Whether you are thinking about starting a blog, have already begun the process, or are several months into blogging, you’ve probably wondered what makes a great blog post. You may have even questioned whether or not you’re able to create a blog post that will attract visitors to your blog. But writing a blog post that your readers will love is not as hard as seems!
There are a few things to consider when you’re deciding what to write about. Ask yourself these five questions when deciding a topic, and you’re sure to come up with some great ideas that your audience will want to read again and again!
1. Who is this post for?
When deciding on the topic for a blog post, ask yourself, “Is this something my audience will be interested in?” Suppose you have a fashion blog and your readers and subscribers are mostly women in their 20s and 30s. These people probably won’t be interested in reading about DIY and home renovation. Some might be, but that’s not why these specific women come to your blog.
You need to find out who your ideal reader is. Is it an empty-nester who wants to renovate their house? Is it a college student who’s trying to save money to travel? Decide who your audience members are (or who you want them to be) and write posts for them.
If you want to start writing about a new topic, go for it! But it may take a while for you to build a new branch of your audience that is interested in that topic.
It’s easier to start writing about a new topic if it’s related to your niche. For example, you have a travel blog with mostly destination guides and restaurant reviews, but now you want to write about photography. Those are categories that can easily relate to each other. But if you want to start posting recipes? Your current readers might not be too interested unless you are sharing recipes from the places you travel to.
2. What is my purpose in writing this?
What is the ultimate goal of your blog post? Where are you trying to direct your reader after they are done reading?
Do you want them to buy a product? Are you giving them a freebie so that they will subscribe to your email list?
If you are trying to get your reader to perform a specific call-to-action (or CTA) such as buy a product or download a freebie, you will see the best results if your blog post contains information on the same topic as the freebie. You can’t expect someone to be interested in a printable workout plan if you are writing about the best places to shop in New York City. That just doesn’t go together.
Decide what your call-to-action is and create a blog post that relates to the topic or niche of your CTA.
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3. Do I know enough about this topic to make a blog post about it?
If you have to spend all your time researching this because you don’t know anything about it, it’s probably not going to be your best post. After all, if you are just copying and pasting other people’s knowledge, it’s not really your blog post.
On the other hand, maybe you do have some knowledge about the topic, but you don’t have enough to fill up an entire blog post. There isn’t a magic word count for a great blog post, so you can make it as long as you want. But if you really don’t think you have enough content, try combining a few short blog posts together that are very closely related to make one blog post.
You could also collaborate with other writers and bloggers to create a blog post so that you have more information. For example, I created the blog post “The Best Cities in the World to Find Street Art” by allowing other travel bloggers to contribute. They each submitted their favorite city to find murals, many of which I had never visited so that I could produce a more well-rounded blog post full of valuable information.
4. How can I monetize this?
If the goal of your blog is to make a profit, you need to be monetizing your blog posts in any way you can. I’m not saying you should spam your followers with constant product recommendations and ads, but you should actively be looking for opportunities to monetize.
Is there a product related to your blog post that the reader would find interesting and useful? There’s nothing wrong with adding an affiliate link. Just don’t be too “in your face” about selling–that’s a great way to lose followers quickly.
Even if you want to monetize your blog, I can’t recommend monetizing every single post. Your audience comes to you for content and valuable info. If you are constantly pushing your own courses, downloads, and other products, your audience might not appreciate that. It’s okay to post an article that is simply free, valuable information.
5. Is this something everyone writes about?
There are some topics that everyone writes about in their niche. If there is a topic you want to cover on your blog that’s been done a million times, ask yourself, “How can I make this unique or better than the average post on this topic?”
You have a unique outlook because you have different life experiences than everyone else out there. So, you do have something to say!
How can you make your blog post better than everyone else’s? Make it easier to understand than other people’s posts. Make it into an ultimate guide with everything you need to know. Add some photos that you took so people can see your point of view. The possibilities are endless!
Now that you know what you want to write about, check out this post on how to plan and write a great blog post! You can even download a free blog post planning checklist found in my resource library! Just join my email list below.
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