Proven practices to create shareable blog posts

Creating content is one thing and making content that your readers would want to like and share, is another. With Google and social media algorithms changing every now and then, creating shareable content is no cakewalk. Also, the ever-increasing competition makes things more challenging. You must keep in mind that only the content that deserves to be shared, will be shared. Having a strong hold on the fundamentals of blogging and keeping an eye out for the latest tools and techniques is a prerequisite to developing shareable blog posts.

In this article, we will talk about various practices and tips you can use to create super shareable blog posts. Let us first start with the basics.

Structure, Structure, and Structure

If you want your blog post to be loved, admired, and shared by your readers, the very first thing you need to decide on is the structure of your blog post.

So, why do you need structure?

1. You get a clear direction of what you want to achieve.
2. It will help you with faster and more effective content creation.
3. Your readers will easily understand your objective.
4. You stay focused till the end.
5. It improves readability and helps visitors navigate easily through the content.

Start with choosing a TOPIC and a TITLE

Picking the right topic is extremely important and it all begins with keyword research. Find out which keywords your reader personas use. What are some common queries and topics in your niche you come across? In case, you are finding it difficult to find the right content, the best way to go about it is to look for Trending Topics. Google Trends is the most common means to do that, however, you can explore many other Blog Topic Generator tools such as Portent’s Content Idea Generator, HubSpot’s Blog Topic Generator, and Inbound Now’s Blog Title Idea Generator, among many others.

Once you decide on the topic, you must narrow it down to make it more crisp, clear, and meaningful. Let us take an example here. Suppose your niche is home cooling and the topic you have selected is “ceiling fans”. Narrowing this down to “underlight ceiling fans” or “ceiling fans for kitchens” will make your content more relevant, profound, and engaging.

PRO TIP – Always focus on one long-tail keyword in every blog post. It’s a great SEO technique to achieve a higher conversion rate.

Now, let’s get to the TITLE part.

Writing a catchy blog post title that not only catches the eyes of readers but also helps you rank higher on Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) is of utmost importance. But not everyone knows the art of doing it. Let us have a look at the key ingredients of a great blog post title.

1. Your blog post title should set the context right and explain what the content is all about. E.g., Best underlight ceiling fans under $200.
2. Try to solve a problem in the title. E.g., How to clean an underlight ceiling fan.
3. If you are creating a listicle, using numbers in the title is a great thing. E.g., 11 best underlight ceiling fans. This will straightway tell readers what they will find in the post.
4. Your title and meta descriptions matter the most, so do not forget to include your focus keyword in the title.
5. Do not forget to optimize the length of the title. 60 characters are considered the ideal blog post title length.
6. Use some Title Tag preview tool to see how your blog post title will appear on a SERP.

PRO Tip – For every blog post, write a minimum of 5 different titles and then choose the best of the lot. You can even ask your friends or colleagues to help you with the selection. As they say, asking never hurts.

Choose a FORMAT for a better blog post structure

Choosing a format helps you to structure the blog right. A post with a well-defined format is easy to read, both for readers and search engines. Here is the format example for a “How-To” post.

• Blog post title
• Introduction
• Subheading – Talk about the importance of the subject matter.
• Step 1
• Step 2
• Step 3
• And so on…
• Subheading – Briefly summarize the article.
• Conclusion

Best practices for content in the body of your blog post

After you have finalised the topic, title, and format, it’s time to consider some key points you should keep in mind when writing the blog post content.

1. Spend time choosing a catchy Featured Image for your blog post. The featured image also appears on social platforms when the post is shared, so choose the best one.
2. Include your keyword at regular intervals throughout the post body. Ensure that the keyword fits in naturally in the sentences, do not do keyword stuffing. One good way to counter keyword stuffing is to try synonyms of the keyword at certain places. E.g., ‘book lover’ can be replaced with ‘bibliophile’.
3. Using sub-headers for a long post and numbering for listicles is a good practice.
4. BOLD what’s important. It helps you to get your readers to focus on the important parts of your blog post content. BUT do it judiciously.
5. Use different forms of media in your post, it beautifies your blog post, breaks it up for ease of readability and eventually helps in reducing the bounce rate.

OPTIMIZE your blog post

A small step when taken individually might not appear of much significance, but collectively, small steps in the right direction can deliver great results over a period of time. Everyone understands that search authority is not built overnight, it takes time. This holds true for blog optimisation. If you start optimizing every single post you publish on your blog for search engines, you are more likely to get rewarded in the long run with good traffic and leads. Here are some quick tips that will help you optimize a blog post.

URL – Keep it short but do not lose the context. Avoid using numbers and special characters in the title.

Image Alt-Text – You must be aware of the fact that search engines cannot see images, therefore naming your images correctly using Image Alt-Text will help the image rank on the image search results page of the search engines.

Meta Description – It’s one of the most crucial elements of SEO. A meta description is a small paragraph of about 155 characters which is basically the summary of your blog post content. Always write the relevant keyword phrase in the meta description, use active voice, and include Call-To-Action (CTA) if there is any. All this will help search engines know clearly what’s in it for the readers.

Links to internal and content – Linking to useful and relevant external content is a good practice but make sure the external link opens in a new tab or window. You should also link to other related and useful content on your blog.

CTAs – If you want to include CTAs in your post, the best method is to include them near the most important content of your blog post. If you have text CTAs, the best place to include them is at the top of the blog post. You should also include CTA at the bottom because if someone has taken the time to go through the entire content, he or she is already interested, and chances of conversion are naturally high. You may also explore a popup CTA, but it should be strategically placed so that it doesn’t hamper the reader’s viewing experience.

Finally, some quick tips for writing engaging and shareable blog posts.

1. Never publish a blog post without proofreading. Edit and remove irrelevant content. Use tools like Grammarly.
2. Use simple language, and try to avoid big and fancy words. The intent is to make your readers understand what you want to say.
3. Follow a style guide.
4. Always use active voice.
5. Shorten sentences wherever possible.
6. Avoid using unwanted adjectives.
7. Avoid using jargons.
8. Use subheadings and create whitespaces.
9. Add clear CTAs.
10. Write in a conversational tone. Address your reader in your writing.

We hope that the basic tips mentioned above will help you create shareable blog posts. When the content is useful and interesting, people love to share it. Do let us know if have some interesting tips and insights to share with our readers.

Happy blogging!!