Creating the perfect blog post sounds like a tall order, and maybe laying claim to it sounds a bit pretentious.
Is there even such a think as a “perfect” blog post?
Perfection looks a bit different for each person. What is perfect for your blog post isn’t for mine.
But there are qualities to that perfect post that apply to every blogger, no matter what the final outcome looks like.
Derek Halpern takes the approach that there is a template for assembling your blog post that will make it perfect. He breaks a blog post down in a way that reveals where to ping your reader with emotion, where to prompt them to act, and how to make good use of promises.
We’ve even taken a swing at the perfect blog post ourselves, here on this blog, adding in suggestions on the visual appeal, too.
Both of these approaches could work. There are plenty of methods you might use to write a perfect blog post.
Wouldn’t it be nice to have a final universal “how to write a blog post” checklist, no matter which method you were going to use?
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1. Build Your Launch Pad First
You need to have a good launching pad for your blog post.
You can build a great rocket, but you’d better build it on a launching pad or it goes nowhere. That launching pad is made up of two key structures:
Hook them with an awesome headline.
Your headline is what makes anyone click, share, and read in the first place. This, more than anything, launches your post in front of your audience.
Also, consider your subtitles if you are using a WordPress plugin like Subtitles or its equivalent.
While subtitles won’t show up in other places off of your blog, depending upon your template design, the subtitles can be a powerful way to sneak in an extra reader hook.
Write The Best Headlines With A Free Headline Analyzer
The headline analyzer will help you:
Use headline types that get the most traction for social shares, traffic, and search engine ranking.
Make sure you have the right word balance to write readable headlines that command attention.
See the best word and character length for search engines like Google and email subject lines, while also seeing how your readers will scan your headlines.
Keep their attention with your introduction.
I think of these things as the launching pad because the headline and then the introduction are what gets a reader to actually read your blog post.
The introduction will be something you’ll revisit when you are all through with your draft. But writing it first helps you put into words what you’re going to say in your post.
It might be clunky, but it’ll launch you into the writing of the actual copy. You can go back and make it amazing and full of hooks later, once your full draft post is done.
2. Write The Draft Post
I’m running on the assumption that you’re working in a draft—and leaving enough time to do so—rather than writing and publishing in one fell swoop.
If you are doing this (please tell me you are!), then there are a few things to remember before you send your blog post draft to the next step.
Check the visual appearance of your copy.
According to Kevan Lee, from Buffer, you should be aware of the amount of characters at the start of your blog post and not overpower readers. According to Halpern, fewer characters make copy easier for readers to comprehend.
To address this concept, start out by having fewer characters per line. You can build up as you go into the post, but for the initial immersion into your content, the reader shouldn’t feel as if they are drowning in copy.
One trick that the Buffer blog uses to achieve this, according to Lee, is to use an inline featured image to the right to force shorter character line lengths at the start. This keeps you from choppy sentences but still provides that visually inviting sense that the words won’t overwhelm you.
Also be sure that you have enough white space.
My personal preference is for some larger paragraphs and a few shorter ones, with a few one-liners (see the previous sentence) sprinkled around.
My thinking is that it’s a bit like a dinner plate. You have the meat (big paragraphs), you have the sides (short one- or two-sentence paragraphs), and you have the sips of water to wash it down (brief one-liners).
Too much white space—particularly if there are going to be several calls to action (CTAs) in the copy—can leave the reading experience choppy, like a TV show with too many commercial breaks. The final published edits don’t always preserve that in my copy, so it is something you’ll have to work out with your team based on what your audience prefers.
Meat is big paragraphs, sides are short paragraphs, and sips are one-liners. #blogging
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Check your logic and conclusion.
If you have an editor or someone on your team who gives your blog post a second set of eyes, they will help make sure your blog post flows smoothly (and logically) from the introduction through the problem all the way to the solution and call to action.
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If you don’t have anyone to help you, give your blog post at least a day’s rest and read it with fresh eyes. You’ll pick out the logic and flow problems much better than if you’ve just written it.
A word about conclusions: We don’t spend a lot of time talking about them.
Conclusions aren’t as important or sexy as headlines and introductions, and most conclusions are…foregone. We sort of rush them to get to the call to action. A conclusion should do a couple of things:
Resolve the problem.
Summarize what you said.
Suggest action that the reader can take.
Take some time on your conclusion. It doesn’t have to be the amount of time you spend on your introduction, but do make an effort to tie things up and prompt a response or resolution.
3. Get The Draft Whipped Into Shape
Now that you have the draft of a blog post, the serious preparation begins. This is where you take the raw post and turn it into a thing of beauty (and it’s also why you get in the habit of working draft-refine-publish instead of write-publish).