How to write better blog posts?
Simple!
Follow some of the tips from the top bloggers who has “been there, done that”.
It is when you read some of the top articles from the likes of Problogger and Neil Patel, that you realize that there is so much to be done in your articles.
Blogging is not about writing and posting. It is about numerous other things like researching the right headlines, internal linking, rewriting and editing etc.
And in this week’s link roundup we have picked some amazing articles on these topics, that will help you become a better writer.
A Better Blog – Tips for writing Better Blog Posts
Some time back I had written a post on the first few things you need to do immediately after you publish a blog post.
But after reading a few of the posts below, I realized that there are a few such important things that you need to do even before you hit that publish button.
It is this technique of refining and editing that makes your blog stand out from the crowd.
.. and one of that was internal linking.
I have always paid very less attention to internal linking and if you have been like me, then you will surely change your views after reading this article from Neil Patel.
Neil Patel’s Guide to Internal Linking
Internal linking is important to SEO. I have read it a lot of times but never really gave any thought to it. You wouldn’t have seen a lot of internal links in my blog posts either.
One of the reasons why I did not pay attention to it was because it was always linked to SEO and linking. And “link building” was one thing that I always hated.
But the fact that internal linking also helps in improving engagement rates was something that I picked up from this post by Neil. I am sure you too will learn a thing or, two from this post.
The first time I realized the value of internal linking was when I had been blogging for five years. I would faithfully open up my computer each day, write an article and move on.
Write. Publish. Repeat.
Five years!
Over time, I had written hundreds of posts! It occurred to me that if I started linking to my old articles within new articles, I could give my readers more value — more stuff to read, more information to gain.
So, I did it. It started simply. Whenever I wrote a new article, I would just add a hyperlink to another article that I had written.
Guess what. When I started doing that, my site exploded! I watched my engagement metrics hit the roof (organic search, low bounce rate, higher session duration, more pages per session).
How to Produce 300 High-Quality Articles a Year: An 8-Step Process
I have always been a lazy writer. In fact I have also been guilty of being inconsistent.
One of the reasons for this is the mismanagement of my editorial calendar. I have switched quite a number of tools to manage my editorial calendar and these switches have not helped me either.
To write 300 + high quality articles takes a lot of effort. And it is near impossible to achieve it if you do not have a concrete plan – an editorial calendar.
Sujan Patel lays down he complete story and explains his 8 step process that he followed to write 300 high quality articles in a year.
If you use Google Calendar to manage meetings, don’t try to cram your content schedule into it. Instead, create a calendar that you use solely for managing content production. This could be a purpose-built calendar, like CoSchedule. Tools like Trello work well for this too.
Don’t use Excel or for that matter the aforementioned Google Calendar. They’re fine at low volumes, but difficult to scale, and if you’re trying to use them to collaborate with your team, things can quickly get messy.
To help keep things as organized as possible, I use my editorial calendar exclusively for that purpose – content planning and management.
Image courtesy – contentmarketinginstitute.com
Read more at contentmarketinginstitute.com
5-Step Revision Process in Writing: Rewrite & Edit Rough Drafts
There are more than 30 drafts in my WordPress dashboard that I haven’t bothered to go back and have a look, though I know those articles have a lot of valuable information in them.
These are articles that have the potential to become amazing creations only if I spend some time to find the focal point of the article and then edit them out and complete it.
Henneke talks about this process of turning these rough drafts into smooth shiny pieces of content in this blog post.
If you’ve outlined your content, you probably already know what the focus of your content is. You know what your reader should remember and you know what he should do after reading your content—such as implement your advice or click that Buy button.
But if you’ve free-written your content, without a clear outline, the focus of your content might be blurry.
When I wrote my last post for 2016, for instance, the article started as a post about focusing on business essentials. I didn’t have a clear outline, but a few ideas about what I wanted to include. I more or less freewrote the article, and when I reviewed my draft, I found that the essence of my year was not about business essentials, but about learning to accept who I am and what my limitations are.
Finding the focus in unwieldy content can feel tricky. Try to read your draft quickly and ignore any badly written sentences. Focus on the big picture: What’s your writing about?
Image courtesy enchantingmarketing.com
Read more at enchantingmarketing.com
How to Come up With More Than Enough (Great) Ideas for Your Blog
Are you struggling to find post ideas for your blog?
You are not alone. This is a situation that I face with pretty much every alternate week. In fact, this is a situation that almost all bloggers face, irrespective of what level of success he has.
