Last Updated on May 4, 2020 by ellduclos

What Every Blog Post Should Include for Full Potential

Happy Monday! (or whatever day you are reading this!!) Today I want to talk about “what every blog post should include if you want to make money & provide the BEST quality content for your readers!” I can’t tell you how many times I have gone to a blog post and saw so much potential for that post!!! Maybe you are unsure of what a blog post should include, which is okay!!! I am going to go over it ALL. Hopefully you find it helpful!

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Disclaimer: Affiliate links are used in this post. I only recommend products and services I use and love! Read my full disclosure here.

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Let’s talk quality content…

When it comes to providing quality content of course you want to exceed expectations! There are a lot of posts out there that are “fluff” and very vague. I find that the more content you provide in the post, the more your audience begins to trust you. This is especially important if you are trying to sell anything to your audience.

For example, let’s say you have an e-course that you would love to sell to your audience. If you don’t provide in-depth quality content to your audience for free, they may be unsure if your e-course will be worth the money. Having quality FREE content will help build that trust with your audience. Don’t be afraid to spill the deets. Give them all the tea! Don’t hold back. I also find that the longer my blog post is, the better my post ranks on Google. I am not an SEO expert though.

So what should a blog post include?

A Catchy Title

First, you need to catch them with the title. Think about it, we don’t like to judge a book by it’s cover but let’s face it, we do… If you have a catchy title that makes your audience want to click and read more, that’s a great start to a great blog post!

One thing to remember though is to try and avoid click bait. Click bait can really piss off a reader! If your title is “How to make $2,000 a month blogging.” YOU BETTER TELL THEM EXACTLY HOW YOU DO IT. If you want to provide quality content, you NEED to deliver. That’s what will bring your audience back. If they know you are going to deliver what you say, they will come back! I promise. 

Headings

When I first started blogging I never used headings in my blog posts. Mainly because I was unaware of how beneficial they really are. Headings are great because it breaks up big blocks of text! Big blocks of text can be very overwhelming to a reader. Headings also help to organize your post a bit more.

PLUS, headings help with SEO as well. If you have keywords in your headings (especially H2), google LOVES it and will rank your blog post higher in searches. If you aren’t using headings, it’s a great time to start!

This is where you can find your headings:

Images

You should also include images in every blog post, when you can. I know it can be tough depending on the topic you are writing about however, images also help to break up blocks of text! When you use images in your blog post make sure you are also adding keywords to your “alt text” because that will help your blog post rank higher in searches too! I will admit, sometimes I struggle to have images in my “blog tips” posts BUT, for my beauty and lifestyle posts I really try my best to include images!

Related Posts – Interlinking

Make sure to interlink in all of your blog posts! This means that you should link back to previous blog posts you have published that relate to the current blog post you are creating. Doing this will not only help to keep your audience on your site longer BUT, it also helps with SEO. If you are writing a blog post on “10 ways to stay fit” you can link back to any post that relates to that topic.

Sometimes you will see me do this:

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Related: How to Build a Trusting Audience and Make Money

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^ That’s interlinking. OR I will say something like, “It’s so important to go back and update your old content.” and link to a blog post that explains how to do so. Always interlink when you can on EVERY blog post.

Have Share Icons

This tip is so important. You want to make sure every blog post has share icons available. I can’t tell you how many times I have read a blog post and loved it but couldn’t share it easily because there were no share icons available. Most themes come with share icons built in, OR if you are self hosted you can easily install a plugin so that you have share icons on every blog post. The plugin I use and love is called “Social Warfare.” This plug in makes it easy for my audience to share my blog post to social media if they enjoyed it. You can even use this plug in to customize which image you want them to share.

Have A Comment Section

Again, I get super frustrated when I love a blog post and can’t leave a sweet comment because the comments are disabled. ESPECIALLY ON MOBILE. Did you know a majority of your audience is probably reading your content on their smart phone? 73% of my audience views my blog on their mobile device.

It’s so important to make sure your blog is optimized for mobile users too. Double check to make sure your readers have an option to comment on your blog post via mobile. Also here’s an extra tip! You may think comments don’t matter much, BUT, comments help with SEO too! When replying back to comments you can use keywords to help you rank even more!

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Have A Pinnable Image

It’s no secret that I love using Pinterest for my blog. Pinterest brings my blog 1,000 + pageviews a day alone! It’s so important to make sure that your blog post includes a pinnable image so that when people share your blog post on Pinterest, they are sharing an image that will get SEEN!

If you need to see an example of a “pinnable” image, scroll up and look at mine. It’s usually a pretty, clean, and easy to read image that is 600 x 900 & includes the title of your blog post. I like to keep my pinnable image at top and I like to keep my blog post pinterest images on my blog “branded”, it’s all the same “theme”. I do switch up my pin graphics but on my blog they are all the same look to create a “branded” appeal.

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If you are still struggling with Pinterest for your blog + business, I have a helpful e-course

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Have An Opt-In Form

I know it’s hard to grow an e-mail list, so don’t make it even harder on yourself! One way to grow your list is to make sure you have an opt-in form on every blog post!

Also an extra tip: Create a freebie for your subscribers. This is something they get in return for subscribing to your blog! A way to say thank you for subscribing!

Here’s my opt in form as an example! & The e-mail list builder I use is Mailerlite – Super easy to use and free for up to 1,000 subscribers!

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Add Affiliate Links When Possible

If you are wanting to make money through your blog posts, affiliate marketing is a great place to start! I try to make sure I can go back and add affiliate links where possible. You may be wondering, how do you even make money with affiliate marketing? Don’t worry, I got you!

This post explains affiliate marketing in detail and shares ways that help me make consistent income through affiliate marketing monthly!

You don’t need affiliate links in EVERY blog post, of course you will have posts where you don’t have affiliate products to talk about. Remember there are ways to go about affiliate marketing without looking spammy.

Create Your Own Ads

I know people find ads to be a huge turn off, BUT there are ways to create pretty ads for your website that might not be as big as a turn off.

I won’t lie, clearly I use google adsense. BUT, I also enjoy creating my own ad graphics for programs that I might be an affiliate for, OR for my own e-courses! I will use canva to create these “branded” graphics and add them to my blog post as an “ad”. I link the image to my course, or an affiliate link. You can get super creative with it.

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End With A Call to Action

To top it all off, end every blog post with a call to action! It’s important to try and engage your audience. What better way to do so than by asking them a question or trying to get them to engage by leaving a comment?

You could say something like, “If you enjoyed this post please share!” or “Let me know in the comments _____”

For example, maybe you wrote a post on your favorite hair care items…at the end ask your audience what their favorite hair care items are! People are more likely to do something if you ask them to, believe it or not!

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That’s my top tips for “What every blog post should include!” If you enjoyed this post you might also enjoy some of these posts too!:

• 9 Ways to Increase Blog Post Shares
• 10 Tips for Pinterest
• Creating a Monthly Vision for your Blog +100 Blog Post Ideas
• 5 Focus Points for New Bloggers 

 

Let me know in the comments what you think and if you have any additional tips to share! (: 

& If you aren’t a part of my Boss Girl Bloggers community, I would love to have you! It’s a community filled with over 30,000 like minded women who are pursuing their dream of turning their passion into a career!

 

Until next time!!

Ell