Ever notice that some bloggers create content that seems to work like magic? Every time they drop a post, people go crazy praising it, sharing it, and buying whatever the links are selling.

But not every blogger gets those sort of results. If you’ve ever published a post to crickets, then you know what I’m talking about. You hit the “publish” button with a lot of optimism, but nothing happens. No clicking on links, no commenting, no sharing – it’s like your posts die as soon as you publish them.

The good news is that you can get better results with every blog post you publish, starting today. Ready to capture some of that link-clicking, crazy-commenting, widely shared magic for yourself? We got writing tips and tricks for you…

blogging

1. Create a Sizzling Title When Blogging

This is it—this is the make or break component of your blog post. If your title doesn’t grab your reader by the collar and pull them into your post, then the rest of your blog post doesn’t even need to exist because no one will see it anyway. That’s why you need to invest some time in creating a compelling title that gets the clicks.

Ask yourself, what is the big reason why someone should read this post?  Whatever it is, you should be showcasing that benefit in your title.

Secondly, if you can arouse your potential reader’s curiosity with the title, then do it. It’s like creating an itch that the visitor can only scratch by reading your blog post. (Just be sure you provide a big pay off in the post itself, otherwise blog readers everywhere are going to be lining up with virtual torches and pitchforks if they think you used clickbait.)

Let me give you an example of a title that both showcases a benefit and arouses curiosity: “How to Turn Five Minutes of Your Time into a Bestselling Product You Can Sell Again and Again for $99.”

If you were looking for way to make money, that certainly would get your attention, arouse your curiosity, and get you clicking to read the post.

2. Generate Positive Emotion

The most powerful magic blogging can create is to change the reader in some way.

A reader starts off bored but gets hooked by the blog content. Or perhaps a reader starts off apathetic, but ends up whispering “Wow!” or maybe the reader starts off skeptical but they’re a believer by the time they read the last word of the post.

If you’d like to create this sort of magic, then you need to know this key: your content needs to make your reader FEEL something. Ideally, the blog post should generate a positive emotion.

Think about it and you know it’s true. We humans do hardly anything unless there is some sort of emotion attached to the behavior. People go to war because they’re angry. They do crazy brave things because they’re in love.  And yes, they spend a lot of money because a sales page made them feel hopeful.

Your blog post needs to create this sort of strong emotion too especially if you want someone to take some sort of action at the end. You can generate this emotion in a variety of ways, such as by:

  • Telling a story to make the person feel inspired.
  • Getting people to think about the pain of their problem.
  • Inviting people to imagine how good they’ll feel when their problem is gone.

And yes, even though it’s not a positive emotion, creating a sense of fear also works. For example, if you can plant the idea (and that seed of fear) that the person might never solve their problem, then you can get them to take action by providing them hope that they’re going to finally get relief.

There are other ways to do it, but you get the point. If you can make people feel joy, hope, happiness, awe or some other strong emotion, then you’re one step closer to getting the reader to take action.

3. Add Value with Awesome Graphics

If you’re just pumping out plain-text blog posts then you’re definitely not maximizing your posts. If you want to add value, draw in more eyes, and keep your readers hooked, then be sure to include relevant graphics.

For best results, use graphics that your reader can consume in a nanosecond. If they have to spend even a moment of time trying to figure out what the graphic depicts, then that’s a bad choice. Use simple graphics with bold colors. If your graphics convey or evoke some sort of positive emotion, that’s even better.

4. Format for Skimmers

Want a quick way to stop readers dead in their tracks and get them scrambling for the “back” button? Then all you have to do is erect a big wall of text.

Fortunately, the solution is easy: break up your text with bulleted lists, short paragraphs, graphics, sub-headlines and similar items that help you create more white space. (See this blog post as an example of how to do it!)

5. Create Something Fresh

When blogging, imagine for a moment that your prospect is searching Google for some topic and reading every related piece of content that they can lay their eyes on. After reading a dozen articles, they find yours.

What happens next?

If your blog post looks like every other blog post in the last 10 minutes, then your visitors will be hitting that back button faster than you can say, “Come back, I promise to do better!”

That’s why you need to create something fresh. Something that makes your readers eyes light up. Something that makes them sit up in their chair and give your post their full attention.

This doesn’t mean you need to share something that no one on the entire planet has ever heard of before. Just one fresh tip will do or share the information using a fresh voice and perspective.

Conclusion

Everywhere you look, you’ll find blogs where content goes to die. Don’t let your blog be one of them. Use the tips and tricks you just learned to turn every piece of content you create into a “can’t rip my eyes away” compelling piece of content! Enjoy every bit of blogging!