10 Proven Strategies for Writing Engaging Blog Posts in 2024
Did you know that 77% of internet users read blogs regularly? Yet, with over 2.5 billion blog posts published every year, standing out from the crowd can feel like shouting into a void. But don’t panic – I’m here to help you with tips to improve your blog and get you writing engaging blog posts that rank well in search engines and keep your readers coming back for more.
So let’s dig into our 10 proven strategies to craft engaging blog posts that your readers won’t be able to resist sharing.
Hook Your Readers from the Get-Go
The word “hook” says it all. The hook of a song. Hook line and sinker. I was hooked on that TV show. Hook me up. Let’s hook up after dinner tonight (no not that hook up – this is a family show).
You want to grab the attention of your readers and a good attention grabbing opening line can serve that purpose and “reel them in.”
If you can find one that fits with your blog post, a surprising statistic or bold statement can be very effective. Look back to the first line of this article – did it make you want to know more? Numbers speak to people and we love to learn fun and interesting facts.
Bold statements can also be a winning content strategy for your opening line. Think about a promise or guarantee that you can make…and don’t be afraid to be a bit controversial. Challenge your readers and make them want to know why you’re making these claims.
Examples of bold statements:
- I guarantee that after reading this post, you’ll never write a boring blog article again.
- Forget everything you’ve been told about blogging.
- The strategies in this post are so effective at boosting engagement, you will find yourself drowning in reader comments and shares.
You can also effectively employ a conversational writing style and kick things off with a relatable anecdote or personal question. Do you have some experience that you can talk about that relates to the topic? Something funny, interesting, or an example of how you used (or didn’t use) the technique effectively for surprising results? Speak to your readers like they’re in the room with you and you’re just having a chat with them.
Never be afraid to be personal in your blog – your readers can get the info from one of the other 2.5 billion blogs posted that year, so give them a connection that makes them want to read yours.
Master the Art of Compelling Headlines
If you’re going to write engaging blog posts, you need to grab readers attention quickly, and compelling headlines are one of the quickest ways to let them know what they’re going to find throughout the post. Think of them of sign posts, or better yet, flashing neon signs, pointing to the content and explaining what is inside the coming paragraphs. They also help search engines understand what your post is about.
I admit this is one of my weaker areas – mostly because I am terrible at using power words, something the search engines absolutely love. My problem with them is that sometimes I feel like they sound a bit cheesy and I also struggle with having the confidence to feel that I live up to the claims made by using them.
Power Words
But, I know they work, so I push my way through my own doubts and find ways to fit them within my own writing process. Power words will evoke emotion – think of superlatives (biggest, most, best, greatest, ultimate) and positive and negative adjectives (huge, rare, bad, awful). Look at your headlines and see if there is a word that you can add to make it a stronger statement.
Numbers
Another effective way to builder better headlines for your blog post is to incorporate numbers. Numbers can sometimes seem a bit clickbait-y thanks to the internets obsession with lists, but they are effective for that exact reason. Lists are easy to digest and give us interesting bullet points to focus on.
Specific Promises
If you’re offering help or selling products, you can also make specific promises to attract attention, but remember, if you write a blog post with a specific promise, you better be able to deliver.
You don’t want to say “You’ll Earn 10,000 New Viewers If You…” and then have your readers follow your method and lose viewers. That’ll lose you viewers quicker than you can say “broken promises.”
A/B Test Your Headlines
With the wealth of plugins for WordPress, you can A/B test just about anything – including your headlines. Use a plugin to run tests to see what’s working and what’s not.
If you’re looking to A/B test your website, we love Nelio A/B Testing plugin for WordPress – it has a ton of great features that allow you to A/B test just about anything you can think of. It runs about $40/month for one site, but if you’re serious about finding out which headlines create an amazing blog post, it’s a small price to pay.
Tell Stories That Resonate
Engaging blog content is all about making a connection with your readers. One of the best ways is to give them something to connect to – you. Sharing personal experiences, anecdotes from your own life, or specific case studies from your own blogging journey. More than anything – talk to your readers.
If you’ve read anything on this website, you’ll know I often talk about personal experiences from both rock ‘n roll and real estate as well as telling stories from early blogs and what I learned from them. I am also not afraid to say I’m not an expert at some things, even though I know they are strong methods for writing engaging blog posts.
