Last week, I launched The Blogger’s Guide to the Galaxy Trilogy in Four Parts. In the last post, I laid out the most efficient structure of a blog post. Now that we have the framework, let’s start filling that structure with some compelling content.
Give them a reason to read
Your blog needs to have a point, and a reason for people to click and come back. The content needs to be of interest and it needs to be well written. Obviously, the blog needs to be related to your business. Don’t write about wine if you run a music store.
Your point of view
A great attention grabber is writing about a news story that ties into what you do. For example, I’ve been consulting a friend of mine who owns a second-run movie theater. Tickets every day are two dollars, and his target audience is looking to save money. I’ve tried to convince him to create a blog filled with movie reviews. He tells me that it’s a great idea, but he just doesn’t have time to write it (now, if he only knew a writer …).
A few weeks ago week, The LA Times reported that the price of movie tickets has gone up 8 percent in the last year, to an average of $7.95. This would have been the perfect opportunity to write about this and then present his primary value point (the lowest priced movie theater in town).
Make your readers think and then act
Blogging isn’t only about keeping your customers apprised of a situation. This is an opportunity to convert readers into customers. Have a call to action in your blog post. Write about a new product and remind them that they can buy it at your store.
Keywords in the title
Conventional wisdom states this should be one of the first bullet points. But the truth is the title should be the last thing that you write. The last thing that you want to do is struggle with the title which slows your writing. After you have the blog post written, the title will present itself.
Try to get several keywords in the title, but don’t cram too many in to make it unreadable. Nobody’s going to read a post titled “Lake Street Bikes Minneapolis St. Paul Bloomington Lake Calhoun Bicycle and Bike Retailer Shop has Trek Bikes and Bicycle Accessories on Hennepin Avenue.” While it may be rich with SEO-friendly keywords, it will make the reader apprehensive about reading it. It’s all about balance.
Just as important as the content is the design of the blog. It’s true that Word Press and Blogger have ready-made templates; however, most of them aren’t aesthetically pleasing and don’t look professional. Checkerboard’s PowerSites are a perfect complement for your sales-driven blog. Check out Checkerboard’s portfolio to see what your Word Press-powered blog could look like.
