How to structure and format your blogs for maximum engagement
Blogging may have started as a way in which people could share their ideas online. However, over the course of the last decade it has been proved to work as a very effective content marketing tool. A blog can assist in establishing trust between a brand and its consumers almost immediately as well as having a positive influence on sales. Whilst that is fantastic news for businesses, all blogs whether they are personal, or business face the same dilemma and that is that people tend to skim read rather than digest articles, so you need to make sure that what you write encourages them to follow through on your call to action. With that in mind lets take a look at how to structure and format your blogs.
How to structure your blog
If you want to give your blog a strong structure, then the following guidelines are a must:
1. Begin with a strong title
2. Ensure that your blog post can be skimmed
3. Offer a table of contents
4. Use strong visuals
5. Make sure you use a readable font
6. Make sure your links are relevant
7. Highlight your call to action (CTA)
If you are not grabbing your readers interest with your title, then you may loose them before you even start. A good title should be somewhere between 6-13 words in length. If you have any important keywords, try to work those into your title.
Making your article skimmable allows your potential audience to see if it has the information they are looking for before they commit to reading it in its entirety; bullet points and heading can help with this. You could also make key information bold. Strong visuals will make your content more digestible as well, and a good image can really capture your audience’s attention. Videos are even better.
Your font should not only be easy to read but you should also make sure that it is neither too big nor too small.
The links you use can help point your readers to some topics discussed in more detail and help you avoid needing to go into too much detail in your blog, which makes it more readable. Make sure they are relevant though and add value. And finally, your CTA make sure it is clear what you would like the reader to do.
The format of your blog posts
There is more than one way in which you can write a blog post so you should take time to think about which format will suit you best. Options to consider include:
1. Listicles
2. How-to posts
3. Comparison posts
4. What-is posts
5. Case studies
6. Product showcases
7. Thought leadership posts
8. What not to do posts
9. Beginner’s guides
10. Interviews
Each of these formats is best suited to a different type of information that you might want to showcase to your audience. It is well worth taking the time to look into which one would be best for your blog post, as there are some you may never use and some you might find yourself using most of the time because they fit your style.