While simple things like taking a couple of hours out to watch around you, reading your favorite magazine, watching a few videos etc. are some things that light the idea bulb in me, there are a lot of other simple techniques that you can use to come up with ideas for your blog posts.
This post at Problogger has some nice and simple tips which, I am sure will bowl you over.
Coming up with enough ideas for your blog can be daunting, whatever stage you’re at. If you’ve just started blogging, you might be struggling to decide on your topics and what to blog about. If you’ve been blogging for years, you might feel like you’ve already covered everything.
Some bloggers also have some unhelpful hang-ups around ideas and inspiration. Perhaps you feel that ideas will only come when you’re not looking: when you’re in the shower, for instance, or doing the dishes.
And while ideas can and do pop up out of nowhere, you don’t need to just hang around waiting for inspiration to strike.
5 Content Marketing Hacks to Blow Up Your Blog Traffic
Traffic generation!
It is a huge topic in itself and something that a lot of bloggers still struggle with. Traffic is a commodity, according to Ryan Deiss and you could easily buy it from the market.
But even before you set out to buy traffic from the market, there are a few things that you could do inside your blog, that could give a nice boost to your traffic.
This post at Blogging Pro has some simple content marketing hacks to blog up your traffic. And one of the tips that I liked most was about interviewing influencers.
Indeed, this is a surefire way to generate boat loads of traffic to your blog. While there is some amount of effort required to convince an influencer to respond to an interview, the effort is worth it and you should surely give it a try.
Influencers are experts in your niche. They may be entrepreneurs, popular bloggers, journalists or celebrities. By involving them in content creation, you can build relationships with them and connect with a large audience through them. Influencer marketing is all set to trend in 2017 because it works.
Create a list of important questions in your industry and request experts to answer them for you. You can create an expert interview series out of the answers that you receive and feature them on your blog. Make sure you notify featured experts when you publish their answers. Most of them will help you promote your content. You can also locate the experts on social media and tag them on your social media promotions.
10 Things Your Blog Needs
Do you have an “About” page?
Statistics say that an “About” page is one of the most visited pages on any website. In fact, that is something I do, almost always when I visit a new blog.
But how good is your about page?
This and many more such tips in this post at thesitsgirls.com.
You would think this is a no-brainer, but you wouldn’t believe how many times I have gone to someone’s blog and couldn’t find their name anywhere on their site. Your name should be one of the first things your reader is able to see when they visit your blog. I highly suggest having your name in your short bio on your main page, but if that’s not your preference, please have it in your About Me Page. Is is so, so important to have your name easily found, because your readers want to connect with you! Some readers (or potential sponsors) even want to reach out and contact you, so let them be able to call you by name.
How to Create a Killer About Page
What are some of the basic requirements in an “About” page?
If you thought mentioning just your name and a brief about your interest is all that is required, then think again.
Your “about” page is the window to who you are, to the world. If a reader is clicking through to your “About” page, then he is looking to read and know more about you.
So spend some time to create your “about” page. You will get some nice tips from this post, that will help you do that.
Take a moment to think about your own browsing habits: when you find a new business that looks interesting, the “About” page is usually one of the first places you go to find out more about the organization and its people. As one of the most visited pages on your website, you want to make your “About” page represent the best side of you and your business.
After all, it could mean the difference between an interested reader who eventually becomes a customer, and a bored browser who leaves your website, never to return.
Here are some tips to help you create an “About” page that will keep your visitors hooked.
Read more at webhostingsecretrevealed.net
8 Techniques That Helped Me Improve My Writing During Ten Years of Blogging
If you have not been able to gather attention to your blog posts, then this article is a must read. Neil writes about a few techniques that helped him become a better copywriter.
One of the things that he talks about in this post is to follow the AIDA formula to write your copy. This formula can work while writing your blog posts as well.
IF you want to know what AIDA is, then read this post from Neil Patel.
AIDA is an acronym created by copywriter Gary Halbert.
Here’s a breakdown of how it works…
You start by grabbing the reader’s attention with an awesome headline and opener like we just discussed.
You build interest by touching on their needs, wants, and pain points as well as ways your product/service can solve their problems, improve their lives, etc.
Over to You
Blogging is as simple as writing a few paragraphs and hitting the publish button. But business blogging is more that just that. And that involves writing better posts and generating a lot of buzz.
And that is what we have covered in this week’s link roundup.
So, what is the one thing that you are planning to change in your “About” page?
What post refining technique from the posts above do you plan to use in your blogs in order to generate better blog posts?
Comment below and let us know and we can discuss.