This is a guide to help you write a successful blog.

This guide will give you a framework to Write successful blogs and achieve your desired results. Blogs are great, though blogs that educate, inform and entertain are even better. So, let’s start at the beginning.

Who am I and why should you listen to me?

Well, I have been Writing blogs off and on for 20 years or so. I have worked with a wide variety of companies, individuals, and medium to large organisations, getting a steady supply of qualified new business opportunities.

You can find out more about me here on LinkedIn.

But enough about me and let’s look at how you can write great blogs and help people with your knowledge and experience. You can also help people understand what your company does, why it is different, and how you can help them through your product or service.

Do people still read blogs?

According to a recent HubSpot, State of Marketing report, blogging is the third most utilised form of content marketing, just behind video and infographics.

On top of this, there are approximately 600 million blogs in the world in 2023, and on average, about 3.2 million new blog posts are published every day. * 

So, with all this massive amount of information, do people still read blogs?

You bet! More than ever before, according to Impact, – a massive 77% of Internet users regularly read blog posts.

This guide will give you a framework to write successful blogs and achieve your desired results. It will cover key areas including:

• What is a blog? 
• Think about why you’re writing this blog
• Who is it that you writing for
• Research and planning
• Using Images, videos, and infographics
• Think of the title – hook. 
• Publishing, distributing, and sharing
• Repurposing your blog content

On top of this we will also look at best times to post your blog as well as measuring the effectiveness fo you blog, as well as a few other hints and tips. 

So, let’s begin. 

What is a blog?

Normally, a blog is a communication of knowledge or information that is shared on a website.

According to Google Dictionary, a blog is:

• As a noun

1. a regularly updated website or web page, typically one run by an individual or small group, that is written in an informal or conversational style.

• As a verb

1. add new material to or regularly update a blog.

“it’s about a week since I last blogged”

Think about why you’re writing this blog

Why do people write blogs? Again, people can write blogs for a variety of reasons. Like the description above, it can be sharing or communication. But it is also used for a whole variety of reasons. These can result in many positive if you take the time and energy to invest in well-researched blog posts.  

These can range from:

• Appearing high on Google Search Engine Results Page (SERPS)
• Better Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)
• Increase in traffic to your website
• A potential customer visiting your website
• A new business opportunity that sparks interest generated from your blog page

Who is it that you are writing for?

Writing a blog that converts requires a few key elements. First, you need to identify your target audience and develop content that speaks to them.

Here are some tips on how to find your ideal audience

Research and planning

Think of who you want to reach with the blog. Is it an ideal type of customer or audience? It may be a community or group.

Once decided, look at the types of interests your target market has. The challenges they may have and what may help then sole those challenges.

As an example  – blend the above with your experience and knowledge or your company skillset and write about how you may have come across and helped them deal with this before. 

A framework could look like this – 

• The end user you are aiming for with the blog
• The challenge or challenges they are facing
• Acknowledge, the challenge
• Approach the problem
• Talk about how you may be able to help 
• Share examples, data, knowledge, etc. 
• Possible discuss next steps
• Conclude your findings

Think of the title

You need a good hook!

You need to craft compelling titles and headlines to capture the reader’s attention. 

Luckily, there are numerous ways to grab your reader’s attention. Here are a few. 

• Lists – use a list to get people interested in your blog. Some examples are
• 5 ways to make a…
• 3 things l learned when….
• Problem – highlight the problem they have 
• The reason why your marketing is failing 
• How to – show them how to it
• How to fix your problem (x) – some hints and tips
• How I solved the problem of…
• FAB’s – features, advantages, and benefits
• This software will save you time and money – learn more…
• Pose the question – where and why
• Where are the experts when you need them
• Why are there so many experts…

These are just a few examples you can use. 

Using images and videos

Additionally to the above, you should use visuals such as images and videos to support your content.

You can embed a video into your podcast. Here’s one example by Snr. Digital Strategist, Rachel Mepham on her regular podcast and videocast series, Think Out Loud – you can see the video below.

S2: Think Out Loud Episode 1 An introduction to this series!

A video can help convey to your reader, a more engaging or richer multimedia experience. 

Use an image or infographic. 

Like a video, an infographic or static image can help break up the page on your blog but also help provide data and information in a more visually appealing way. 

The example below, is how you can use an image to create an attractive and bold visual alongs side your title to get the potential readers attention. It can also be used in the bosy of teh blog – as i have doen here. 

An example below demonstrates how HubSpot used an infographic to convey best times to post on LinkedIn. 

Some resources to create videos and images

• Canva –  a free-to-use online graphic design tool. Use it to create social media posts, presentations, posters, videos, logos and more.
• Unsplash – Beautiful, free images and photos that you can download and use for any project. Better than any royalty free or stock photos.
• Pexels – Browse millions of high-quality royalty free stock images & copyright free pictures. Free stock photos & videos you can use everywhere. 
• ClipChamp – made by Microsoft, you can create videos and it has a built in free video editor. 
• Vimeo – Our all-in-one video platform. Make, manage, and share videos and virtual events – and a whole lot more. 
• Filmora – by Wondershare is a simple video editor that empowers you to edit video and audio on Windows and Mac. 

A call to action

Finally, make sure to include a call-to-action at the end of your blog post to direct readers to take the desired action.

By following these steps, you can create a blog post that drives conversions.

Best times to post your blog

There are no set times as such.

According to Blogging Wizard, the times below are a good framework to work from.

• Tuesday afternoon/evening — for social shares.
• Friday afternoon/evening (and/or typical local paydays) — for affiliate link clicks and purchases.
• Sunday — for less competition.
• Evenings and weekends — for non-time-specific opinion/longer pieces.

Remember – consistency is key.

Analytics and measurement

Why do we want to analyse our blog? Well, quite simply we want to know what piece of content is working better or engaging our customers.

Going back to the original question of what are you writing a blog in the first place and who that audience is, you want to also think about the objective or result that you want from the blog. Sometimes this is referred to as a KPI or key performance indicator.

We also want to know if our blog is:

• Driving traffic to our website
• Where it’s coming from – country, region, city, etc.
• What time of day do people look at our blog page
• Are they moving from the blog page to the contact page
• What goals or metrics have we set to measure success

Analytics code

If you are using an HTML or .net website, which makes up the majority of websites globally, then adding a piece of tracking code to your blog page is a very simple process – in many cases, it will have already been baked in by your web developer.

UTM code

Is sometimes referred to as Universal Transverse Mercator or more commonly known as Urchin Tracking Modules – quite simply a UTM. It helps you become more granular and involves adding unique snippets of code to the end of your URLs, to easily identify exactly where your traffic is coming from.

Posting your blog

After doing all or some of the above, its time to finally post your blog. Save it as a draft ad edit. Once your happy, hit publish. 

Remember, put yourself in the readers shoes and don’t over think it. Nothing is perfect it just has to feel right to you. 

After that, analyse, review and refine. Practice make perfect. 

I hope you found that useful?  Let me know. Thanks. 

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