We’ve discussed the importance of blogging and how to drive more traffic to your blog. Now we’d like to discuss blog content. What makes a good blog topic and what should you be blogging about? Here are five characteristics that make a good blog post:
An interesting topic
This one seems obvious, but there are many bloggers out there who are more interested in quantity over quality. How do you know if you have an interesting topic? Did you find the topic interesting? If you do, but feel you may be in the minority, ask a few colleagues and friends if they would read an article about the topic you selected. What are your readers interested in? Do they respond to information about Alzheimer’s? Caregiving? Nutrition tips? Write to their interests and you’ll likely get a good response. Don’t shy away from personal stories that are happening in your company, such as births, accomplishments, and awards. Finally, if you’re still stuck, look up what organizations are highlighting or celebrating in any given month. For instance, February is Heart Health Month, March is National Nutrition Month, and April is Occupational Therapy Month. Every month highlights or celebrates something.
A catchy headline
You have just a few seconds to grab someone’s attention. If the headline doesn’t create interest, there’s very little chance that someone will go on to read the entire article.
A captivating image
The old cliché is true: A picture is worth a thousand words. Try to find an image that evokes the spirit of your article and will create interest and curiosity among your readers. Humor is often a good choice, unless you’re writing about a serious topic.
Timeliness
Something that is current is more likely to catch your reader’s attention. A new breakthrough in cancer research is more compelling than an article discussing something that’s been written about by numerous other authors. However, timeliness comes with a caveat: Many scientific studies – coffee is good for you, chia seeds reduce your cancer risk – are often later overturned. Make sure you have several sources for any study you cite or, at the least, say the research is preliminary.
Succinct verbiage
Blog posts are not meant to be in-depth dissertations. Keep your content short and sweet. Although there is no universal consensus, most experts say between 300-600 words is about right. More than 300 words will help you in search engine rankings; fewer than 600 words will keep your readers from getting bored and moving on. If your blog is starting to reach (or exceed) the upper limit, break up your post with subheads and bullets, which make your copy skimmable.
Bonus Tip – Hire an expert to help you with your blog program
IlluminAge has more than 25 years of experience with helping people create compelling content – both through our AgeWise program and our EngAge program. If you’d like to start reaping the benefits of a well-crafted blog, contact us today!