You might be looking at the title of this post and thinking, “is she serious?” No offence taken, I’d probably be thinking the same. But after I tweeted this after painstakingly trying to read a blog post without a SINGLE PARAGRAPH it got me thinking. And after tweeting this poll, it was evident that actually a post on how to write a great blog post might be quite useful.
You knew this was coming but before I start, I just want to say I’m not claiming to be an expert. I’ve made mistakes in the past. And I’m also not telling you that you HAVE TO DO THIS or else. Like, you can make your own decisions. Take it or leave it.
But after 6 years of experience, it’s quite obvious what elements make a blog post more reader friendly and therefore get more views. Which I assume is the reason you’re here? You’ll probably end up rolling your eyes at some of the points I’m going to make in this post like, duh, Captain Obvious. But it’s always worth giving people a gentle reminder.
How to write a great blog post:
Find your voice & inject your personality into your post
Is there anything more boring than feeling like you’re reading a toaster manual instead of a blog post? You’ve got a personality – use it. Finding your voice definitely takes some practice though. I honestly feel like I only really found my voice THIS YEAR. But it’s something I’ve been working on for much longer.
So figure out your strengths and what makes people want to sit up and listen to you and utilizing that knowledge and inject it into your writing. Do people find you hilarious in your real life? Then funny is the way to go. Are you able to produce swoon-worthy descriptive writing? Or are you an incredible story-teller?
Get clear on your aim and your goal
This won’t strictly apply to every post you write. And before we go any further, not all of these points will apply to every single blog post and that’s fine. But if you have an idea and are writing about something specific (like this post) then you need to get clear on your aim and goal of the post.
All I’m saying is try not ramble too much before getting to the point of the post. It’s worth making the aim and goal clear from the very first paragraph, rather than waffling on about what your cat had for dinner before getting stuck in. Funny anecdotes are great to slip in but stick to your aim.
For the love of God, break up your paragraphs…
In case you ignored me the first time, it was this tweet that sparked the inspiration for this post. I’d tried to read a blog post which had literally no paragraphs and I just couldn’t. It could have been the best blog post in the world but it was so indigestible that I gave up.
And as it turns out, most people feel the same. Not only are huge chunks of text off-putting but for people with conditions such as dyslexia, they’re almost impossible to read. So accessibility is another thing to keep in mind here and by not breaking up your paragraphs, you could be losing a lot of readers.
…and use headings where possible
And another way to write a blog post that is super digestible and more likely to keep people reading is by using appropriate headers where possible. Not only is this great for SEO (more on that later) but also breaks up the post nicely and makes it FAR more readable.
The Yoast plugin suggests that you shouldn’t have text longer than 300 words without a heading to break it up for optimum readability. If you’re not writing a heading rich post (like this one, where each separate point is a heading) then within your chunk of text, perhaps take your most valid point and turn that into it’s own sentence in heading form.
How to write a great blog post:
Be your own grammar Nazi
This one is probably my weakest point. But also not the one I find the most important. Of course a blog post needs to be coherent. And thankfully we have automated spell checks to make sure we’re spelling things correctly. But it’s always worth proof reading your own work to make sure everything is a-okay.
However I’m a realist. We’re human and human’s aren’t perfect and we all make mistakes so I’m not one to go on about someone getting a couple of commas in the wrong place.
Images, images, images
An instant turn off for me (and a lot of other people) is a blog post without any images. I know this is about how to write a great blog post and whilst the writing is the most important aspect, you have to look at the bigger picture. A blog post isn’t JUST the writing, it’s the structure, the layout and the images too.
A blog post with nothing to break up text (especially a long blog post) is quite overwhelming to take in. So depending on the length of the post may determine the amount of images you include. Can’t take your own? No problem! There’s amazing stock images out there ready for you to use too!
Related: Stock Images: Should Bloggers Be Using Then?
Internal linking to relevant content
Again, another thing that’s AMAZING for SEO and your DA but also an incredibly easy way to show readers other relevant content of yours and keep them on your blog for longer. I love reading a blog post where the blogger has linked to their other content and I’m 100% more likely to click through that way than searching myself.
Basically, humans are lazy and make things as easy as possible.
Related read:
- Blog DA Score: What Is It, Why Is It Useful and How Can We Improve It?
