Things That Should Be In Every Blog Post | Jo Linsdell

Things That Should Be In Every Blog Post



Things That Should Be In Every Blog Post


Things That Should Be In Every Blog Post

Essential Elements Of A Successful Blog Post


Every blog post should be unique. Google doesn't look kindly on duplicate content. That said there are some elements that should be in every blog post you publish.

In this post we'll take a look at the elements that should be included in every blog post you publish.


You might also like: The Ultimate Guide for Book Bloggers


Critical elements that should be included in all blog posts


Heading/sub-heading


Why include headings and sub-headings in blog posts? 
  1. They break up big blocks of text. Big, long, blocks of text can feel like a chore to read. Breaking them up with headings makes them easier to process and allows for visitors to skim read. 
  2. They contain keywords. Perfect for getting key points of your article across and Google friendly when it comes to rating your post.
  3. Sub-headings help give the blog post structure. This is useful both for you when writing the post and for your readers to help them follow your message. 
  4. They add extra white space. Adding in sub-headings creates extra white space within your blog post which helps improve readability.

Image/graphic


Why include images in blog posts? 
  1. They're visually appealing. A quality image will make the whole post look more professional and pleasing on the eye. 
  2. Blog posts with images get shared more on social media. Social media marketing is key for driving more traffic to your blog and posts with images tend to get more views and get shared more.
  3. Images break up the text. By adding images to your post you help readability by breaking up longer pieces of text and help retain the interest of the reader.
  4. Images can help boost your SEO. Search engines crawl all the text of your website include the alt texts that are not visibly written on site. By adding images to your blog post you can include keywords and help improve the SEO of the blog post. 

Internal links


Why include internal links in blog posts? 
  1. They make your site more user-friendly. No need for the reader to search through your archives as you can direct them straight to other relevant content on site. 
  2. They improve bounce rate. Internal links lead people to spend more time on your site and therefore improves your bounce rate. 
  3. They help improve SEO. Internal links help SEO by distributing search engine ranking power throughout a website.

Social share buttons

Why include social share buttons in blog posts?
  1. Get social signals. Search engines now include the strength of a link in social media as an algorithm-ranking factor. This means that content that is "liked" and shared often on social media will improve it's search engine ranking.
  2. Increase brand exposure. Marketing is all about getting your brand in front of as many people as possible. When one person shares your content with their network you reach a new, larger audience. If their followers see it and then share it with their followers you get to reach an even bigger audience. 
  3. Get more traffic. The easier it is for your content to be shared, the more people are likely to share it and more shares generally means more traffic is driven to your site.
  4. Encourage a good user experience. When I read a good blog post I want to share it via my social media channels to tell others about it's value. Social share buttons make it quick and easy for readers to share your content.

Meta Data

Why include meta data in blog posts?

Metadata is the information you provide to search engines that is not visible to your blog visitors. It's used to describe the different elements of each blog post so that search engine algorithms can more easily establish the relevance of the content of that page to the search term used by anyone when they use a search engine to find information.

Some of the places where you should use meta data in your blog post:
  1. Page title tag.
  2. Description meta tag.
  3. Alt text.

What elements do you like to see in the blog posts you read? Are you using all of the above elements within the blog posts you publish to your blog? Is there something else you'd add to this list? What things do you think should be in every blog post?


Things That Should Be In Every Blog Post





11 comments

  1. Absolutely! These definitely help with your SEO and they just make your post much more readable. Great tips!

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    1. Yes, great for SEO and readability of your blog post.

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  2. You are such a treasure Jo, I need to work on these items

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    1. I'm going back through my older posts and updating them to make sure I include these elements. In the past I wasn't so good at doing stuff like this. It's all a learning curve.

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  3. What a valuable post. Thank you for this. Need to get some clarity on meta data. The rest seems easily doable.

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    1. Meta data is basically the behind the scenes stuff that we don't see in the blog post but the search engines do when they crawl our sites. Naming your images and giving them alt text and stuff like that.

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  4. Great post, all things I have been doing for years. I am always surprised at the amount of blog posts, especially book reviews I read and don't include an image of the cover nor purchase links.

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    1. Me too. So many don't include images or links to where you can find the book.

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  5. Love these tips! I totally agree as a blogger and reader of blogs, having headings and images help so so mucn!

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    1. I like to pin blog posts I read too so having an image is a must. I always find it strange when I come across a blog post without one. Headings and sub headings really help with the readability of a blog post.

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  6. Hey Jo, it's nice to be here. 👋🏾

    I totally enjoyed every bit of this definitive blog post! You truly know your onions. 👍🏾

    You've outlined some essential points here that every blogger should take to heart. I couldn't agree more with the importance of these elements in a blog post, especially the part about high-quality visuals. They really do make a huge difference in grabbing the reader's attention.

    Your insights are not only informative but also presented in an easy-to-read manner. It's evident that you've got a talent for breaking down complex ideas into simple, actionable steps.

    I appreciate the effort you put into creating this valuable content, and I'll definitely be back for more. Keep up the fantastic work!

    Cheers,
    Sam

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