How to Write a Post That Readers Will Love

Do you find that some of your posts get a great response … and others are barely noticed?

Learning to write posts that your readers love can involve a bit of trial and error, but these five steps dramatically increase the chance that you’ll hit on a winning combination of topic, structure and style.

Here’s how to do it:

Step #1: Choose a Hot Topic

However well-written your post is, it’s unlikely to be a success unless you’ve chosen a topic that your readers are eager to hear about.

Maybe that’s something in the news – an exciting (or worrying) development in your industry, or a feel-good story that people can’t get enough of.

Or maybe it’s one of the topics that you know always strikes a chord: for a personal development blog, for instance, that could mean “being more motivated” or “managing your time better”.

Try to avoid any topics you’ve done to death recently, though – even if they’re popular ones.

Step #2: Give Your Post a Great Structure

Your post’s structure is its skeleton. Readers may not be able to see it – but without it, your post will just be a big blob of ideas.

There are plenty of easy structures you can borrow and use, like the “how to” post (you’re reading one) and the “list” post. You’ll see these done over and over again on different blogs.

To make your post stand out, look for ways to add extras to the structure. In our series of “Mistakes” posts, we have “fix it” suggestions for each mistake.

Step #3: Use Your Readers’ Words

If you use language that goes over your readers’ heads, or leaves them cold, then you won’t be creating a post that they’ll to read and share.

Use readers’ emails and comments to find the exact phrases they use when asking a question or describing a problem. (This is a technique Sam Horn recommends in her book Pop! Create the Perfect Pitch, Title and Tagline for Anything.)

If they suggest a post, consider using their wording: one of my most popular posts on Aliventures is titled “7 Habits of Serious Writers”. I wasn’t sure about that title – I thought “serious” would sound dull and unattractive – but I was mistaken!

Step #4: Edit Your Post Carefully

One of the great things about publishing on a blog is that it’s easy to go back and make changes – but don’t use this as an excuse to get sloppy.

While readers will be forgiving of an occasional typo or grammatical error, constant mistakes will undermine all your good work. A post that’s full of good information but badly written won’t get the attention it deserves.

Tip: Try cutting your post by 10% after drafting it. You’ll almost always make it stronger.

Step #5: Add Formatting, Links and Images

A well-written, well-structured post that speaks in the readers’ language isn’t quite enough … it also needs to look good.

You certainly don’t need to be an artist or designer to create an attractive blog post that’s easy to read, though. Simply use basic formatting features like:

• Subheadings, to break up the text, add visual interest, and act as “signposts” for the reader.
• Bold text, to highlight key sentences. (Pro tip: aim to be consistent with this. You’ll see that in this post, I chose to have one bold sentence at the start of each subsection.)
• Links to other posts. These can help readers who need extra background information, or who want to dig deeper into a particular topic.
• Images, which draw the reader in, add white space and visual appeal, and can make it easier for readers to understand or appreciate your points.

For your blog to be a success, you need readers to love your posts enough that they’ll keep coming back for more (and spread the word to their friends too).

Follow these five steps and you’ve got a very high chance of creating a post that will be a great hit with your audience. Leave a comment below to tell me how you get on!

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