- Why You Should Be Internally Linking Within Your Blog Posts
SEO the crap out of your post
And finally, one of my favorite topics at the moment *nerd alert*, SEO. You’ve wrote a banging blog post, shared it on social media and got a decent amount of views from it. But then what? Once your social media fans and blog followers have read it, who is there left?
Optimizing the SEO of your posts will help your traffic massively and all this work you’ve done on how to write a blog post that people will read will absolutely pay off when your blog post is ranking higher and more people are reading it through SEO alone!
Recommended resources:
Encourage discussion
One final point is that it’s always worth writing one final sentence to encourage discussion of what your readers have just read in the comment section of your blog post. Sometimes blog posts end so abruptly that I wonder if they’ve forgot to finish it.
So just including a solid “ending” of your blog post will be the bow around your neatly packaged present. This will also encourage readers to comment more because they can see that you want to hear their opinions on what they’ve just read and you care about their input.
Related read: How To Get More Comments On Your Blog Posts
[…] Related read: How To Write A Great Blog Post People Will Read […]
[…] Related post: How To Write a Banging Blog Post People Will Actually Read […]
Hi, That is really awesome to find your blog. I was really looking for SEO Articles. I am currently on the Premium package at WordPress.com. I want to improve its SEO but I can’t install Plugins. any Good Suggestions for my blog. It is on inspiration and motivation.
https://idealinspiration.blog is the blog link.
Regards
Rising Star
I have a post on SEO for beginners. For plugins you’ll need the Business Plan 😌
Yeah that the problem Jenny, I have listened from a fellow blogger that in business plan follow up button is disappeared, is it so?
As per usual, I love this! I’ve always wondered whether I need to break up my book reviews more than having a quote in the middle but I tried headings once and then kept forgetting. Oops. I’m the same though – no paragraphs is a turn off. Also no full stops. Don’t get me wrong, I’m always messing up punctuation, but when it’s something really consistent it just puts me off. I definitely need to read your SEO posts again! Great post!
I agree! Lack of punctuation is a bit annoying too! I think I need to do a more updated SEO post!
You’re so spot on, there’s so much that goes into compiling a blog post and unless one has a Ph.D in English while also being a tech/SEO wizz, it can be pretty daunting. I use the free version of Grammarly which helps to an extent. It’s an evolving exercise, blogging so thanks for this helpful post xx
I love, love, love these tips! All of these are so important! I wrote about how to write better blog posts on my blog. I wish I’d thought of these points.
Paragraphs: Important.
SEO: Important
Headers: Important
Also, that is really a must-read title.
Thank you! Glad you like the title too 😂 x
so many amazing tips! I am feeling really motivated today again after a few weeks of zero inspiration and this really helps!
Rosie
This is super informative and helpful! I’ve read a lot of these types of my posts, and this one is definitely one of my faves!
https://www.makelifemarvelous.com/
Thank you, I’m so glad!
As always, fantastic advice Jenny! I think the point I really struggle with is finding my voice. I never know how to strike the right balance between getting to the point and being the chatterbox I am. Working on it though!
Also I completely agree about the paragraphs thing! And images. I just get bored looking at it haha.
Beth x Adventure & Anxiety
Haha me too! Long chunks of text really do look so boring! x
I always worry about losing my voice in my posts. Especially in something so procedural like a recipe post, i find it harder to inject myself into it. Maybe that’s just me, I guess you never know how the person reading it is going to interpret it. I love it when there’s lots of headings. Huge blocks can be really off putting. But at the same time I find too many images a real turn off too 😂 x
Sophie
http://www.glowsteady.co.uk
I don’t do recipe posts but I can totally understand how it must be quite hard to inject personality into them. I think you do a great job though!
Images are so important in a blog post & I’m making sure I take steps to sort my SEO!
Love, Amie ❤
The Curvaceous Vegan
That’s great news!
I like to think I do all of these already. I am very aware of grammar, breaking up the texts with images and paragraphs. Also asking a question at the end to encourage discussion. I have to love Yoast though, it really does help to make your post as SEO friendly as possible. 🙂
Sarah 🌺 || Boxnip || Latest Post
It sure does!
Yes to all of these! Especially SEO which I always tend to think last about.
I always try and cover SEO as I go along to make it easier!
