how-to-start-a-blog

Basic components of a blog postThe following are the basic elements of a great blog post. We’ll talk about how to optimize each for both readers andsearch engines.HeadlineThe headline, or title of your blog post, must be craftedto get the attention of potential readers who may seeit in their social media newsfeeds or in search results.Make sure that you’ve found a great keyword phrasethat people in search would use to find blog posts onyour topic and include it in your headline.IntroductionThe first paragraph of your blog post will either keeppeople reading or make people leave. Make sure thatit compels people to need to read the rest of your content.You should use your targeted keyword phrase forsearch at least once in this paragraph.Main contentThis is the main portion of your blog post content. Thinkof the headline as the promise, and the main contentas the fulfillment of that promise - your main contentshould fully satisfy anyone who visits your post basedon the headline. If you create content that does notfully satisfy the promises of your headline, people willstart to identify your blog as unfulfilling and thus, stopvisiting. The length of your blog posts can range from300 - 3,000+ words. It’s best to alternate while you findthe perfect length for your audience.Sub-headlinesLots of people will scan your blog content as opposedto reading it word for word. Write sub-headlines thatbreak your content into digestible sections, and makesure those sub-headlines represent the content withinthem.Bolded text - Use bolded text in a few areas of yourmain content to help highlight important points. Useit selectively, otherwise your entire article will seembolded, thus taking away the ability for bolded portionsto stand out as they should.Bulleted/numbered lists - While you do not want yourentire post to be a bulleted or numbered list, bulletedor numbered lists do help separate out steps and listswith useful content.Media - Supplement the text portion of your contentwith media, such as relevant images and video. Thiswill help break up your content and help illustrate yourpoints better. Images can also be used as part of thesearch optimization of your post - include your post’smain keyword phrase in the filename of the image aswell as the ALT tag.ConclusionThe conclusion should be a paragraph or two at theend of your post to summarize what the reader shouldhave gotten out of it. If they didn’t, chances are, theywill go back to see what they might have missed.The last line of your blog post should be some formof call to action. It can be as simple as asking readersto share their thoughts in the comments or to sharethe post on social media if they enjoyed it. If your postwas written to promote a particular product or service,the call to action should encourage the reader to learnmore about it.You don’t have to include all of the elements from this list in everypost, but make sure you always have engaging introduction, qualitycontent, and a solid conclusion.36