Alright, so you’ve got a great product or service to offer your customers – but how can you effectively let them know about it? Before you can sell, or even offer, what you’ve got, you have to attract them to you. Writing blog posts is a great way to inform potential customers about how you can solve a particular problem they’re having… but getting them to click and read can be a difficult thing to achieve. Then, the challenge becomes converting those reads into purchases. There are a few tips you can follow to write more effective content that’ll increase your conversion rate.
1. It all starts with a great headline
A headline can make or break how successful your blog post is. No matter how great the information in the post is, if no one’s clicking and reading, it’s of no use to anyone. The headline is actually so vital to the success of your blog that it’s recommended you devote about half of the time dedicated to your blog post solely on headline creation. The reason for this is simple – about 80% of people will read your headline, but only 20% of people will take the time to read the entire blog post.
2. Know your audience and their needs
Who are you selling to is an important thing to know. But, equally as important is knowing what their needs are and how you’re planning on filling those needs. Once you know these two important things, it’s so much easier to structure your content around that. What you’re essentially doing is pre-selling your product, so it’s essential that you properly direct it towards those who want it, and position your blog posts in a way that outlines why they need it.
3. Pictures speak louder than words
It’s shown that images have a huge impact on the number of clicks a blog post will receive. Not only the images are a great way to get clicks, but there are also strategies for what types of pictures to use to get even more clicks. The bigger the better – increase the size of the picture, and it’s actually shown to increase how many clicks you’ll get and how many customers are filling out forms. Studies have also shown that pictures of people’s faces are more effective at generating clicks. So, steer clear of the generic photos that don’t connect with customer’s emotions. Keep images relatable to your customers and watch the clicks increase.
4. Use content creation tools
Get great content for your blog posts by utilizing the help of online content creation tools. Ultimately, when someone clicks and wants to read your content, you better have something great to say! Here are some of the most highly rated content creation tools online:
BuzzSumo: See how different content performs in each topic or with a specific competitor, simply by entering that information into the search bar. You’ll see data on Facebook engagement, Twitter shares and more.
CoSchedule Headline Analyzer: A simple and instant way to check the overall structure, grammar, and readability of your headline. This analyzer will score your headline on readability, uniqueness and your use of emotional words.
Content Ideator: If you’re stumped on what to write about next, let Content Ideator give you some ideas. It’ll generate topics for you, and give you a breakdown of the number of social media engagements articles with that same topic have generated.
Readability Score: Use the readability tools here to measure and improve your writing, letting you share better-written content with your audience.
Hemingway App: Plug your text into this app to get a breakdown of any errors, readability, and word count. You’ll get a color-coded breakdown to make tracking errors and comments easier.
HubSpot’s Blog Topic Generator: When you really have no ideas about what to blog about next, let the Blog Topic Generator at HubSpot help think of some ideas for you.
5. Keep things more interesting with a little controversy
Shake things up a bit with a little controversy. The best way to do this is by creating a list of all the myths that exist in your industry, then a list of all of the things people believe to be true, which are actually false. What you’re looking for is virality from people sharing your controversial content, as well as resonance through a fanatical audience. You may get someone who reads your generic content casually, but if you’ve got something controversial to say, you’ll build a raving fan base that will go out of their way to read what you’ve written.
6. Keep it real
No matter what you’re writing about, you’ve got to keep it real and factual. If you try pulling the wool over your customer’s eyes, you’ll lose their trust, their readership and, ultimately, you’ll lose them as a customer. Back up what you’re saying by using studies, research and anything else from a reliable source.
7. Show them that your way is the best way
When you’re trying to sell something to someone, you’ve got to do two things in order to convince them to jump on your bandwagon. First, you need to demonstrate why the typical way of solving the problem is too difficult or not effective. Second, you’ve got to show them that your way is the easiest and most effective way. If they’ve been doing something the same way for some time, it’s crucial to show them why that way is difficult or less effective, and how your way is better and easier.
8. Break up long text with subheadings
Holding someone’s attention throughout a long article is difficult to do. The majority of people either don’t have the time or just won’t make the effort to read an entire article. Instead, they’ll skim through it, which is why creating subheadings is a great way to help guide them through the content, and highlight the information they’re looking for. In terms of SEO, bullet points and lists are also effective in increasing your SEO.
Conclusion
There’s more to blogging than just putting together some content and hoping people click, read and buy. You’ve got to effectively create every part of your blog, from the headline to the audience focus, in order to see increased conversion rates. Utilize these tips, and you’ll be sure to start seeing the effects in the number of click-through and conversions.
This article is written by Gloria Kopp. She is a web content writer and an elearning consultant from Manville city, graduated from University of Wyoming and started a career of creative writer. She works as a marketing essay expert and as a part-time content writer at UK essay writing service called UKwritings.com. Besides, she is a regular contributor to such websites as Studydemic, HuffingtonPost, Engadget, etc.
