There are millions of blogs out there and with thousands of new posts being added daily, how can you make yours stand out from the crowd? How can you cut through the noise? What makes a blog post successful?
I’m no expert, but I’ve written a lot of blog posts for different clients. I’ve been writing this blog and reading a lot of others for the past 12 months too. Here are 9 key ingredients that I’ve noticed successful blog posts seem to have:
1. Title. A strong heading draws people into your post. Think about who is reading your blog and what will appeal to them? What would entice you to click through and make you carry on reading?
2. Structure. Don’t make your blog post too long or you’ll risk putting readers off. There’s always a debate about how long a blog post should be. It needs to be short enough to keep readers interested but long enough to enhance SEO. I usually aim for between 400 and 1,000 words. There should be a basic structure that gives an introduction, makes a point and then has some sort of a conclusion.
3. Make it Easy To Read. Break up chunks of text with plenty of paragraphs, sub headings, bullet points or lists. I remember recently giving up reading a blog post because it was one long paragraph from start to finish. I’d gone cross-eyed before I’d even got half way through! I’ve also been dazzled (not necessarily in a good way) by some blogs which have crazy colours, patterns or fonts going on. Help your readers by making it easy to view your posts. I generally prefer to read blogs which are clean and simple in design, and broken down into easy to read chunks of text.
4. Images. Photos and images help to break up the text of a blog post but also add colour to what you are saying. They can help illustrate a point or provide readers with more insight into your life. Make sure your images are optimised to the correct size so that they don’t appear warped. When I first started blogging I had no idea about this and used to stick in an image the size of a thumb nail and hope for the best. Generally images with bigger pixels are better quality and in WordPress I tend to stick to dimensions of about 630 width by about 420 height. Remember to re-name images with a text friendly name to boost SEO.
5. Find Your Voice. The bloggers that I most admire have a very distinctive voice. They write in a particular style whether it be sarcastic, opinionated or with passion. There’s so many blogs I enjoy reading, but here are a few that I’ve got to mention: I love Whinge Whinge Wine because Fran can be quite sarcastic, she writes very plainly at a furious pace that makes me cry with laughter. I adore Absolutely Prabulous because Prabs is not afraid to laugh at herself and this is reflected in her brilliant writing which has me sniggering for ages. I also love 5 Little Doves because Laura truly writes from the heart about her family life, dealing with mental health issues as well as coping with the loss of her baby boy. Her blog has made me truly think about certain topics as well as left me in tears on several occasions.
Successful blogs are not afraid to state their opinion and initiate debate by saying what they truly think. Others are successful because they take a completely new angle or take on a certain subject. Sitting on the fence is safe, but those that take the plunge and speak up about what they believe in, often seem to be the most successful. Sometimes the posts that scare me to hit “publish” are often the ones that work out to get the most views or comments.
6. Make a Point. It’s easy to just chat along about any topic matter for 700 odd words, but the most successful blog posts always seem to make a point. They may make readers nod their head in agreement, they might make some readers think, or they may fire some people up and cause some controversy like this post I wrote a while back about mums taking their kids to school in pyjamas. Others might be funny and make some readers laugh in agreement. This blog post that I wrote about not getting any of our 4 choice of primary schools for my daughter has been my most viewed post of all time and went viral on Facebook and The Huffington Post. It was successful because it resonated with a lot of other mums out there who were either going through the same thing or were worried about it happening in the future.
7. Be True. The most successful bloggers are those who are true to themselves. They write from the heart and connect with readers by letting them see more about their lives. Readers feel like they get to know the writer and care what happens to them.
Be yourself and let your personality shine through!
8. Write With Care. Yes bad spelling and grammar can put me off as much as bad writing in general. But so too can those blogs that are trying too hard to impress, you know the ones with the long unnecessary words which ramble on. I think the blogs that work best are those that write as if they are in conversation, just chatting to a friend.