I really need to work on my photography so I can include more pics in my posts xx
I never find your posts lacking photos x
Brilliant points! I totally agree with the paragraph and photos aspect. I definitely need to make use of SEO, so thank you!
– Charlotte / myownblogofthoughts.blogspot.com
You absolutely do! 😌
Where was this post during my early blogging days? I cringe when I see the formatting of my earlier blog posts. I did use Grammarly for proof-reading but it’s more of a nuisance really. I don’t use it anymore. But I do try to proof-read my posts thoroughly before and after uploading. I have recently begun to paying attention to H1, H2 tags and writing short paragraphs, like maximum 1-2 sentences. Thanks for sharing, your post is so accurate.
https://ohwellyes.com
I know, I could cry looking at some of my old posts hahaha! 😂
I think this is a fantastic blog, as a new blogger I really appreciate the hits and tips, thank you xx
You’re welcome!
This is really helpful. I love all of the advice you have given in this and other blogging related posts. There is always something new to learn when it comes to blogging, even after years of blogging. I will absolutely apply this advice to my future blog posts but also to my older posts when I work on updating them.
Absolutely, there’s always something new to learn!
Yoast has definitely been super eye-opening for me on how I can make my content more SEO-friendly. One of these days, I’m gonna go through all of my old posts and get them all nice & SEO green. Long blocks of writing are the worst! I also don’t really like when a post is photo-heavy with like 2 sentences at the very bottom. I don’t mind a photo-diary post, but just give me a little more about what you did than TWO SENTENCES!!! :’)
I wish I could go back and re-do all my old posts but I have over 1,200 posts haha! And YES good point! I love lots of photos but I need some context too!
You’re seriously such a blogging LEGEND!!! 1200+ is such an accomplishment <3
Ive been at it for 6 years 😂😂
Invaluable tips! I think paragraphs come first and foremost; I understand your frustration in trying to read something that is just a block of text! It may be good, it may not, but one is hard-pressed to tell when there are no breaks.
After one has made a post readable, then it is time to find readers. 🙂
Totally agree. A lot of people would click off and never know whether the writing was good or not x
This is such a helpful post for fellow bloggers! Thank you!
You’re welcome! x
These are some great tips for writing a banging blog post! I try and follow these as much as I can when writing a post, I never like to press publish until I know I am really satisfied with it x
Lucy | http://www.lucymary.co.uk
Oh me too! There’s no point publishing something you’re not happy with! x
I will definitely be taking on some of these tips. Although we’ve heard or read some of the tips before, it seems they need to be said again because we either forget about them or don’t believe in the amount of difference it would make for our blogs. Thank you Jenny.
Totally agree. Some of these sound super obvious and like, why is she telling me this? kinda thing haha! But so many of us do forget x
Such a great post, Jenny. I’ve heard lots of good things about Yoast but if you don’t have a Business plan in WordPress you can’t download it🙄
That’s true. You can if you’re on WordPress.org or self hosted x
Great insight…so many “little things” can add up to big impact.
They sure can! x
Great tips hun, this was very much needed x
You’re welcome x
I always follow these as best I can. I break up my paragraphs, add headings, and lots of photos. I like adding questions on the end to get others input.
I agree that long paragraphs are hard to read. Even in novels I hate long paragraphs.
Agreed, I hate long paragraphs in novels too! x
I loved this post, Jenny, thank you. I soaked up all the points like a sponge and saved the how to “seo” page too. xxx
I’m so glad! x
Paragraphs are crucial! Big walls of text are so overwhelming to read and can already be a subconscious turn off. I wish I learned more about SEO when I started, it’s paid off so much. x
Absolutely! It kinda instantly makes me not want to read! x
Great tips here! That last one is really interesting – I find a blog post can feel so anti-climatic if it just kind of… ends. It doesn’t read right, does it? Definitely need to get better on my SEO and that’s interesting about the Yoast recommendation for paragraph length!
Oh god yes! I like to have a definite end of a post!
I always struggle with blog ending. I try to make my target to write a question at its end but I never can. Great post, definitely going to look at your other posts on SEO because I have no clue what it is! 😛
Hope the SEO posts help! x
Loved this post, Jenny, it’s been a while since I caught up with your blog so I really enjoyed this post. You always hit the nail on the head! You had me laughing at the reference to a blog post reading like a toaster manual ha!!
