1. Don’t write a post unless you can write a strong headline for it.
Draft a headline for your post BEFORE you write it.
It may change after you’ve written the post, but starting with a headline will help you in multiple ways.
First, your headline will ultimately decide the fate of your post because it’s a promise of value.
And if the value you promise isn’t compelling enough, no one will bother to read it…no matter how great the post is.
Second, writing a headline first gives you a north star to keep your writing focused and prevent you from meandering all over the place.
Third, if you struggle to come up with a strong headline first it means your idea for the blog post is fuzzy at best and weak at worst.
Drafting the headline first prevents you from investing time and effort into writing something that ultimately won’t work.
Here’s an excerpt from my podcast with a simple trick you can use to improve your headlines:
2. Delete 10% of your words.
Your blog post should be as concise as possible.
When you’re about to hit publish, do a word count on your post and then delete at least 10% of the words.
This tactic will ALWAYS improve your post no matter its length.
Speaking of which…
There’s no magic word count to aim for with blog posts.
You can succeed with short ones like Seth Godin or long ones like Wait But Why.
The one thing you can’t succeed with?
Bloated posts.
Keep your posts as concise as possible and as detailed as necessary.
3. Online writing needs to be formatted for online reading.
Forget what you were taught in school.
Blog posts are read online – often on phones – and should be formatted with that in mind.
• Use short sentences and short paragraphs.
• Use subheadings that make it easy to skim.
• Use bullet points.
And don’t forget to capitalize on the biggest advantage of online writing: the ability to link to your products, services, email list, and other related content within your blog post itself.
Don’t bury those links at the end of the post – integrate them into the content where readers are most likely to see them.
4. Watch my Writer’s Arsenal skill session.
It’s a one-hour video presentation where I give you 40 tactics you can use to become a more persuasive, clear, and effective writer.
Join my Clients From Content program here to get immediate access to it along with 20+ other sessions to help you get more clients for just $99.