Category: Content

How To Write A Blog Post Built To Convert

Your organic content is going to be a big part of what brings traffic to your website.

It’s the milkshake to your fries, and what brings all the boys to the yard.

Visitors will be directed to you through their search engine results based on the keywords they’ve used. It will benefit you and your business to make sure it’s your content over your competitors that show up at the top of that search engine result page (SERP).

Learn how to write a blog post that will convert your visitors to fans. 

Elements Of A Blog Post

A blog post allows you to thoroughly explain a topic. Its main purpose is to increase website traffic, convert sales or obtain leads, and position you for thought leadership.

There are other elements, in addition to structure, that you will need to include. 

  • Target Keywords: Basic SEO is knowing what your target audience is searching for. Using a variation of those words will help your article show up in searches. There are eleventy-billion tools to use. I happen to like Answer The Public, and Keyword Tools.
  • Image: For every image you use, add the right metadata using one of your keywords.
  • Call To Action (CTA): Include a clear CTA at the end of your post. This will direct your readers toward the next action you expect from them.
  • Word Count: Your blog post should have at least 300 words. Anything less than that, your blog will be considered ‘thin content’. In 2020, the sweet spot is 1,800 words. However, you don’t have to obsess over the numbers. End your article once you’ve completed every thought you outlined on the page. 

Structuring Your Blog Post

When you write a blog, explain your chosen topic better than anything your competition offers.

Once you’ve compiled your research information, it’s time to start writing.

There is a definite ‘best practice’ to the form and function of a blog post. 

  • Outline: Once I decide what my topic is, I create a skeleton based on the subheaders. For example, in this article here, my outline included headers based on points I plan on covering. Including structure, elements, and types of blog posts.
  • Title: There is an art to creating engaging blog post titles. It should be no more than 70 characters long and still set your reader’s expectations about what’s ahead. Use a tool like the Coschedule headline analyzer. This will help you create clickable headlines.  
  • Introduction: Your introduction is your bait and hook. Its job is to capture your audience’s attention and entices them to read the entire post. 
  • Subheadings: H2s, aka Headline 2, are usually what is used here. Targeted keywords are super relevant to your subheadings. But, they also will let your reader understand what they’re going to get from each section of the post.
  • Bullet points: When you offer a lot of information within a paragraph, break those up into bullet points. Bold the first word or sentence to make scanning easy.
  • Write: As mentioned in this post, it’s not about the quality of your writing, it’s more to do with the information you provide. Your words have to be clear and concise. You need to be the best possible source for any information about your business or product.
  • Edit: Before you publish, you need to make sure your grammar, punctuation, sentence structure, and spelling are on point. Grammarly is a great free editing tool. 
  • Images: Your featured image should be toward the top of your blog post. Longer posts may have images scattered throughout to break up all the text. Free stock photos can be found on sites like Unsplash or Pixabay. 
  • Publish: Once you’re satisfied with how your article looks in drafts, just tap that publish button and put those words out to the online world. 

19 Types of Blog Posts

There are many different styles of blog posts you can write.

We’ve compiled a list of ideas you can pull from. 

  • Thought leadership: Your industry-related articles will cement you as an expert in your field.
  • Listicles: Just like it sounds, a list of “things” within a specific topic, along with an explanation. 
  • Newsjacking: When significant industry news breaks, use your blog to report on it. 
  • How-To’s and Tutorials: This post, How To Create A Blog Post, is an example of a how-to post!
  • Reviews: Talk about a new product or tool your company uses that you like for starters.
  • Announcements: Maybe you have a new product or update coming out. Broadcast it on your blog. 
  • Videos with the transcription: If you have created videos, embed them into a blog post, and transcribe the content.  
  • Series: Another one that is exactly like it sounds—a series of articles on a related topic. 
  • Case studies: Talk about your success and how you got there. Include graphs and charts. 
  • Interviews: Interview experts in your field. Or highlight coworkers. 
  • Inspirational stories: People love a feel-good story. 
  • Frequently asked questions and answers: Address those FAQs and give in-depth answers.
  • Event summaries: Perhaps you spoke at a digital summit. Or you attended one. Write about it! 
  • Commentary on pop culture: Loads of stuff is going on in the world, and sometimes it’s fun to take a break from your related industry and talk about celebrities. 
  • Gratitude Stories: What are you thankful for?
  • Customer question responses: Being in touch with sales and customer service departments will help to create this type of post. 
  • Your business history: Who are you? How did you get here, and how did you achieve success?
  • Checklist or cheat sheet: Take a task, bullet point it out, and explain how to do each item on the list. 
  • Industry-related myths versus facts: Do things related to your industry drive you crazy? Talk about what people think, and then show them how it really is. 

