By Chantale Alvaer, teacher and founder of SOSteacher and Teach It Forward
Writing a captivating blog article: you would think it’d be an easy task. Well, make no mistake, seasoned authors: the editorial structure differs considerably from a regular article because you need to enhance your content at all costs by subjecting yourself to a few Search Engine Optimization (SEO) standards in order to gain visibility. After all, doesn’t a giant like Google want to offer its readers the most relevant and quality content? In this article, I will offer you some advice to help you adapt to this particularly precise structure which will make your written content appreciated and shared by thousands of Internet users.
Warning: it is necessary to write exclusive content to avoid duplicate sites which are penalized by search engines. Sites with identical content get low ranking in the search results. You can change the introduction or reshape certain sentences in order to be able to reuse your posts.
Tip #1: Find keywords that will define your article
When I talk about key words, I don’t mean synonyms. Rather, it’s about defining the group of words that will attract readers to your article. So be precise, but concise.
Key words for this article: writing an engaging blog post.
Tip #2: Make sure to repeat your key words several times
Indeed, it is crucial to locate your keywords in several strategic places and identically:
- In your title;
- Through your first paragraph, ideally in the first sentence;
- Present in at least one of your subtitles if it fits well;
- In two or three places in your text.
Caution: Do not exaggerate the presence of your keywords.
Tip #3: Split your article into several subtitled paragraphs.
This will not only help increase the readability of your article, but will also make it much easier to capture the fragile attention of your readers, who will hopefully appreciate your writing right up to the very end.
Caution: avoid paragraphs that are too long. I suggest that you stick to a maximum of 10 lines.
Tip #4: Professional and simplified content
Remember that you are writing in a blog and that you are not publishing a scientific article in a specialized journal. Readers want to get to the heart of the matter instantly, otherwise in one click your words will fly out of their minds. Writing a captivating article means asking questions, offering concrete advice (e.g., 5 tips to make homework time easier), adding hyperlinks and sources to invite the reader to read more about a subject. Search engines love this practice!
Moreover, without overly simplifying, it is important to put yourself in the shoes of the reader who is learning about the subject for the first time. The vocabulary used must be accessible and you should avoid using a overly technical jargon. This will certainly remain as one of the most judicious pieces of advice in this article. While remaining professional, remember that your ultimate goal is to be read, shared, and to contacted by readers who wish to learn more about your services.
Tip #5: Suggested length for writing an engaging blog article
Ideally, an article of more than 300 words will be more visible on the Internet than a shorter one. For the SOSteacher blog, an average of 500 to 800 words is optimal. Using a bulleted list at least once in your article will lighten the content and stimulate attention. Indeed, nothing is more demotivating than endless sentences! Above all, don’t forget to use transition words (by the way, moreover, first of all, indeed, to conclude, etc.) since this is a criterion to be respected for the readability section.
Do you have relevant articles that you want to convert?
In this case, I can confirm that by reworking the structure of your text, you will easily be able to convert it to the structure of a blog article in less than two steps. This will involve rewording a sentence to insert your keyword, changing your title, or simply modifying the text and splitting your content, taking care to add subtitles to your paragraphs. Stimulating isn’t it?
Finally, now that you know how to write a captivating blog article, it’s time to put your new knowledge to good use! In concrete terms, two to three weeks after the publication of your article, you can evaluate the impact of your keywords by doing a Web search using them. The notoriety of the SOSteacher site will considerably help you stand out.
* Please note that the tips offered are inspired by SOSteacher’s WordPress SEO tool.
