How to Write a Blog Post that Converts

Writing blog posts can be a stellar way to increase traffic to your site and grow your email list. According to an Orbit Media survey, 83 percent of bloggers are seeing results from their blogs, with almost 30 percent seeing “strong results”. But if you’re not seeing any results from your blogging efforts, you’re probably not crafting blog posts that convert.

You may have told an engaging story or provided your readers with valuable information but there are some other aspects you should be including in order to encourage visitors to click on your blog post, read it and subscribe to your email list or make a purchase.

These tips will help show you how to write a blog post that converts so you can grow your email list like rapidfire and boost your conversions.

Optimize for SEO

Optimizing your blog posts for SEO is an important step in getting your blog noticed and attracting more of your target audience. One of the most important aspects of on-page optimization is keyword research.

Determine who your audience is, what they’re interested in and what they’re searching for on the internet, in order to find the most relevant keywords. You should optimize your blog posts for one focus keyword and use multiple other relevant keywords throughout your post in a natural way. Use Ubersuggest’s keyword planner to find low-competition and high-volume keywords that will give your website the best chance of ranking for.

Don’t forget that your blog post headline needs to be optimized for SEO as well. Your keywords should be in the title and it should be compelling enough to make people want to click. Try using CoSchedule’s headline analyzer to make sure your headline has a passing grade.

Other tips to help optimize SEO include adding a proper meta title and description, adding an image alt attribute and interlinking your own content. If you’re not an SEO expert or just want to make it a little easier on yourself, you can use the Yoast SEO plugin to help you handle the technical optimization of your site and also assist with optimizing your content.

Include Stats

Including stats in your blog post is a great way to make your content more authoritative. For example, want to convince your audience that content marketing is the most effective form of marketing? Include a statistic in your article that supports your argument.

Adding relevant stats to your posts will provide your audience with proof that backs up what you’re saying, they’ll trust you more when they can easily tell what’s a fact and not just your opinion.

You might think that incorporating stats into your blog would take a lot of time and research but with a simple Google search you’ll easily be able to find many relevant stats. Only use stats that are recent (from within the last couple years) and from credible sources, to ensure you’re providing your audience with accurate information.

Make sure to always link to the statistic you’ve referenced, this builds credibility and will add more value to your content.

Use Lead Magnets

Lead magnets are one of the best ways to get more email subscribers so you should definitely be including them in your blog posts. A lead magnet is a freebie or incentive you can offer to potential customers in exchange for their email address. This is an amazing strategy that will help you generate relevant leads that you can eventually sell your products to.

Your lead magnet should be relevant to the topic of your post and should offer something valuable to your readers in order to entice them into clicking and subscribing. Instead of asking them to subscribe to get “updates”, offer a free download of a PDF guide or report. Other offerings could include a checklist or worksheets, choose one that makes the most sense for your business.

You can integrate lead magnets into your blog by including call-to-action links in your post that will lead to your content upgrade or you could consider using a popup that’s triggered when the reader reaches the bottom of your blog post page to make sure you grab their attention.

Retarget Via Facebook

People rarely buy from a website they visit only once, in fact, it usually takes many visits to a website before someone feels ready to make a purchase. This is why retargeting is such an important strategy, it allows you to engage with visitors who have abandoned your website and keep your brand top of mind. If a visitor to your site read your article all the way through and left without even giving you an email, you can retarget them to get them back to your site.

Facebook retargeting is a pixel you can add to your site that allows you to show targeted ads to previous visitors of your website. So when your previous visitors are browsing Facebook, an ad will appear to encourage them to return to you.

You know that since they already have visited your website, that they must be interested in some aspect of your business. Retargeting via Facebook will give your visitors a little nudge into returning back to your site and hopefully the next time they return they’ll be more inclined to subscribe or make a purchase.

Conclusion

Don’t you want a blog that will sell for you 24/7? That would be a dream, but a lot of times, writing a useful blog post isn’t enough to make that dream a reality. But with a few of these tips and tweaks you’ll be able to start writing blog posts that will actually convert like crazy.