How to Write a Blog Post People Want to Read

6 min readApr 5, 2019

Coming up with a perfect blog post is hard enough, as you can’t just slap some random words and call it a day. A good blog post requires you to put a lot of thought into it if you want to receive the feedback you’re longing for.

That being said, in order to create a blog post that is successful and brings you traffic, you must know the ingredients that will create the magic. You should know how to write so that people can see the person behind the posts. They also need to stay invested and continue to bring you views, shares, comments, and whatnot.

So, do you want your posts to be read by more than 10 people?

Here are some tips on how to write compelling blog posts that people actually want to read:

1. Add Some Personality

Let’s be honest: nobody likes reading a dull article, written like you were held at gunpoint trying to place the words correctly. When people are looking for certain types of blogs, they want to get as much information as possible, but they also want to see a real person they can relate to. In other words, if your article sounds like a computer generated it, they are going to click away with the speed of light.

Having said that, the audience wants to click with you, and if they don’t, they won’t be able to enjoy your content. Posts need to be easy to read and understand and written in your own voice.

At first glance, it sounds very easy, but it’s not really like that once you’re trying to do it. So, in order to add some life to your writing style, you have to:

Add some jokes
Proofread everything and fix any weird-sounding sentences
Write just like you talk in your daily life
Tell a story related to the topic, as it adds credibility

By applying these tips, your posts will sound much more natural and will be compelling to the audience.

Also, you can decide on a beautiful font that will appeal to others as well. The font you use is often important when trying to send a message.

2. Don’t Skip a Great Intro

Even when it comes to blog posts, first impressions matter, which is why the beginning of your post requires so much attention. Basically, if you want to grab people’s attention and make them eager to read the rest of the post, the key to that is the intro.

Writing a good intro is not something you can master in one night, but by trying different tricks, you will be able to find a suitable way to open your articles.

The intro must, of course, relate to the article. At the same time, it shouldn’t be milked too much, or you risk boring the reader into oblivion.

Some things you could do are:

State a fact: Almost everybody owns at least one social media account nowadays.
Starting with a question: Have you ever thought about starting a beauty blog? — It’s one way to make people curious to find out the answer.

3. Use a Catchy Title

The title is the first thing someone sees when stumbling upon your content — this means that it needs to be impactful enough to make people click on it.

Therefore, you can’t go with a boring title that makes even you, as the writer, displeased with it. Think from the perspective of a reader, and discover what would catch your attention if someone else wrote that post.

It may seem easy at first, but once you are thinking of a title, you’ll find out that getting started is the hardest step. Finding the title is not as easy as it sounds, but with practice, you’ll manage to get better in time.

Here are some title ideas that you could use, and are often found in search results:

Most Effective Ways to _________
X Ways to _________
Here Are the Simplest Ways to _________
How to _________
X Tips for _________
Secret Ways for _________

4. Structure Your Posts Properly

You’ve most likely looked for information regarding a problem or curiosity, and were greeted by an article with a huge block of text that made you run for the hills.

Nobody likes having to read a whole novel to find an easy answer, which is why you should be very careful with the way you write your articles.

A lot of us get intimidated by large amounts of texts, and not because we’d be unable to read them, but because the information could be found in a much-shortened version.

As such, if you’re looking to make people stay, you need to grab their attention by quickly offering them the answer they’re looking for.

To properly do that, you have to:

Break up a big text into smaller paragraphs
Use bolded phrases for much easier navigation
Use proper titles and subtitles for the paragraphs
Make a bigger font for the more important ideas

By following these tips, it will be much easier for you to capture people’s attention and not make them avoid your blog like plague.

5. Optimize Your Blog

Proper blog optimization is also essential if you want to get people interested to click on your articles.

Most of the time, nobody likes having to go to the second page on search engines to find the answer they’re looking for. So, the higher your blog is on the list, the more likely people are to embrace your content.

One popular way used for blog optimization is SEO

SEO focuses on the use of keywords, which are included several times throughout an article to make it easier to find on search engines. However, once you think about a fitting keyword, you need to put it in the right places, such as:

In the title
In at least one subheading
Within the body content (but don’t overdo it)
In the first and last paragraph of the post
In the “alternate attributes” section of the in-text photos

Furthermore, you can use other methods to optimize your blog, such as:

Using subheadings so it’s easier to find by people
Guest post on high-traffic websites
Use internal links to other content throughout your posts

6. Write About Something You’re Passionate About

When you open a blog, it has to be about something you are really passionate about. After all, nobody likes writing a lot of text about stuff that doesn’t interest them in the slightest. If there’s no topic, you have no blog post there.

If it’s too hard, you can start by just typing something there, so it gives you an idea about the direction you want to take.

You can start something as simple as “How to Become a Better Writer”, and then you slowly go in and out of different angles. For instance, you can go to “How to Get Out of Writer’s Block” or “Tips on How to Stop Procrastinating”.

No need to rush with it, as it takes quite a while to get accustomed to everything, but if you spend time going through different ideas or angles, you’ll manage it.

7. Use Pictures

Because people are visual creatures, they love seeing what you are talking about. That being said, if you add photos to your content, there’s a better chance to keep people on the page than if you don’t.

As a matter of fact, blog posts that contain pictures get 94% more views than those without.

However, even with pictures, there are certain rules you need to follow, which means you don’t only throw in the first picture you find on Google and leave it at that. That being said, you need to:

Include high-quality photos that add to the credibility
Link back to the source of the picture

Basically, people tend to click away if you don’t provide them with pictures of great quality. You’ve probably done it too in the past, so it’s no surprise nobody likes having to stick their eyeballs to the screen to distinguish what’s in the photo.

Also, stealing content is something you probably don’t want to experience either. So, unless you take the pictures yourself, make sure you’re using stock pictures and link back to them as well.

Bottom Line

Getting an audience and making people invested in your content takes a lot of time, hard work and dedication to succeed. If you’re not doing it correctly, you risk making visitors click “Back”, and look for other blogs that give them the answers they’re looking for.

Conversely, it’s not the hardest thing to do, and if you’ll follow the tips provided in the paragraphs above, you will be able to master the art of writing in time. Make sure you use compelling titles, intros, pictures, break down your text, optimize it and add some of your personality, and all should go according to the plan.

Originally published at www.renehjetting.com on April 5, 2019.