9. Think About Your Ending. Don’t just stop abruptly. What do you want your reader to do? You can always ask for more comments or ask people what they think.
There you have it! My 9 ingredients for what I think makes up a successful blog post. Do you agree? Are there any more factors that you’d add to this list? Which blogs do you love and what special ingredients do they use to make their blogs successful?
Great article, good points I want to initiate. Thank you.
Some great points here, thanks for sharing #TwinklyTuesday X
Glad it was useful! X
Some great points to give a new blogger food for thought. Thanks for sharing 🙂
#TwinklyTuesday
Glad it was useful!
I agree with all these points! Great post. Thanks for sharing! #TwinklyTuesday
Thank you! X
Excellent thoughts here on how to make blog posts stand out. Thanks, I’ll try to take these points on board!
Thank you! I’m sure there are more to add to the list! X
Thank you for sharing this over at the #TwinklyTuesday link up. You’ve got some great points here.
Thank you! X
brilliant advice – love the catchy title – I spy agree on this and I also love your take on writing as if chatting with a friend – thank you so much for sharing and I’m with you on your favourite bloggers – awesomeness! #BloggerClubUK
Ahh thank you! I’m glad you agree about those bloggers, they are fab aren’t they! X
What a lovely guide covering some basic points that are good to be reminded of. I think I’m guilty of too much colour, but it is my website and blog style, it works for me as my website has to shout kids holidays, but I can see it could be off putting for a grown up read. #BloggerclubUK
Absolutely! And that totally reflects your audience and you so that’s great. I think as long as you’re thinking of your target reader then that’s fine. X
What a truly excellent post Cheryl. You’ve said everything I would. I particularly nodded my head at number 3. Man, the number of posts I’ve given up on, not that I much like the format of my own to be honest. And I’m very guilty as you know of super long posts. I try and try to get them under 1000 but with limited success! Well done love. This is going into a future #BlogStars round up x
Oh thanks Prabs!! Glad you agree and like it enough to get featured in your BlogStars round up – Wow! Xx
I love this post, bot just because you have given me a mention (for which I am truly grateful!!) but also because these are all really good, important points to remember. I am guilty of writing long posts too, I try to keep them short but it’s hard sometimes , I just have to hope that my readers stick with it!! Thank you so much, again, for including me, much appreciated. xxx
You’ve got nothing to worry about Laura because you never ramble and always keep us all captivated with your fascinating heart-felt posts! Xx
Thanks lovely, you’re so kind. Xxx
Great points and great reminders. I totally agree with 5 little Doves. It’s so good #bloggerclubUK
Thank you and glad you agree!
I agree with all of this (although I’m not a particularly successful blogger). These are all of the things that hook me in and keep me reading, and the things I try to emulate in my own posts. Thanks for this! #BloggerClubUK
Ahh thanks and you are successful! I enjoy reading your blog! X
I’m a newbie blogger and found this really helpful thank you xx
Glad it’s useful! X
Great post! I agree with all of it – though it is a little bit different with recipe posts… But the point about photos is especially important with recipes! I have been blogging for just over a year and photography has definitely been the biggest learning curve! I used to just take a few quick snaps of my lunch and think that was ok – now I know better!! Thanks for sharing such a fab post 🙂 Eb x
Ahh thank you!! I Agree food blogs and recipe posts all especially seem to use lots of great big pics! X
Thank you for these insightful pointers, definitely food for thought. I’m not sure we’ve found our true voice yet, and this has given me something to think about. #BloggerClubUK
Great. I think a lot of people struggle with that. Keep writing and it will come. X
great tips 🙂 I agree with the tip on writing as if you are in conversation with a friend. a few people I know said they can hear me speaking, as if I were chatting with them. so I took that as a positive lol! #brillblogposts
That is a great compliment! And really keeps your blog true. Well done!