You can also utilize storytelling techniques in your blog post to create interest and excitement. We’ll talk more about this in a future post (see – I do have a blog content strategy), but it is a definite hook to use for your blog post.
The more personal you are with your readers, the more you will build an emotional connection with your audience. People like to read your blog posts, because they like you (or don’t and want to see what craziness you’ll post next).
Structure Your Posts for Easy Readability
Here comes one of those personal moments. While I know I should write shorter paragraphs in a blog post, I am guilty as charged. I write too much. I struggle with it every day.
One of the best things you can do on your blog is embrace white space. Don’t be afraid to let your words be highlighted and framed by a little white space.
Short sentences. Only a few sentences in a paragraph. Make every word count.
Utilizing subheadings will also help break up your text, as will images. Don’t be afraid to break things up a little, but don’t make it impossible to see what’s inside.
And finally, use bullet points and numbered lists to get information into the hands of your readers quickly and concisely.
To summarize:
- write short paragraphs
- utilize white space
- keep sentences short
- use subheadings and images
- learn to love bullet points and numbered lists
See what I did there?
Craft Conversational and Authentic Content
Writing blog posts is just like talking to your friend. This is one of the hardest things for new bloggers to understand, but I swear to you, it really is that simple.
When I first started my real estate career, I met some agents online who were at the forefront creating content for website traffic. Educating buyers and sellers and generating new clients was the goal, but it was still a bit of the Wild West – blogging had been around for quite some time, but the real estate industry was only just starting to take notice.
These early pioneers taught me a lot and encouraged me to start writing and build my own site. I jumped in, knowing a few things about website creation (I had been building websites since the early 90s), and launched my site in 2008.
My writing style was awful. I was a new agent, so I was afraid people would see my inexperience through my writing, so I tried to write in a “more experienced tone” (whatever that might be).
The writing on my blog posts was oddly disjointed and tried too hard to be something I wasn’t (yet).
Within a few weeks, I started to see the err of my ways and began focusing on “talking” to my readers (even though at that time, I didn’t really have many) directly.
I wrote like I thought. I wrote like I was speaking with friends or sitting in front of a client – I just focused on being me.
And with that, I saw my blog’s visibility begin to grow. I soon found my new blog posts ranking in the search engines and before long, I was getting business from my blog.
It was incredible. It was then that I started to learn about SEO and in particular, the power of long tail keywords. I couldn’t beat the big sites like Zillow.com, but I was able to gain a local following and start making money in my new career.
Be yourself. Talk to your readers. Be open, honest, and engaging.
It takes time, but you’ll find your readership will grow because your personal experience captures the reader’s attention and allows them to get to know you.
Incorporate Visuals to Enhance Your Message
We talked about the easy readability of your blog posts and breaking up your content to allow users to scroll through and find what they’re looking for, but there’s more to making your blog posts visually appealing than just making them easy to read.
We are visual creatures. A simple photo can convey an idea and give a visitor reason to pause long enough to start reading the post.
Even newspapers know that a good image can make the story.
Not everyone is a skilled photographer and most bloggers don’t have the time to be both a writer and a photographer. Know your skillset and utilize resources around the web to find your images, infographics, or videos.
A word about copyright: don’t steal images. Not only is it not cool, it’s also illegal. Source your photos from legit websites offering stock photos or find a designer for hire if you need something specific created. These days, with AI, there are a lot of opportunities to find images – just make sure you have the rights to use them for commercial use.
Screenshots can be helpful as well if you’re trying to explain a topic or concept that can be illustrated through actions you’re taking on your computer.
If you want some custom work done (graphics like logos or website headers come to mind), look on places like Fiverr to find a freelancer who can do it for you at your budget level.
Provide Actionable Tips and Takeaways
Whenever possible, you want to include simple to follow instructions, think step-by-step walk throughs, easy to follow checklists, and practical advice that your readers can implement right away.
If you can build a downloadable asset like a PDF guide or checklist, it can be a great way to build a mailing list (I’ll give you the download in exchange for your email – just make sure you’re following good mailing list practices). Be sure to brand these assets so that no one is using them for their own purposes on their sites.
