Even if you’re a great writer, you may struggle now and then with how to structure a blog post to make sure your key points are getting across.  Here at Creative Concepts we help clients strategize about and write blogs daily, and we’ve learned a few tricks along the way which help us to get important content front and center.

Keep it short – or only as long as it needs to be

Why struggle with a long post if a shorter post will work?  While some business blog posts average in the 750-1,000 word range, many are quite successful at around 500 words.  If you can explain what you want to explain in fewer words, do so, and your reader will get to the point more quickly.

Build a better blog post
img credit: dichohecho (flickr)

Keep posts focused on one primary topic

If you find yourself starting to describe a second or third topic, step back and determine whether you can break the post into two or more posts.  A focused post will have a greater chance of getting read all the way through, so your key content will more likely get noticed.

Use headers, bullets, or other organizing tools to make important content stand out

Posts are easier to read if they have markers to break up the content and help draw the eye to important parts.  Using headers will help to highlight the key points you’re making (as in this post), as well as help search engines to find keywords within your post (if your headers include keywords).  Bullets can be used to similar effect – anything you put into a bullet will be more easily readable and noticed even if someone is skimming through the post.

Include an image near the top of the post

Sonia Simone from Copyblogger says, “Images are steroids for your headline.”  Using a great image will help draw readers in and focus on your content.  Look for images which are either literal – directly related to your content, or evocative of your content with a concept or theme.

Put time into your title – then think about it some more

As the old journalism adage goes, you should put 50% of your time into writing the article and 50% into the headline.  The same holds true for blog posts.  If you get the right title it will draw your reader in and help them to focus on your content – but the title has to match the content.  It can’t be too broad, too punny, or too blah. Additionally, a keyword-rich, focused title will help with search optimization.

How do you keep blog posts focused and help your readers quickly get to your most valuable content? We’d love to hear from you in the comments.