If you are looking to take your blog to the next level then you are going to need to up your content game. That’s it in a nutshell. Content continues to be king where blogging is concerned.
Yes, you might need to develop your Pinterest strategy, yes you could be developing a stronger Facebook following and yes, you should certainly be aware of basic SEO concepts, but even with all of this in place, you still need to actually be writing things that people want to read. That’s the bottom line, so with this in mind we have come up with 3 types of blog posts that never fail. Ever.
A ‘How To…’ type post
A blog post that answers a specific question can be very successful. Here you will be fulfilling a need that some people have specifically come online to discover, you will be answering their questions.
Your inspiration for this could simply be something that you already know and wish to share or it could be something new that you would like to better understand and you research it with a view to sharing it. You might want to be more strategic and take a look at what people have been searching for around the subject that you blog about and then tailor your posts around these specific areas.
These posts do not necessarily convert readers into loyal fans and repeat visitors, so you will need to think about how to hook them in and keep them reading when they do find you, though that could be a whole other post!
A list post
People love a list. These are brilliant posts to write and they can cover any subject, take on as much or as little depth as you like and be as serious or as funny as you want to make them.
These can be similar to the above in that they could be searchable content, so do use similar techniques to develop them.
List posts can include resources, making them really useful to people so that they bookmark them and refer to them again.
An opinionated post
These are the types of posts that can gain the most traction on social media, so this is where you will want to promote them. It is always worth considering your SEO when you write, but whereas the above two types of posts will need to reply on people searching for them, this one needs to spread like wildfire as people share, share and share some more.
Comment on something that is currently in the news, share something that you feel many people will be able to identify with or use another’s post or opinion as a springboard for your own, a reply of sorts.
With opinionated pieces, it will be very obvious if you are writing it purely to be controversial for controversy’s sake. Don’t do that. You need to write from the heart and with passion and absolute conviction.
And finally, if you are looking to take your blog to the next level and make blogging your career, do ensure that you register as a business and understand you tax obligations. You might want to look into digital VAT software and accounting packages to make your bookkeeping and administrative tasks run smoothly.
What other types of blog posts do you find gain plenty of engagement?.