And by all means, if there are tools or resources from other sites, link away! Some bloggers fear linking to external sites because they don’t want to send anyone to other websites, particularly if they are in the same niche.
When I link to other sites, I try to find smaller sites whenever I can (supporting other bloggers), but sometimes the best link is to a big media site and that’s okay. Your purpose is to educate your readers and acknowledging that there is more knowledge and expertise out there than yours is only natural.
(Sometimes I will even use those links to inspire a future blog post.)
Engage Readers with Interactive Elements
Engaging blog posts don’t just talk to their readers and tell them everything, they make the readers think and formulate their own thoughts around the topic.
One of the easiest ways to engage readers is to ask questions. Pose a thought provoking question and leave room for readers to form their own opinions or answers. Sometimes even asking a few rhetorical questions can engage readers and keep them coming back for more.
Although comments aren’t as common as they once were (and spam comments are more common than ever), if you build a dedicated readership, you can get some great conversation going in the comments section. Encourage your readers to comment, ask questions, and discuss the points you’ve made in your blog posts.
(Side note, if you pay anyone to do SEO work for you, make sure one of their methods is not spamming comment sections of blogs. First, most blogs block Google from following links in comments, and second, it just looks bad. The links will come naturally if you write a good blog post.)
Anything interactive can help to boost engagement – polls and quizzes can get your blog readers interacting with your content. Make sure you have a bit of traffic before posting one of these if you are going to keep the results public – nothing is worse than a poll where you’re the only one answering it.
Optimize for SEO Without Sacrificing Quality
Time to talk about the search engines and SEO. Obviously, this is a topic we could cover in a few thousand blog posts, but we need to at least touch on it for a few moments when talking about writing engaging blog posts.
Thanks to SEO, you need to include relevant keywords throughout your blog posts, but how do you do that without keyword stuffing? Well, it’s not always easy. Sometimes you have to rethink the words you want to say to ensure you’re hitting key markers that the search engines want to see.
But don’t forget, the search engines are a lot smarter than we realize and they measure not just the words, but the way you use them and how your target audience reacts to them. With practice, you’ll get better at it, but the search algorithms are constantly changed and what works today, may not work tomorrow.
There are a lot of tools available to bloggers to help them craft engaging content that ranks well in search results. First and foremost though, focus on posts that engage readers – I have some content that breaks all the tips and rules I’ve outlined here, but still crushes it in search results. Good content will always rise to the top.
Linking, both internal and external, can be helpful for on page SEO as well. Internal links provide a map for the search engines (and your loyal readers) to follow, helping them find related content. External links promote other great blog posts throughout the internet and lend an air of credibility to your posts, showing that you understand the topic at hand and understand who the thought leaders on the subject are. Think of it as credibility by association.
Lastly, your meta descriptions should give a brief idea of what a searcher can learn about on the post. They should also entice viewers to click that link when you appear in the search engine results pages.
End with a Bang: Nail Your Conclusion and CTA
This is what you’ve been waiting for – the big finish! You want to wrap up the perfect blog post with a solid conclusion – summarizing key points, reinforcing important ideas, and providing a compelling call-to-action.
Whether you encourage readers to share, like, comment, sign up for a newsletter, or just stay tuned for more, you want to give them the feeling that they need to come back – that’s how you keep readers engaged for the long term.
Writing Engaging Blog Posts – It’s a Full-Time Job
There you have it – 10 dynamite strategies to supercharge your blog posts and keep your readers glued reading through to the end and returning for more. Remember, writing engaging content is both an art and a science. It takes practice, but with these tips in your arsenal, you’re well on your way to blogging stardom.
You won’t always get it right and sometimes you’ll get it right, but for some reason the post just doesn’t engage readers or Google search seems to ignore it. It happens. Just keep soldiering on and producing more content. You are playing the long game here.
So, what are you waiting for? It’s time to put these strategies into action and watch your blog engagement soar. Don’t forget to experiment, track your results (Google Analytics and Google Search Console are your best friends), and most importantly, have fun with your writing. Your passion will shine through, and your readers will thank you for it.
PS I’d be a hypocrite if I didn’t ask you to share this post with others and if you want to talk about it some more, drop a comment below!