Getting into the swing of writing blog posts will take practice, time, and determination before it becomes a habit.

You can write a blog post that ends up on page one of Google if you keep at it! 

Organic Content Is Your Kingdom

We’re all getting restless. But, as anxious as we are to be able to move around freely, there’s still a sense of hesitation due to the unknown. What is out there waiting for us? In what way is it going to affect us? How can we possibly recover from this? And, all of those questions are just on a personal level. Business owners have a whole slew of concerns piled onto the personal slush pile. I have some words of advice based on over a decade of professional content writing and strategy. I really hope this helps you to navigate your own organic content strategy and writing. 

Content Congestion

More than ever, you must up your organic content game. Up until now, the saying was “Content is King”. Truth is, your content and its context is going to be your entire Kingdom. Businesses that put up a basic website, secured their social handles, and then didn’t do much with them? Well, they are either going to have to start pushing a budget into their online marketing efforts or simply fade away. For the foreseeable future, every audience imaginable will be searching for you online. We were headed toward a complete online culture prior to the pandemic, and that seal has been removed. We’re there, all in. 

There’s going to be, what I’m calling “Content Congestion”. Meaning, as much content as there has been online up until now…it’s going to get even more congested. More content being published on social channels, as well as websites. And, that will make it even harder to be found. 

You must have content. Lots of it. On your website, on your social channels, and on your company or personal blog. If you want to reach the right audience, you must have the right message, at the right time, for your organic content to show up in their search. 

Position Competition

Because there’s going to be a massive uptick of online content, that means it’s going to be harder to hit page one. Another little phrase I’m using is “Position Competition”.  Every company using your keywords are all vying for the same search engine results. Page one. 

Again, this means you must have content. It does NOT have to be the best written. What it does need is the best possible answer to your audience’s question. 

You can find what sort of topics people are searching for as it relates to your product or service by using SEO tools. My personal favorite is Answer The Public. Using one or two keywords, this tool pulls up real-time search engine queries related to the topic you’re searching for. Once those are displayed on the screen, you’ll have a whole series of questions you can use as topics to talk about across your platforms. Take some of those questions and use them to create content for your blogs, for social media, for videos, and for subtopics on your blog. Answer the questions to the best of your ability, edit your words using another tool like Grammarly, add an image, and hit publish. Just do it. And find a comfortable cadence for consistency’s sake. The more content you have, the better. If you’re already creating content, it’s time to double down. 

Seen and Heard

The ubiquitous ‘they’ claim that everyone has a story. Sometimes, that story is obvious. Other times, it takes some digging. But, your story is there. And, it’s important to start crafting that into words and weaving it across all your platforms. Plant those seeds and grow your garden so the world can enjoy its glorious flowers.

Once you have your flow, and you’re creating consistent content, use what you’ve created as a script, and record a video. Video is the fastest-growing consumable content product. It definitely can be daunting. Personally, I can’t stand how I look and sound in videos. But, I know that it’s a valuable piece of content that will make a business become human. So, it must be done. Because, it’s us humans that run the business, and at the end of the day, it’s our story that needs to be told. Through us. Video and content are where our business and personal brands need to collide. 

