Copy That! 10 Copy Writing Tips to Make Strong Engaging Blog Posts

If your business blog isn’t catching people’s attention, your content marketing strategy is dead in the water. So let’s talk about 10 ways to create stronger, more engaging blog content! Blog posts tend to be the top of your content marketing sales funnel. It’s the part of your website that draws strangers in and entices them enough to stick around by:

• Following you on social media
• Subscribing to your email list
• Or just reading more blog posts.

I spend hours on each blog post making sure I’m creating the kind of content that would make my readers stick around for more. First, I write, edit, let it sit for a few hours, and reread it. Then I send it to my biz bestie tribe for second (and third and fourth) opinions before I hit publish. Finally, I ask myself, “Would you read this? Would you find this interesting enough to share with others?” and if the answer is no? I go back to the drawing board.

Sidenote: I wrote, rewrote, and deleted the paragraph you just read three times. Version 1 felt forced and didn’t sound like me, version 2 rambled, and version 3 shortened some of the sentences. For your first time site visitors, your blog may be their first impression of you. And we know how hard those are to change. If you want people to hook people with your content, your posts need to be on point. Let’s make sure the top of your sales funnel is in order! [click_to_tweet tweet=”For your first time site visitors, your blog may be their first impression of you. And we know how hard those are to change. Read More on V3 Inbound!” quote=”For your first time site visitors, your blog may be their first impression of you. And we know how hard those are to change.” theme=”style1″]

10 Tips to Make Stronger More Engaging Blog Content

1. Craft a Head Turning Headline

Captain Obvious moment: Your headline has to grab people. That’s the difference between a viral post and a ghost town blog. If you’re going for informative, avoid clickbait. Blog posts that don’t actually discuss what they say they will turn people off. And don’t be afraid to make your headline lengthy. Headlines with between 12-15 words tend to get the most engagement. What’s in a number? When it comes to numbers in your headline, single digit odd numbers and 10 tend to drive the highest engagement. Some say that the reason for this is psychological. But overall, numbers tend to drive clicks because they let people know exactly how much content to expect. Which makes it easier for them to organize and retain the information in their minds.

2. Use Plenty of Visuals

Images, videos, and gifs are a great way to keep your reader’s interest. Nothing turns people off like a wall of text. So be sure to have a compelling featured image at the top of your blog and photos, infographics, or other colorful visuals sprinkled throughout to break up text.

3. Tell a Story

Your blog topics may not be fiction, but your posts should still tell a story. Make sure they have a logical flow that’s easy for your reader to follow from beginning to end. Remember those 5 paragraph essays you used to do in school? Set up your posts like that. An interesting introduction with a hook, a body of main points, and then a conclusion that rehashes your main points and wraps the post up neatly.

4. Stick to Short Text

Lengthy winding prose is great for high school literature classes, but in today’s world people have bite sized attentions and need to be able to consume content quickly. What does this mean for you as a writer? Regardless of the length of your post, your sentences and paragraphs should be relatively short. Try to stick to sentences no longer than 20 words and paragraphs no longer than 4 lines each. If you use WordPress for your website, the Yoast SEO plugin helps keep track of this easily. It tells you how many sentences have more than 20 words and which paragraphs are too long.

5. Keep It Simple

Try not to throw too many unrelated ideas at your audience at once. One blog post should cover one topic. The ideas you discuss underneath can vary, but should all relate back to one central theme. If a topic you want to discuss has several important but unrelated points, consider turning it into a series. Each post will cover its own point and encourage your reader to keep coming back.

6. Make It Easily Readable

In general, try not to use ultra-technical jargon or relatively high vocabulary (like the phrase ultra-technical jargon) in your writing. The average reading level in the US is 7th/8th grade. So when you’re writing, make sure your content can be easily understood by the average person. Now this is a tip you can break depending on your audience. If you’re a physicist or lawyer writing for other physicists and lawyers, feel free to use industry specific words and high vocabulary. Rule of thumb: If it’s expected and generally accepted by the community you’re writing for, add it to your posts.

7. Be Active Not Passive

Ok, honesty time? This is one of my personal struggles. Readability improves and your writing flows way better when you use active voice in your writing instead of passive. What are active and passive voice? It has to do with sentence structure and verbs. In active voice, the subject of the sentence performs the action. In passive voice, the subject of the sentence receives the action. For example, “I wrote this blog post” (active) vs. “This blog post was written by me” (passive). Two quick and easy ways to tell passive voice: any form of the verb ‘be’ in front of a verb and the use of the word ‘by’ in front of the subject. For more examples check here.

8. Show Your Personality

Don’t be dry. Don’t be unoriginal. Imagine you’re explaining your topic to a friend. Would you drone on and on boringly? No. You’d share your knowledge in an animated and lively way. You would make it as interesting as it is informative. Do the same with your blog posts. In Jen Sincero’s “You Are a Badass” she says that “You are the only you there ever was, and you are the only you there ever will be.” Think about that. You’re super unique. So one of the easiest ways to make your writing stand out is to be yourself. [click_to_tweet tweet=”You’re super unique. So one of the easiest ways to make your writing stand out is to be yourself. Read more on V3 Inbound!” quote=”You’re super unique. So one of the easiest ways to make your writing stand out is to be yourself. ” theme=”style1″]

9. Add a Call to Action

The end of your blog post should be the beginning of your relationship with your readers, not the end! Give your audience something specific to do by including a call to action. This could be anything from subscribing to your email list, signing up for a free consultation or quote, reading a related post, buying a product, or downloading a freebie!

10. Include a Content Upgrade

And speaking of freebies, bonus points if you create one to encourage people to join your list! Content upgrades are free downloads related to the topic of your engaging blog content that people sign up to receive. This is a great way to grow your email list and it provides your audience with even more useful info!

Think you’re ready to create more engaging blog content?

Great content is the key to boosting site traffic, growing your email list, and nurturing a tribe of brandvangelists. Use the tips above to ensure that every post strategically moves people further through your content marketing sales funnel. And don’t forget to double check headlines, copy, and images to ensure they really entice your target audience before posting. BTW, you know I can’t leave you without a free gift to help you level up. Click below to get a copy of my Content Pressure Cooker Workbook! This is the system I use to plan 6 months of blog content in about 5 minutes. Yes it’s that quick and easy. It starts by helping you narrow down your overarching areas of expertise. Then you perform a series of timed exercises to come up with enough content ideas to cover and schedule out a 6 month editorial calendar! This can be used to come up with content ideas for YouTube videos, blog posts, or podcast episodes. The timed aspect turns up the heat and the pressure pushes your mind into creativity mode! Grab your copy asap!