Couldn’t agree more about the breaking up of paragraphs, makes it so much easier to read, and headlines too whenever relevant!
Loved this chick, will try get caught up on your other posts later <3
Charlene McElhinney
https://CharleneMcElhinney.co.uk
Haha glad that made you laugh! Nice to see you back – I did comment on your recent post but I’m not sure if it went through! xxx
Love this!!! I feel my posts have improved quite a bit recently, but I need to get into a habit of being SEO concious! Defo will be checking out your posts for that!
Paige x
paigesummerx.wordpress.com
Hope it helps! x
These are all solid tips. I think good grammar and spelling are so key. I always think that it’s hard to take advice from someone who clearly hasn’t proofed their post!
I agree to some degree. Although I know grammar isn’t my strongest and I’ll often notice a typo or two in some of my posts! It’s important but I think some of the other points are more so x
You are always a great person to go to for advice! I do make a lot of mistakes on my blog but I have tried to take what you said about paragraphs! I love using Yoast since it makes SEO much easier!
Daisy xoxo | TheDeeWhoLived
It really does, it’s a life saver! x
Great advice! I feel that not enough people talk about the importance of breaking up your paragraphs… if your blog looks like one giant running paragraph spanning my whole screen, I’m out! It’s so hard to work your way through it, I rarely will make the effort and I know I’m in the majority on that. Headings, images and plain white space are all so important.
You definitely are in the majority! x
Gah the paragraphs!!! I can’t take them. They literally make my eyes bleed. Break them up or something otherwise I leave almost instantly if I can see it’s just writing without any breaks, headings or images.
Wicked helpful post!
Yessss same haha! x
Excellent post Jenny! These are all wonderful tips and ones I try to carry on with in my own posts. I don’t use too many images because I don’t want those on Mobile or tablet to have to scroll through loads of images all the time, so I like to stick to two or three depending on length of the article, and if it needs pictures to explain something.
SEO is also a big one and again is something I’m working on.
I think 2 or 3 is a decent amount. Unless it’s a photo heavy post (like a travel diary or a product review) then no more than 3 is really necessary I don’t think x
I’ve got admit, the absence of paragraphs is a big no no for me. It is so tiring to read. I always have images but I know I need to improve on internal linking and SEO. Thanks for all the great tips!
It’s a big no no for a lot of people it would seem! I love all your images – you have some of my favourites! x
My blog used to be like that; big blocks of text, no sub-headings, images all over the place, and I had no idea what SEO was – and then wonder why I wasn’t magically gaining views! I do these things now, and had to go back and give older posts a make-over!
Oh same, don’t worry! I cringe looking at my old posts now haha!
Definitely breaking up paragraphs and headings! x
So important x
These are all amazing tips! I try to use headers in my posts a lot more now as I personally prefer it when other bloggers do. I also feel like my personality has started to come through a bit more on my blog this year. It’s a hard thing to do but I think it makes people so much more relatable if they actually seem like a real person, if that makes sense! xx
Tiffany x http://www.foodandotherloves.co.uk
It really is quite difficult! But it definitely helps that not all blogs read exactly the same! x
Great post Jenny.. I totally get you on that paragraph thing! I’ve seen blog posts before where there are no paragraphs and no headers or pictures to split it up and I find it really hard to read even if the writing itself is amazing.
Chloe xx
http://www.chloechats.com
Absolutely. I don’t think it matters how good the writing is! x
Yoast is such a lifesaver although I do struggle to get every single category green, haha. Internal linking is something I need to get better at because, as you say, “humans are lazy, make things as easy as possible!”. Brilliant post, Jenny, super helpful as always, thank you for sharing 🙂 xxx
Lisa | http://www.lisasnotebook.com
Me too sometimes! But most is better than none, for sure! x
Great post! Breaking big content into paragraphs and adding headings is one of the first things I learnt as a blogger. It makes the post much more enjoyable to read.
It sure does 🙂 x
These tips are so helpful – thank you! I actually updated a few older posts after reading your SEO for beginners blog and I’ve had my first search engine clicks! 👏
Oh my god yay! I’m so happy for you! x
These are some great tips Jenny. I know I struggle to read blog posts that have no photos or, even worse, no headings to break it up a bit. I know a few of my older posts are like this (10 years of content does that!), which is something I’m working on. I’ve also been going through both new and old posts to internal link a bit more.
