17 Tips for Writing the Perfect Blog Post

Whether you’ve been invited to write a guest blog post or you’re writing for your own blog, it can be challenging to remember what it takes to organize and write a successful post.

You want a post that:

• Draws your readers in with a conversational tone
• Encourages readers to go beyond the first few sentences
• Includes examples that drive your point home

In addition, you want to craft a post that is visually appealing and formatted for easy reading.

You’ll need to consider the various elements that make up the blog post, subheadings, fonts, images, line-height, and more.

There’s a lot to remember!

In this infographic from iSpionage, you’ll find helpful tips to guide you in writing a post your readers will enjoy.

I’m a fan of bulleted and numbered lists and do my best to make content scannable. But I often struggle with including a strong conclusion. How about you?

I know the text in the infographic is small and challenging to read; you may want to check out the text version of the infographic.

The Anatomy of a Perfect Blog Post

1. Every post starts with an attention grabbing headline written in title case

2. The date goes at the top of the post so people know when the article was written in case they need to make sure the content is still up to date

3. Social sharing buttons make it easy for readers to share the post on social media. Include the most relevant social media buttons for your audience, but don’t overdo it with every button imaginable.

4. Include a feature image at the beginning of posts so an image will be included in social shares to make your post more appealing

5. The first few sentences need to act as a hook and convince people to continue reading.

6. Be sure to take a stand with your posts, even if you end up being wrong. It’s better to firmly be on the wrong side than to be wishy-washy and never make a point.

7. Text tip: font size should make the post easy to read, preferably between 14 to 16px, possibly larger

8. Blog posts are a conversation between the author and the reader, so write conversationally.

   Your post should sound more like a conversation at a coffee shop, than a professor blathering uninterrupted about ancient Greek history.

   Feel free to start sentences with “and” or “but” to use contractions, and to address the reader in the second person.

   You can also attempt to lighten the mood by surprising and delighting the reader with your wit, wisdom, and

9. Include real facts, data, and examples to make the post more interesting and to really drive home your point.

10. Sub-headlines should be used to make the post easier to scan and read.

    Sub-headlines should always use an <H2> or <H3> tag and should never use the <H1> tag which is reserved for the title of the post.

11. It’s good to use bullet points and numbered lists when possible to break up long blocks of text

12. Studies have shown that online readers are intimidated by long paragraphs, so short paragraphs of two to three sentences should be used for easier reading.

    One sentence paragraphs can be used for emphasis, and slightly longer paragraphs can be used on occasion

13. Include images and screenshots throughout the post to break up text and add visual appeal

14. Remember to include enough details in your post to make it substantial and worth reading.

    The internet has enough “me too” content produced to spam search engines.

    Put some thought and enough details in your post so you do more than skate on the surface and actually produce something worth reading and sharing.

15. Be careful about making your text width too wide. Not only do online readers not like long paragraphs, but they also don’t like text that is too wide.

    The Baymard Institute recommends lines with 50 to 60 characters with 75 being acceptable.

    Use the Golden Ratio Typography Calculator to determine the optimal line height for your text based on the text width and font height.

16. Always include a strong conclusion to wrap up the post in a good way.

    Consider using a call to action to get people to take whatever next step you’d like them to take.

17. Find an easy-to-use comment system so readers can provide feedback and join the discussion, or consider leaving off comments if you don’t have time to manage and monitor them.

    Sometimes the work required to monitor comments doesn’t outweigh the benefit.

My Thoughts

I wanted to comment on three of the tips in the infographic:

1. Including date of the post is important to ensure content is up-to-date. I use a post’s date as one of the factors that contributes to credibility and context.

   Some content creators will argue their content is timeless.

   My thoughts are: let the reader decide. Without a date, the reader may decide the content is outdated and may not read a post.

2. After talking with other bloggers, I removed the social sharing buttons on my blog posts a couple years ago.

   Then I learned that several of my longtime readers always use the social sharing buttons and asked to me add them back. So I did.

   Note: your mileage may vary.

3. Rather than setting font size at a fixed 14 to 16 pixels, use em or rem, which are more fluid on different devices (smartphone, tablet, laptop, desktop).

Is this guide useful to you? Or do you use a different process for writing and organizing your blog posts?

I’d love to hear what works for you; share your thoughts in the comments.