13 Things to Include in Every Blog Post Before Your Hit Publish

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This post is part of the Better Blogging series.

It takes more than just good content to make a successful blog post. If you are a beauty, fashion or lifestyle blogger, you face a lot of competition so you gotta craft a really awesome post that stands out and I’m going to show you how. I’ve been doing this blogging stuff for years now and the one thing I’ve learned about writing a great blog post is to make the content creation process as simple as possible and this post will help. Below are 13 things to include in every blog post. By following these tips, you’ll churn out great blog posts every time, get more readers to your blog and improve your search engine rankings.

1. A Magnetic Title

The best way to get attention for a blog post is to have a great and catchy title which captures people’s attention. One of the best ways to do this is by crafting a descriptive title that provides benefits to readers. Tell the readers what she stands to gain by reading your post. Adding numbers in the title such as “6 tips” or “4 ways” to do something better is certain to get readers interested in what you have to say. Also, keep the title short and use keywords. This post by Copyblogger has awesome advice for writing magnetic headlines.

2. Captivating Introduction

Include in every blog post an introduction. The introduction is an overview of the topic you plan to discuss in the blog post. Try to use the main point of your blog post in the first few sentences of your introduction. Also, try to use the main keywords in the beginning of the introduction. At the very least, incorporate the keywords in the introduction of each post.

3. Images

The Internet is a visual medium, so include in every blog post at least one image. These images make every blog post more appealing to readers. In fact, if you choose the right images for your blog posts, the imagery will intrigue people enough to read the post. It is also important to choose images that are similar to your brand. Each image needs to be of high quality to establish your blog as more professional than amateur. It is important to have relevant images for each post. If you don’t have photography skills or the funds to hire a professional, stock photos are a great alternative and they are 100% free. For your convenience, I made a huge list (over 50) of places where you can download a rich collection lifestyle stock photos. All these sites are free and doesn’t require attribution or registration. You’re welcome! 😀

4. Content Length

There is debate on how long a blog post should be. Some suggest a post be at least 300 words to keep search engines happy. Others recommend writing longer posts of 600 to 3000 words.  It takes trial and error to determine the best word count for your particular readership.

5. External and Internal Links

Internal links are another thing to include in every blog post. These links send readers to other posts on your blog. This is a great way to keep people on your blog longer. For best results, link to relevant posts, so readers can learn more about a topic. Adding external links to authoritative blogs or websites in each blog post helps your readers while also improving your site seo.

6. Subheadings and Bullet Points

Every blog post needs subheadings. Subheadings break up the content into sections or chunks of text that make the posts easier to read. Many people scan a blog post to get the gist of the content before reading it.

When creating subheadings, it’s best to use header tags. It add tags such as <h1>, <h2>, and etc to your code. The lower the number, the bigger the size of the text. For this post, I’m using <h2> tags for my subheadings because search engines love them. It makes your content more searchable on the web.

7. Storytelling

Every blog post should tell a story. With blogs, the topic is the character and its problem is achieving some sort of goal. The information in the post helps to solve this problem. With a good story, your blog post stands out from all the other posts on the Internet. Although blog posts provide information, the post is more engaging if there is a story behind the content.

8. Authenticity

Include in every blog post authenticity. Being authentic means speaking in your own voice and not trying to be someone else. In short, you should write as though you talk. One way to do this is to record yourself talking about the topic of your blog post. Then transcribe the material and turn it into a blog post. It also helps if you are truly interested or passionate about the topic you are writing about.

9. Keywords

Keywords are still important in blog posts, but now, long tail keywords are the best choice. These longer keyword phrases are a better way to get your posts to rank higher on search engines. You need to choose keywords for every blog post that are similar to the search terms people use when looking for information on the Internet. Two good tools to use for finding the right keywords and keyword phrases are Google Keyword Planner and Long Tail Pro.

10. Search Engine Optimization

It is essential to include in every blog post SEO or search engine optimization techniques. With these techniques you improve the likelihood that your posts will rank higher in search engines. To get the best optimization results, use the plugin Yoast SEO. By following the suggestions of the plugin, you can easily optimize each blog post.

11. Categories and Tags

Another thing to include in every blog post are the categories for each blog post. A category is useful because many readers want content on similar topics. Adding the most relevant tags helps readers to find your post. Using categories and tags help with SEO and also help to organize your posts.

12. Add Alt Text

Adding alt text to every post image provides a description of that image. This is useful when someone pins an image from your blog to Pinterest. In addition to the description, you can add alt text that includes keywords and a call to action. By adding this additional text to the images, you can optimize your blog post and increase traffic to your posts.

To add alt text to your images is very easy in Wordpress!

13. Call to Action

The call to action tells readers what you want them to do after reading the post. You may want them to click on a link or sign up for your email list. You can also ask a question such as “What do you think about the post?” or “What other tools do you recommend?” A question can encourage people to leave a comment or start a conversation.

As a blogger, you need to do more than just provide useful content. These simple and easy strategies will make a big difference to the readers’ experience and will make them want to come back.

Do you include all these things in your blog post? Is there anything different to what’s above that you add? Share your thoughts by commenting below!