You make some really interesting and valid points here. I think being true to yourself is really key! I love your choice of writers too, they are all so different in their style and approach but all brilliant and makes the point that there is room for all us in the blogging world and we shouldn’t feel tempted to emulate others. 🙂 #thelist
Great advice! I try to do a mix of posts with lists and long rambling ones X #TheList
Thank you. Same here, good to mix it up a bit! X
I don’t really follow a recipe to blog as such (maybe that is where I am going wrong) I just blog what’s in my head/heart and let it flow out of my fingers. I agree though about too long posts making some people switch off but if your writing is interesting, passionate and well informed then I think people will keep reading. I also like variety in a blog.
I think you’re right. Different people will use different “ingredients” but writing from the heart is essential.
Some valid points and some really useful information to think about. Thanks for sharing X #brilliantblogposts
Thank you, glad it’s useful! X
These are all really good tips. I always try and make a point of actually “saying something.” Its the titles that seem to give me the most problems #brilliantblogposts
Thanks, I agree, I find titles tricky too!
Lots of useful tips, I would definitely say that being yourself is also really important as well as having something to say. #TheList
Thanks Annette, I think those two are pretty important as well.
I have to admit that I don’t always give my titles as much thought as I should, but I really agree with the point about writing as you speak, rather than trying to sound impressive! x #TheList
I find titles tricky too! X
Good tips, thank you! Lots of things on here that are not my strong point…like titles, photos, making a point…uh oh I could go on! I do also think there’s a wide range of what successful looks like as well and depends what you are targeting if that makes sense. #thelist
I think your blog is successful and so most others as you’ve been shortlisted! I agree with your point that success can be different things to different people. Was going to talk about that too but it meant this blog was rambling on a bit so might do something about that in a separate post! X
Some good points that I’ll be putting into practice 🙂 I definitely struggle with titles so will have to give them a bit more thought in future… #thelist
Yes I find titles tricky too!
Great points – I agree with every one of them. It takes time to find your voice & to get comfortable & fast writing. I cringe at my first posts now lol it was so hard to write in the beginning. This is great advice for any new blogger. Thanks so much for joining us for #BloggerClubUK x
Thanks Becky and for featuring my post! X
These are great tips and I completely feel the same about blogs with a strong, distinctive voice. I love feeling like the blogger is talking to me, like you can really imagine the person behind the words! #TheList
Yes a strong voice really makes a blogger stand out! Thanks for reading. X
I would add to always try and link back to one of your old relevant posts to help with your DA! #thelist
Yes, thanks that’s a good one!
Great post, very informative. Thanks for linking up to #TheList x
Thanks Aby! X
I came across this post via Absolutely Prabulous’ Blog Stars. I loved it for two reasons: firstly it is so well written and secondly you are not talking about being successful via SEO, KLOUT etc etc (I don’t even know what else is out there!) You are focusing on the WRITING part of blogging. This, for me is why I blog, because I love to write and all the extra technological bits just blow my mind! Great advice – thank you for writing it so succinctly (and for not getting all techno on me!) Alison
Thanks Alison! I’m glad you enjoyed it and that it resonated with you. Blogging is great but at times it can be overwhelming when you think about the stats, SEO, DA etc etc. It can almost get depressing! Like you, I started my blog for the love of writing and that’s what I want it to be about, I don’t want to get dragged down too much by everything else. X
Totally agree with all your points especially breaking up the post into bullets or sub-headings. I’m still struggling with photo sizes though! I read somewhere that they should be 600×800 to make them ‘pinable’ but I haven’t really got into Pinterest yet so????? Any advice? xx
Thanks Sonia! I tend to do about 600 / 620 width by about 400. I’m sorry I don’t really get involved in Pinterest yet so can’t say if that’s pinable! X
Hi Cheryl! I’ve just discovered your blog and love your posts! thanks so much for posting this information as I am just beginning my journey into the wonderful world of blogging! I’m excited and overwhelmed, but moving forward! these are great tips. thanks for posting them!
Hi Judi thanks for dropping by and glad you like the blog! Good luck! I think the most important point is to enjoy writing and creating. X