Whether you’re new to blogging or just in need of a refresher, taking another look at the basics of blogging can prove to be a godsend. Before you start aimlessly writing your next article, consider the following 9 important things every blog post should have.
1. A killer title.
Your blog post’s title serves as an invitation for new readers to take a look. Imagine you’ve spent hours crafting a well written novel – unfortunately it’d all be for naught if nobody opens the cover.
2. Short paragraphs.
Call it sad, but the average human’s attention span is now less than a goldfish. What does this mean for bloggers? You can lay off the details and focus on getting each point across in less than 8 seconds.
3. Obvious subheaders.
We just touched on the human’s ever-decreasing attention span. Headers allow readers to quickly scan blog posts for new information rather than growing bored and leaving your website.
4. Punctuation variety.
Unless you want your blog post’s sentences to be extremely repetitive or run-ons, you need punctuation variety. Don’t think you’re limited to commas and periods; give the semicolon a try. Add dashes – they deliver a dash of dramatic emphasis.
5. A featured image.
A featured blog post image shows you’ve put in that small bit of extra effort to button things up. When blog posts without featured images are shared on other platforms, random images pull through in the preview which isn’t exactly eye catching.
6. Credibility.
Why would anyone want to read the words of a nincompoop? You don’t have to be a seasoned writer to prove your credibility – just have a good idea of what you’re talking about!
7. A clear intro.
If your topic isn’t being clearly outlined in the first one-two paragraphs; you’re going to have some drop-offs. Most readers aren’t going to hang in long enough to determine if you’re a directionless rambler or not.
8. A conclusion.
Strangely enough, there are numerous blog posts out there without a conclusion at all. It’s true, after you’ve put in all that effort typing up the body content it can be tempting to neglect the conclusion, but come on.. You need at least something there.
9. Nofollow tags.
If you care about ranking higher in search engine results (more than likely that’s why you’re blogging in the first place) you should be attaching nofollow tags to some of the links you use. Everyone treats nofollow links a little differently, but in blog posts here at OSC we try to use them when linking to the majority of external websites.
So – what’s the verdict? Have you been including these important things within blog posts or ignoring them altogether? Leave us a comment below!
