Blogging: Top 10 Tips For Creating Great Content

Blogging Tips

In my previous article on blogging tips, I explained how to increase your readership and search engine rankings in the fastest way possible. In this article, I will explain how to keep your readers.

The key to any great blog is content. Not just any old content but content that engages your reader or adds value in some way. Make this your mantra: “If you have nothing of value to say, your reader’s not gonna stay”! So what constitutes great content and how do you maximise an article’s impact? In a recent mastermind session, Steve Pavlina, one of the internet’s most successful blogger’s with a monthly readership topping 2 million, shared these top 10 blogging tips:

1) Make sure you use the keyword in the title. Google will index you much higher in the search rankings when people type in your particular keyword if you have used it in the title.

2) An article that provides value is no good unless it prompts people to share. Aside from adding value to someone, the aim of any article is to generate referrals and traffic to your site. To do this your article needs to have some kind of  impact on people so that it encourages them to share.

3) Your article must be memorable. If people cannot remember it, they cannot share it.

4) Put something in your article that generates deliberate sharing, eg. some tip or advice that people feel compelled to pass on.

5) Communicate from your strengths and your passions. Always write about something you know or care about.

6) Write intentionally to create value for your audience. Before you publish anything, ask yourself “Is this article worthy to be read by 1 million viewers”. If your answer is ’no’, the only place that article is worthy of is the bin!

7) Look for the problems and provide the solutions to those problems. The trick here is to tackle the problems that no-one else wants to address or the problems that are harder to solve. Focus on the articles that are difficult to write or that address the problem from a different angle. And always remember: ‘Make a point to tell a story and tell a story to make a point’.

 Write about articles that are timeless. Avoid writing about headline topics. You may see a temporary spike in your blog traffic but you want an article with staying power. Remember the great British classic: ‘Yesterday’s news is tomorrow’s fish and chips’.

9) Take a stand on a controversial issue - set the stage for debate! Your goal is not necessarily to have everyone agreeing with you, your goal is to have everyone talking about you!

10) Remember quality wins over quantity every time.   It is not the tipping point in terms of content that gets people to your site, it is the tipping point in terms of quality. But remember to vary the quality. Use audio content (eg, video uploads) as well as written. And remember to add in splashes of colour. Most of us respond initially through our visual sense, our audio and kinesthetic (in the context of blogging, this would be texture, touch and contrast) senses kick in after.

Lastly, on the subject of value, always over deliver. Hence this extra point thrown in for free!

*) Always track your stats. When you notice an article that is having an impact in some way, dissect it. What was it about the article that got people talking or sharing? Test the variables, and when you find the one that is working, stick to it. In a nutshell, study the stuff that is working and do more of it, and stop doing the stuff that doesn’t work!

So there you have it, 10 top blogging tips to keep your readers coming back.

Happy blogging!

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