quality content is a key factor here. A way to get around this is planning ahead. Spend one day a week or a month, depending on what works for you, drafting out future blogs. Write down all your ideas for that future blog and any data you’ll have to gather to write it. This way, when you go to write the blog, you just have to put it together, and not think it all up from scratch.
Titling
People who are already consistently reading your blogs obviously know they like your content, but getting new people interested is obviously important, too. The first thing anyone will see is the title. Make sure it’s not too long or too cliché. You want your post to stand out from the others. It’s good to think of a short title that sounds engaging and to the point. Also, long titles don’t show up in search results due to Google’s display limit.
Know Your Audience
Knowing your audience is always one of the most important factors in any marketing strategy. Writing a blog without thinking about who your target audience is, is pointless. Find out what your audience is interested in and what problems they are trying to solve. It doesn’t take weeks of analytics or complex research. Instead, try to think of the ideal person you would want to read your blog and what their interests and activities would be. You can also use Quora to discover the issues that users in a specific industry are interested in.
Blog Post Ideas
Here are some ideas that you can work with, no matter what subjects you’re interested in blogging.
- Current Events: People who are interested in certain industries, always want to know what is currently happening or what breakthroughs have happened. They want to find new opinions on subjects that are relevant and new.
- Controversial Issues: Another thing that people find very interesting, is controversial issues. You can give your opinion on said issue, or try to give both sides of the argument. Just make sure not to get too emotional or rude, keep it informative and light.
- Inspirational Stories: Find a good inspirational story on your industry or subject of expertise. People love these because it motivates them and gets them interested in doing something inspirational themselves.
- Step-by-steps: Breaking something down into a step-by-step or a checklist can make it easier to read and understand. People like to have a plan or something easy to follow. For example, a step-by-step on how to pack properly for a trip to Europe.
- Interviews: Find some famous people in your industry and talk with them about things your readers are interested in. Ask their opinions on something that’s currently happening.
Links and Formatting
Obviously, you can’t put all the information about a subject in one blog. So linking other information that the person may be interested in, can help them out and show you know your stuff. Also, if you have done the research, found statistics or proof on a certain subject, link to where you found it so they can check out the proof themselves. You can also link to your own past blog if you’re continuing on the same topic.
Last but not least, make sure the format of your blog looks readable. Keep the paragraph short to help hold interest. When people see a big block of text, they’re less likely to read it. Also, keep your sentences short and to the point, when possible. Another thing you can do is read your blog out loud to yourself, to make sure the sentences flow naturally. Sometimes, being the author, you know what point you were trying to get across, but it doesn’t always communicate as well as you thought. With these tips and ideas, you should be able to generate more interest in your blogs and give your readers what they want.
