You want to increase your blog traffic but sometimes, there’s nothing you feel less like doing than sitting down and writing a blog post for your site.
Whether you work in floristry, dentistry, topiary or engineering, at some point you’re going to get to the stage where you’d do anything to get out of writing that post.
You can tell when people whose blog you follow are going through that phase.
Instead of their usual sensible, well-structured and informative article about their chosen industry, they default to popping up a picture with a phrase on it that they’ve been sent by a colleague, which may or may not have some relevance to their field of business.
Or, the blog suddenly goes dormant for a while until they get their creative spark back and can find the energy and will to get going again.
I’ve found that having a set structure for each of your written posts is a really helpful way of avoiding writers block, and also makes sure that the subjects you’re choosing to write about are relevant and informative for your customers.
If you’re floundering in the abyss of blog boredom and struggling to find new subjects, or you simply can’t seem to manage to conjure up a decent article at the moment, try following this structure to see if it will spark off some new ideas and keep you on track…
Your headline has to capture the visitor’s attention. If it doesn’t, the rest of the post will be ignored.
Your blog post content may be the most exhilarating, informative ever but if your headline sucks and doesn’t grab the reader’s attention, all your efforts are wasted.
Powerful tip:
For great inspiration for headlines, look at the front cover of magazines. Don’t some of them make you pick the magazine up and start reading inside?
That’s what you want to happen with your headline. The reader can’t wait to read the rest of the post.
The first section of your post should focus on what the subject is about, and preferably identify an issue for your reader that you are going to resolve.
So, for example if you are writing about floristry, you may have noticed that cut carnations often don’t last very long when they’re popped in to flower arrangements. You can identify why this is an issue, and explain how you can keep your carnations looking fresh!
The second section should deal with the ideal scenario – so, what the situation should be like, when the problem or issue is avoided. For our florist, this could mean that they pop in a couple of paragraphs that show how carnations look when they are flourishing in their arrangement.
Next, think about what the solution may be for the reader.
You’ve identified the problem, stated what the ideal picture would look like, and now it’s time to solve that issue for the reader so that they get to take something away from your blog post and can apply it in to their own business, interest or situation.
Our florist could mention that carnations last longer if you cut above the bump on the stem, and you add a bit of lemonade in to the water when you arrange them, to keep them holding their shape and colour for longer.
Finally, wrap up your article with a short summary that highlights the key points you want your reader to take away with them.
It’s also worth thinking about selling at this point.
If you have a product or service which can help, you can safely pop it in to the summary without having done a ‘hard sell’ that detracts from your content. Our florist could mention that he or she has a special plant food that makes carnations stay vibrant for weeks, and put in a link to the product.
And the last thing…ask a question. It can encourage your visitors to comment.
If you stick to these steps, your blog posts will be much more focussed, and you’ll always be giving your visitors something worthwhile to read.
Start off by working out what your visitors may be struggling with, and what you can help them out on.
From there, the rest of the article will follow naturally.
This is the format that you expect when you visit the blogs you find most interesting and useful, and it’s easy to mirror the structure to get your writing back on target.
That way your visitors will return time and time again!
If you’re struggling to write great blog articles to gain more blog traffic, you can always consider outsourcing to a creative expert. Get in touch with me and I’ll point you in the right direction to tackle the problem, resolve it and prevent it from happening again!
What blog post structure works best for you?
Please share your views in the comments below.
