How To Write Great Blog Posts [Day 20: 30 DBWB]
[This post is an excerpt from the 30 Days To A Better Wedding Business Workbook]
A lot of people get intimidated when it comes to writing, but writing great content is not rocket science. Many of us get nervous about writing because we think there is a right & wrong way to do it. Guess what-there isn’t. Despite what every English teacher told you, there isn’t any specific way you MUST write. Every person has their own writing style, much like everyone has their own voice. Do yourself a favour-stop criticising your writing and wondering if it is good enough. All you have to do is get your message across.
Photo by Sean MacEntree, available under a Creative Commons attribution license
There is no right or wrong here so there is nothing to be nervous about. I can’t tell you how to write, but I can tell you what I have found to work well for blog writing. (Disclaimer: These are not rules. There are no rules. Write however you like and test different things to see what works for your business.)
Write great headlines
Use headlines like the following to grab the attention of the reader. Here are some examples:
- 5 Little-Known Factors That Could Affect The Cost Of Your Wedding
- Don’t make these 3 mistakes when planning your wedding
- 4 things most wedding photographers won’t tell you
- How to survive your first wedding fair
Write 500-800 words
It’s a blog post not a novel. If it needs to be longer, write it as a multi-part series across a period of time.
Break it up with bullets and headings
People skim when reading things online. You can address this by making sure they can get the general idea from the headings and breaking up large chunks of text look less intimidating/time-consuming. Here are some great examples: http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/linkedin-for-business/ http://www.sageweddingpros.com/2012/12/12/2013-action-plan-sales-review/
One idea per post
Keep it simple and don’t over-complicate things by trying to include a bunch of different ideas if one post.
Add a photo
If you don’t have a relevant photo, you can use Creative Commons. You’ll find that most photos you find require you to give credit, but it’s simple and this guide will show you how to do this.
Call to action at the end of every post
When someone reads your blog posts, website content or marketing materials, do they know what you want them to do next? This might seem silly but it is statistically proven that using calls to action (CTAs) really does get people to take action. Calls to action are simply words that are used to get your prospect to take a specific action. You can (and should) use them at the end of each post to get the reader to take a specific action. Examples: What do you think about [topic]? Let us know in the comments below. If you enjoyed this post, please share it on Twitter by clicking on the “Tweet” button to the right. To find out more about this, read [link to another post on your blog]
Go Do Something!
If you have existing blog posts on your website, go through them and think about what action you want the reader to take after they read it. Figuring out the goal of a post will help you get a feel for creating calls to action. PS-This is a call to action about calls to action…weird.
