When I chose to become an online entrepreneur, there wasn’t any doubt that I would create a blog to attract traffic. Even now, blogging remains the most important part of my marketing journey because it’s where I connect and help people.
I always try to write content to attract, inform and engage my readers. I may share a story about a product I tried and believed you would like or I may share a marketing strategy that will help you achieve a certain goal.
To ensure you get the most help from my blog and to maximize the effectiveness of each article, I need to consider all the factors that go into creating a value-packed blog post. Here are seven important elements that I consider for every blog post:
The Audience
I never write for the search engines; I write for you. Because I care about helping you, it’s important for me to get to know you so I can communicate better.
The Purpose
I always try to write each blog post with a certain purpose in mind. If I want you to check out a new product, I won’t try to talk you into joining my mailing list. A blog post should always have a single purpose behind writing it.
The Value
Value is a must! I want you finish reading my blog believing it was time well-spent. You should walk away feeling blessed and willing to share the knowledge with others.. I also want you to understand how you can put the new information into practice.
The Visual
Blog posts are sometimes more than just text on a page. If I am presenting a tutorial, I also like to include step-by-step images or a video to make the information more interesting and engaging.
The Call to Action
A call to action is something you should never forget. If you have a purpose behind writing the blog post then, a call to action (CTA) is the next logical step a reader should take. If I don’t tell you what to do next, you probably won’t do anything.
The Social Media Aspect
Social media networks are an extension of your blog post. Once you’ve written a valuable lesson, it’s imperative that you get more people to read it. I make this possible by placing social media icons on every blog post and ask you to share the post with others.
Additionally, you should also share the URL link to all your social media accounts and relevant groups. Don’t stop at sharing a link, but rather post a longer description and ask your fans to go read it and leave a comment.
The Mailing List
Once you share a blog post, add it to your next outgoing mailing list communication too. Even though people join your mailing list, they also need a reminder to revisit your blog to read the latest content. Ask your subscribers to share the blog post with others, too.
Blogging was once a means to get more links in the search engine results, but nowadays we blog to make a connection and add value to the lives of our readers. There’s nothing against adding keywords to a blog post, but keywords don’t convince people to visit longer.
You want to share information that makes visitors stick around to read more of your blog and to communicate with you. Serve up the kind of content that creates more opportunities for people to act on your call to action.
Achieving maximum results for your blog isn’t hard if you keep these important elements in mind. Loyal followers will return to engage with you, and they’ll share your content with others. The payoff is well worth the effort.
How many of these seven elements do you use with your blog post? Do you have any others to share? Leave a comment below and let me know!
Thanks for reading,
– Bonnie
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How to Achieve Maximum Results from Your Blog
When I chose to become an online entrepreneur, there wasn’t any doubt that I would create a blog to attract traffic.
I love how you share all the important points, Bonnie. It is easy to get caught up in the, ‘I gotta get my blog post out’ that people miss some of these steps. For me, it is the CTA (Call To Action). I need to get better at doing that.
I used to forget the call to action too, Paul. It was after I realized that I made more money when I included one that I started remembering to add it. 🙂
After awhile, these seven elements become habit and you won’t forget to add any of them to your blog posts!
I think I get most of these, most of the time.
So glad to hear it, Jenn. Got anything that I missed? 🙂
You have some great information here, Bonnie. I think this would make an excellent checklist to look through before publishing a new post. What I’ve been trying to do is email my list as soon as I publish a blog post. That way, I don’t forget to share it with my subscribers. 😉
I don’t normally mail my subscribers with one blog post. I like to have at least three, which means I will probably mail my subscribers after commenting on all my posts or by tomorrow. 🙂
I was trying to finish my Valentine’s PLR package first so I can include that announcement with the blog post mailing. How are you doing, Avery?
Fabulous advice as always Bonnie! I would add that it’s also important to have a consistent blogging schedule, something I’ve been neglecting.
Oh, Marilyn! A blogging schedule is a must.
Either write several blog posts and add them to your theme to go out automatically or get up early each morning and write the blog post before doing anything else.
Whatever is easiest for you to accomplish according to your existing schedule.
Great tips! Though I’m not an online entrepreneur, many (if not all) of your suggestions can be incorporated into a personal blog – and hopefully I’m doing most of them to some extent. Thanks for sharing!
I just might create a checklist for bloggers to help them include all the necessary elements when they blog. it’s good to hear that you’re including them even though you don’t consider yourself an online entrepreneur. 🙂 It was nice to hear from you again, Laurel! Happy New Year!
I use so many of these and they are all awesome. The one I was leaving out however, was my email list. I’ve had a subscriber list forever on several sites, but just recently I’ve actually started using it. Don’t know why I never really did, but I finally have them setup to do something!
You’re not the only person who forgets to mail their subscribers after a blog post, Misty. I’ve heard from many others who said the same. Once you start doing it after every blog post, it will surely become a habit over time.
Your subscribers love to hear from you — that’s why they signed up to your list. It’s important not to disappoint them! 🙂
Well I’ve gotten smart and it’s all automated now. I’m using aweber and it does a feed and whenever I post something new it sends it out to everyone now. No need to remember.Lazy….maybe. But at least it’s getting done!
Hiya Misty,
I used to have my blog attached to Aweber, so the posts went out automatically, but when I found an error after publishing, the blog would send another update to Aweber when I fixed the post.
Unless I logged into Aweber and deleted the updated post, it would send two of the same posts to my users – one with the misspelled word and one with the fixed spelling.
Not cool. That’s when I decided to use the newsletter method! Unfortunately, sending a newsletter requires more work and most times I forget to send it. Ugh!
– Bonnie