If you want your blog post to show up in search engines, you need to make sure it’s structured in a way that’s easy to read and logical. A jumble of words and thoughts that makes your target audience stop reading and look for something else, won’t help you grow your business.

Planning your blog post structure before you start is an easy way to make sure you have a clear beginning, middle and end. This doesn’t need to be detailed, but getting into the habit of planning out your writing process before you start is a good idea to help you write a post that’s going to rank well.

Planning and headline

Start at the beginning. List the main points you want to cover and where they’ll go in the post. Starting with your headline is one of the most effective ways of making sure your post is logical and makes sense. It needs to be something that tells the reader exactly what the main topic of the post is and what it’s about. Including power words such as “discover”, “memorable”, “beautiful”, “challenge” or “easy” are good ways of catching a reader’s attention. If you’re writing a list post, headlines such as “Five of the best…..” of ” Ten of the best ways to ……..” “How to do xyz in three easy steps” work well. It’s very clear from headlines like that, what the post is going to be about.

If you then share the headline on social media, for example, your audience will know instantly whether the type of article you’ve written is going to be something they want to read. If you’re struggling to come up with a good headline, there are free resources you can use to give you a helping hand. Title Generator, for example, generates headlines based on your keywords.

Hook

A good blog post is one which hooks your reader, piquing their interest and makes them want to read on. So, when you’re planning your post, think about what your hook is going to be. What is it that will make your reader want to read on? Is your hook an anecdote, news item or is it facts and figures?

An example of a good hook if you’re writing about reusable fabric wipes, could be a news article about a fatberg growing in the sewers of London. The news report explains how the fatberg has been created by single use wet wipes being flushed down the loo. They don’t disintegrate, but stick together and create a huge mound, blocking the sewers.

Hopefully, the hook piques your audience’s interest and makes them want to read more. A hook doesn’t have to be about your business to get your reader’s attention. Just writing about your business can be boring. And it doesn’t really let potential customers get to know you which is a great way of building a relationship with them.

Middle

Next is the main body of your post which should explain to your reader why you’re telling them this piece of information. Why is it relevant to them? So, for example, “I love this story because it shows…..” “Clearly there’s an important lesson here which is…….” “Hearing this story makes me think of…..”

Going back to the example of the fatberg, once you’ve talked about what it is and what’s caused it, you need to explain why you’re telling your reader about it. In this example, you’re telling them about it because single use plastics are devastating our environment, and the fatberg is an example of how the problem is growing. Because it’s in the sewer, we can’t see the devastation it’s causing until our drains start to overflow. You could go into quite a lot of detail in this section, depending on what it is you’re writing about.

Ending

Once you’ve explained to your reading why you’re telling them about the fatberg, give them a solution. The solution in this example is showing how easy it is to switch from using single use plastics, to reusable fabric wipes like the ones you sell.

Explain the benefits to them, and the environment, of making the easy switch. You could go into detail about your wipes, the sizes you sell, what they can be used for and how to clean them. Explain how taking the first step to being more environmentally aware, can have a huge impact.

As I’ve mentioned above, not every post you write will relate to your business. That doesn’t matter. Sharing a bit about you or people in your industry you think your audience would be interested in knowing about, is a great way of building trust and creating a relationship between you and the reader.

If people trust you, they’re more likely to buy from you time and time again if you provide the solution to their problem. Just make sure, whatever the subject matter is, the post has a clear structure.

A good way of thinking about your structure, regardless of the topic, is:

• explain what you’re going to tell people,

• tell them,

• and then explain what you’ve told them.

Length

For a blog to be easily found by search engines such as Google, it needs to be at least 600 words. Posts between 600-1000 words are usually best. But don’t be tempted to pad out a post just to make it longer and therefore more searchable. That will turn your readers away.

If your post needs to be long, using images to break up the words is also a great way of keeping your reader interested. Add in headings too which will also help search engines find your post and makes longer posts more readable. If it’s very long, you could add a blog content list at the start so readers can easily see what’s included and skip to the bit they want if needs be.

Tone

The best way of connecting with people in a blog post is to use an informal, conversational tone. But make sure your spelling is spot on. Most web platforms have spelling tools and plugins you can use so don’t worry if you’re spelling isn’t brilliant. Make sure you proof read and check the wrong word or version of a word hasn’t been used.

Short is best

Short sentences and paragraphs work best as they’re easier to read. Again, there are lots of plugins and tools you can use to help with this. For example, the WordPress plugin Yoast gives you a readability score. That tells you how easy your post is to read and will flag up if your sentences are too long. Yoast recommend around 75% of your sentences should have 20 words or less.

Think about how your brain takes in information. Your mind can start to wander off if you’re reading a long sentence. And longer sentences can be harder to understand so you lose the point of what’s being said. Similarly short paragraphs that are to the point are better than long, rambling ones. Try and stick to one point per paragraph. 

When you write a blog post for your business website, the aim is to connect with potential new customers and show them you and your business can be trusted. Using a good structure is a great way of doing this. The more you write and the more confident you are, the easier it becomes to write this way. A well structured post containing quality content will help you show up in more search results. If you can, include external links to websites you trust and are relevant to what you’re writing about.

I hope this article helps you to create great blog posts that grow your business. Let me know if you find it useful and how you’re finding writing blogs if it’s not something you’re used to.

How I can help

Blog writing doesn’t come naturally to everyone. If you’d like some more help to learn how to write brilliant blog posts, click here to find out about my downloads and editing services. Or subscribe to my newsletter, Wish Weekly to get regular tips and advice about writing content for your website, direct to your inbox. Click here to join, and if you sign-up in May, you’ll get a free blog edit as your welcome gift.