Creating well-written content for a company blog can drive traffic, educate consumers and encourage purchases. The benefit of just one post is often underrated.
IZEA recently commissioned a study to reveal the lifespan of a blog and found that many marketers assumed a blog’s worth came and went within a month, but research shows the actual lifespan of a blog is two years. That means every blog post that you write has a long-term return on investment.
However, writing a 500-word article and posting it online won’t guarantee success. There’s an art to creating and formatting a post to make it reader-friendly.
To help you boost the readability of your blog content, we asked writers and marketers to help us create this list of five tips:
1. Create actionable content
If you’ve done some research online to improve your blog, you’ll likely see a tip that advises you to create “valuable content.” This phrase is so overused it’s nothing more than a buzzword now.
Yes, content should be of value to your readers, but one of the best ways to increase readability is to offer actionable content.
What’s actionable content? It’s content that gives the reader specific details, tips or steps to perform an action. For example, rather than writing a post that shares your love of YouTube, explain the exact steps you’ve taken to increase your viewership.
“Step-by-steps, how-tos and similar call to action posts are hugely successful when it comes to readability, because they actively offer the reader a definitive path to follow,” said Katy Blevins, a blogger for Chaos and Kiddos.
Readers should be able to print your post and complete a task by following the information provided.
2. Create a killer headline
Just as readers decide whether to open an email based on a subject line, they decide to read an article based on its headline.
“To capture readers, you’re required to create an eye-catching, memorable headline,” says Michael Spitz, who oversees Klick Health’s blog.
3. Write for your audience
To increase readability, you need to cater to your specific niche. In other words, cover topics that appeal to your customers and use a tone that’s fitting for that group.
“Too many writers try to write to everybody and in the process don’t appeal to anybody,” says Tamara Suttle, who hosts a blogging course for her specific audience of therapists.
Ask your readers for help. Create a survey that asks what kind of content they want. Ask about tone and frequency too. Using this information you’ll be sure to create targeted content.
4. Use subheads to break up text
If readers see an essay-like post, they’ll go elsewhere. Break your content into small paragraphs and use descriptive subheadings so the article doesn’t feel overwhelming.
“The average attention span is only eight seconds, so breaking posts up into visually-digestible sections instead of long blocks of text is vital,” says Clair Jones, content strategist with Frontier Communications Business Edge Blog.
Subheads not only break up text, they also give skimmers a snapshot of the article’s purpose. These bullet points are often enough to convince a visitor to read the entire article.
5. Captivate with images
Images are captivating, which can draw your reader in. Plus, pictures give visitors a visual break. As they’re reading along, it’s nice to take a look at a picture for a few seconds before reading on. Try these tips:
- “Try to break up different thoughts with photos that illustrate what you are trying to explain,” Jones suggests.
- Consider taking your own pictures to illustrate a post, or turn to stock photo sites like iStock for visual assistance.
- Don’t use big images though, or readers will get frustrated by long load times.
What tips do you have to increase readability? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.