If you need help with your organic content strategy or ideas, please…don’t hesitate to reach out. We can guide you toward creating content that will make you the envy of every competing business. You can contact me directly at mbrodsky@adaptstudios.co  or you can go through our website contact form: Adapt Studios. 

Branding Basics For Small To Midsize Businesses

Whether it’s profound or simple, your company has a story. The ability to take that story and disseminate it, translate it, and share it isn’t always the easiest action to take. Sometimes there isn’t room in the budget to hire a branding agency, and it needs to be a DIY effort. But, no one in the room is a branding expert. And, that’s ok.

Keep reading to learn how to brand your small to midsize business without using a branding agency. 

What Is A Brand?

Your ‘brand’ is what identifies you. It sets you apart from other brands competing in the same space or industry. Your brand is represented through:  

  • Company name and tagline 
  • Logo
  • Mascot
  • Product or service 

Brand identifiers are distinguishing ‘features’ that evoke emotions making you recognizable. 

Just like a moral compass that helps people navigate life, a brand compass helps to navigate your growth. It defines who you are. Let’s take a meatier look at those.  

  • Company culture: This is based on the core values of your brand. It goes beyond Nerf guns and wine on tap. Employees feel the dynamics, and they understand it. So, they are your brand ambassadors. Positive company culture creates an environment where the employees can thrive, which only benefits the company itself.
  • Voice and messaging: Your voice and messaging are the ways you interact with your users or customers whether it’s online, in person, or over the phone. 
  • Name and Tagline: Your name and tagline are the first points your potential customers are introduced to. The tagline should embody your value propositions in a few short words. Think Nike. Just do it. Campbell’s soup is ‘mmm, ‘mmm good. A good tagline sticks in the minds of consumers. 
  • Identity: The identity of your brand is a culmination of your logo, messaging, and other visual elements. It is also the mark you make on the universe. 
  • Brand architecture: Brand architecture is the road map of your company, the organizational system that guides your users toward an opinion. Consider those visual assets: logos, font, web design. These are just a few pieces of your architecture allowing your brand to be easily understood. All the different pieces that make up your brand need to make sense, eliminating any confusion for the user.

What Is Branding?

Branding is created by all the facets of the brand compass in order to forge external perception. Branding gives your product meaning. In turn, it helps to entice consumers to choose your brand over the competition. 

Design and messaging are two of many components within branding. When those are working harmoniously, your brand becomes human; a trusted confidante, a BFF. 

Good branding evokes emotion and drives action. 

Branding Basics 101 In 6 Steps

Starting a brand from scratch, or even re-branding your old product takes a series of steps. In order to tell your brand’s story, you will need to look at the following.

  1. Target audience: Who are you trying to talk to? What groups of people will need your product? To shape your brand identity, you must establish your target audience.
  2. Competitive research: Who are your biggest competitors? What sort of marketing are they doing? Where are they online? Who are they talking to? What makes your product better than the rest?
  3. Defining your brand: What makes you unique? What is your brand story? How are you going to translate this throughout all your marketing efforts?
  4. Value props: What is your main selling point or points? How are you going to differentiate your brand from your competition? How are you unique?
  5. Style guides: Your messaging, tone, voice, customer persona, colors, logo all live in your style guide. This will help your employees with consistency, and help create brand recognition. 
  6. Consistency: Once you have the above components ironed out, it’s important to establish consistency. Consumers are savvy, and they know when there are hiccups. Which then leads to an issue with your online reputation and other problems. Consistency is key to maintaining a positive brand experience for your audience. 

Too Much, Send Help

Aside from having a killer product, branding is the most important part of your company’s success. But, sometimes you don’t have the employee bandwidth, or branding and marketing isn’t something you even want to get involved with on a daily basis. Bottom line, if you have absolutely no desire to do any of it in-house.

This is where a branding agency comes in. 

They help to identify and strategize your branding and marketing, and they can complete all the steps to guide you toward your goals.

Adapt Studios specializes in branding and marketing your small to mid-sized business. We can help you take your brand to the next level.