Yeah some of my old posts are pretty dire when it comes to the structure too! x
What do you do with yours? Work on them or delete? I’ve got so many to go through. 😐 x
I leave them tbh! I have over 1,200 posts, it would take me literally until I’m 80 to go through them!
Ouch! That makes sense.
You raise a lot of really good points. I would add a few things that cause me to not read a post. 1. To many ads popping up while I am trying to read. It better be a really good post for me to continue.
2. If a post is too long I will probably not read the entire thing. I’ll likely spend only 3-5 minutes reading a post.
3. (this one partially applies to your blog) If the font blends into the background and I have to struggle to make out the words – it is not worth the time and effort. I do have a hard time making out the links you provide because the pink font blends into the white background. It hasn’t deterred me from reading only from clicking on those links. It may be just me but if you find that you are not getting many clicks on links you may want to consider a different font color.
I’ve not had anyone mention that before. Could be your screen / device? I don’t usually have any trouble seeing it or getting clicks on them. But I’ll look into it x
It could be my age/eyesight also.
Great suggestions here, Jenny. There are just so many lessons to learn as we get more experienced at blogging! I think the internal linking tip is one that many early bloggers overlook. Thanks for sharing this post!
Joan
My Best Friend Adeline
https://kindness-compassion-and-coaching.com
Very true! And yes, internal linking is so helpful! x
The paragraphs thing is SO IMPORTANT. I literally can’t make my way through a post without seeing paragraphs. Also, on the grammar point, I found that downloading grammarly as a plugin made me far more confident with what I was publishing!
Jas xx
Oooh thank you for that advice! x
Great advice, totally agree about the photos within posts; especially if the blogger has included their own photography!
MB
True. But sometimes stock photos are better, if for example like me, photography isn’t your strongest skill x
I’ve recently started breaking up my paragraphs and adding subheadings and my posts honestly look so much better! This is such a helpful post x
It sure does! Thank you 🙂 x
Great post I always try to keep my blog content fresh and avoid things that everyone is writing about and I find images a key part of my posts too :)x
Nobody wants to read the same post over and over again! x
These are great points especially about trying to break up text to make it more accessible with sentence led headings. I am certainly trying to learn more about SEO for my posts!
http://www.franglais27tales.com
Thank you – hope you’re getting to grips with SEO! x
This is such good advice. I’m sure that I could improve my posts. And YOAST is just the best!
It sure is! x
Honestly the Yoast SEO Plugin is the best thing ever and I have learnt so much about SEO from just using it! Thanks for the tips 💞
Jess | http://www.jessrigg.com
Same, I don’t know how I survived without it! x
Thank you for these tips, I already do most of these but I’ve picked up a few ideas! I like the idea of turning the most valid point within a chunk of text and turning it into a heading. Sometimes I end up with more than 300 words between headings and I just can’t think of a way to incorporate a heading into there. So I will definitely try that tip out next time!
Hope that helps! Also I’m really sorry but I don’t think my comment went through on your post. I tried to comment but it took so long that it timed out? x
Thank you!
Was that the comment on the deodorant post? It went through! 🙂 x
Yes it was! So glad it went through 😌
Brilliant post Jenny, I definitely think the word banging needs to be in more blog post titles for a start!
I think the most valuable thing I learnt about writing a blog post is the closing discussion sentence. It really changed the level of interaction my posts received
x x
Yesss that definitely shouldn’t be overlooked! x
This is such a good post. I read a lot of blogs and I sometimes go all cross eyed because people forget about breaking up their text.
I would add (even if it isn’t strictly the blog post) that having an easy to use comment system helps people engage more. I’ve been to blogs where the blogpost was awesome and I really wanted to comment, but there was so many ads, and “read this post too” links I gave up finding the comment box. And it’s a sour way of loosing engaged readers.
Thanks for sharing 🙂
I agree, comments need to be easy to make. I hate it when you have to do a captcha test, tick a bunch of boxes, do a sum and sign up to something in order to leave a comment! x
Yes, or when you have to scroll to the bottom of a 200 comment section to leave a reply.
This is a great post thank you! I need to download yoast SEO I think that would help me out a lot. Thanks for the reminder 🌷
It definitely would! x