I know I’ve written a bunch on blogging in the past from sites to blog on to benefits of blogging to blogging resources. After thinking about it, I’ve realized that I haven’t provided much information on the “meat & potatoes” of the blog post itself. What makes a blog post get a ton of shares? What makes it get opened by the reader? Why is choosing the right title so important? I’ll answer these questions & more below.

Firstly, what does a good looking blog look like? Keeping in mind that we only have a few seconds to catch our reader’s attention, the title bears the most responsibility for the entire post, as the title will decide if the reader will open up the post or continue scrolling. I do suggest putting some creative thought behind your title. Be personable, make it enticing/inviting. If possible, make your blog post a list or offer a number of ways to improve/enhance the readers’ life in some way. It has been proven that blog posts that grab the readers’ attention by offering a list have the most open rates (For example: “5 ways to ….” “Change your life just by doing these 3 things…”) It has also been proven that posts that have an emotional title get the most shares.

See here: http://goo.gl/EaOBfL

The ideal title should be between 40-70 characters long with the most important words near the beginning for SEO purposes. Also, if it’s too long, some sites will cut the last portion off to shorten it which doesn’t help your open rates.  

In addition to what has already been mentioned above, if you submit an article to be featured on another person/organization’s website, ensure you’re submitting your best work. It’s your voice and has your name on it, so if you want to be taken seriously, let your authenticity and expertise shine! Ensure your article is free of errors, it’s in your own words, quotes by others are properly sourced, your article shouldn’t be heavy in outbound links, and most importantly, CHECK BACK REGULARLY AFTER PUBLICATION TO REPLY TO ANY QUESTIONS AND/OR COMMENTARY THAT WAS LEFT FOR YOU! I see this all of the time. An article gets published, then the author vanishes while leaving comments and questions unseen and unanswered. How do you expect to grow your audience/clientele if you aren’t showing your reliability? Food for thought! 

Some Tips:

• Don’t make your blog too lengthy. A good size post should be anywhere between 400-800 words, typically.
• Pay attention to your grammar & spelling. A typo could prevent potential shares. I personally use a great site called grammarly.com & can check grammar and spelling right from my browser. It’s an excellent resource & every writer from beginner to seasoned should use it.
• Make sure your blog site is also mobile friendly. Many of our readers are on mobile devices these days & account for a large part of the open rate
• Have a call to action at the end of your posts to encourage commentary & feedback
• Install social media plugins if you have the functionality available, that way the audience can engage logged in via FB, etc., as this also makes leaving comments a bit easier and more likely
• STAY CURRENT WITH YOUR SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION
• Always stay true to your authentic self & speak from your own voice. Remember your personal audience found you because they want to hear you, not what someone else has to say!

I found a great acronym on this site: http://goo.gl/VovDg5 & they compare keeping the heart in your blog to keeping our own hearts healthy. For a health check, try the EKG approach:

E– Engage with other blogs and your own readers

K– Keep the material fresh and exciting

G– Give people a reason to return

My hand picked links for you:

http://goo.gl/gSxYuZ (Blog Post Checklist)

http://goo.gl/MGj9q1 (Why People Share)

http://goo.gl/TlloFC (Psychology of Marketing Checklist)

Well, there you have it! I’m looking forward to seeing some rockin’ blog posts! Let me know if you have any questions. 

In Wellness,

Ashley Brewer