While blogging may feel like one more thing to do, it’s a super effective marketing tool.

But in order for a blog to be effective, your posts should contain the following elements:

Copy that converts (and connects)

Blog posts allow you to share information about your offer, post a more in-depth portfolio of work, show different ways your product can be used, highlight press features and news, and more.

The goal of your marketing is to convert admirers into customers, and a blog post allows you to do that.

On my blog, for example, I share business and marketing tips. Yes, I’m providing this information for free, but it’s a small snippet of what’s covered in my online courses. And my courses are linked in my blog posts via calls-to-action (see below).

Sharing a sample of what I know proves to my audience that I’m an expert on my topic, and my writing style allows my target audience to better connect with me - two factors essential in converting!

Writing Tips
• Write how you talk. Not only is it easier to write in this informal manner, you’re more likely to connect with your target audience.

• Vary sentence length. This style emphasizes important points and adds interest to your writing.

• Keep your paragraphs short. Nothing is more overwhelming than a huge block of text.

• Share stories. Stories are entertaining and build connection.

Photos

Sometimes photos are necessary. For example, in tutorial-style blog posts or if you’re a photographer sharing your work.

But even in fields where photos aren’t as important, it’s still recommended to add photos to your blog posts.

The two photos I recommend having are:
1. Header photo. This photo appears at the top of your blog post and is set as the thumbnail photo. What that means is when you post your blog post link to social media, this is the photo that will automatically appear.
2. A Pinterest graphic. Yes, this is more of a graphic, but the graphic should contain a photo! A Pinterest graphic allows your readers to pin your blog post to one of their Pinterest boards, either to refer back to or finish reading in the future. I recommend designing your pin graphics on Canva.

Calls to action (CTA)

The main purpose of marketing is to get people to your website so they can book with your or buy your offer.

A call to action (CTA) is what encourages someone to leave your blog post and head to your offer page, contact page, or freebie page. On a blog post, a call to action is a button or text link that directly brings people to your offer page. (Make sure to have this link open in a new tab so people can finish reading your blog post in the original tab.)

I like to include CTAs for a course sales page as well as a freebie offer in my blog post. That way if someone isn’t ready to enroll in my online course, they’re at least likely to sign-up for my email newsletter, which allows me to continue nurturing the relationship with them.

Always include at least one CTA in your blog posts.

Internal Links

Internal links are links that bring the reader to another page on your website. Internally linking throughout your website not only takes a visitor on a tour of your site (and maybe even make a purchase!), it’s excellent for search engine optimization. This means that the more links there are to different pages and posts on your website, the higher they are likely to appear in a search engine result.

Calls to action are considered internal links, but other examples include linking to other blog posts on your website, your about page, press page, etc.

Backlinks

Backlinking is when you link to an external website. While it may seem counterintuitive to link to another website, it actually adds credibility to yours - especially if you’re backlinking to a highly trafficked website.

Psst! It’s also highly effective to have other websites backlink to yours, such as your homepage and blog posts.

Keywords

When writing your post, include one or two long-tail keywords throughout the copy so search engines can find your post. Include these keywords naturally throughout your copy, post title, headings, and meta descriptions.

Using too many keywords can hurt your SEO as search engines will find your website too scammy.

To learn even more about SEO, click here.

Clever Title

The title of your blog post helps search engines - and readers - determine if your post is worth appearing in a search result or reading.

Be sure to include your keyword within the first 60 characters, as that’s where Google cuts titles off in search engine results pages.

Also, include the same keyword throughout your post copy, headings, meta descriptions, alt text, image names, and URL.

To practice writing intriguing titles, write out 5-20 options. Need a little inspiration? Flip through magazines and scroll editorial and news websites.

A tool you can use is the Advanced Marketing Institute’s Headline Analyzer. It scores titles from a scale of 0-100% and ranks them based on how emotional, spiritual, and logical it is.

Use this tool with a grain of salt, however. I had a client who adjusted her email subject lines to get in the 80% range, but her subjects made no sense.

By incorporating these elements into your blog posts, you’ll receive a much higher return on your time investment!

Psst! You can always review previously written blog posts to elevate them.

Intro to Blogging Series

Part 1: Why You Should Consider Blogging
Part 2: How to Set-up a Blog
Part 3: How to Write an Effective Blog Post
Part 4: 5 Ways to Elevate Old Blog Posts

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