The Anatomy of a Perfect Blog Post

We know that you're probably hearing every single day how important it is to have a blog. The numbers don't lie, the interaction with your audience is incredible, and the value of what you can give can be a game changer. Blog posts are a way to create evergreen content: posts that are always relevant and that your audience can find useful no matter what.

We also know that sometimes you put off something simply because you don't know the best way to go about getting it done. We want to make sure that you're using each and every post to its full advantage– it takes way too much time to prep those posts for them to not be working for you!

Today, we're breaking down a blog post piece by piece. We'll tell you exactly how your post should be laid out, what to include in it, and how to wrap it all up!

Why Should You Blog?

One of the biggest benefits of blogging is being able to attract high quality leads even when you aren’t working. Businesses that use blogs receive 67% more leads than those that don’t, and they see 13x the ROI of businesses that don’t. Not to mention that blogs remain the most effective form of content over email and ebooks, and it’s so scalable and affordable that it’s the third most common content marketing strategy for businesses (source.)

The numbers don’t lie! Blogging has been around for a while, but we don’t see the train slowing down anytime soon. It’s still a form of content that many people enjoy and rely upon for insightful, high-quality content.

The Anatomy of a Perfect Blog Post

Now let’s break down what your perfect blog post should look like! We always stick to this format for all of our posts, and it’s been the most effective in all the years we’ve been blogging.

KILLER HEADLINE

Be sure to choose your title wisely! A powerful headline can make the difference between total curiosity and “no thanks”. Try using fun adjectives. Pose a question. Explain what’s inside. Or add a sense of mystery. Look up powerful keywords for the topic of your content to help you come up with a title that’s also searchable and more likely to show up sooner in a Google or Pinterest search.

INNOVATE INTRODUCTION

Before you give any juicy details, provide a brief summary of what someone can expect from the post. Add some sassy humor to keep it interesting if that’s on-brand for your business. Immediately follow your first paragraph with a “Pinterest-friendly” image. For best results, include the title of your post in the image itself. You probably noticed the Pinterest graphic that came after our introduction in this post, and you’ll see the same thing in all of our blog posts.

BEEFY CONTENT

Although longer posts tend to attract more traffic and rank higher in search results, it’s still important to make your long blog post readable. Include section headings, bullet out your most important points, pull a quote that adds value or emphasis, or break up the content with high quality images that add to the storyline.

The key here is to make sure your post passes “the skim test”. Readers should be able to skim through and find information easily instead of seeing a wall of text and then getting intimidated (or already bored) and exiting your website!

CALL TO ACTION

Never miss the opportunity to give people options to stay on your website at the end of a post. You should aim for two calls to action. The primary one should be the most beneficial to you. Perhaps you ask them to sign up for a free download or buy directly from you. The secondary opportunity should be an option to interact with you online, but in a different setting-- perhaps social media.

CLOSE THE DEAL

Don’t miss the opportunity to keep your audience on your website. Push some of your other content! Guide them to other related posts or content you believe they will find just as interesting or helpful. Related posts are always a safe bet as they’re more likely to want to learn more about the topic they just read.