6 Elements of a Killer Blog Post

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Every blogger has a unique style. However, after years of studying the top personal finance bloggers, I've noticed many similarities among the most popular blog posts.

Before you spend money on a custom blog design, sign up with affiliate networks, or begin promoting your work through Twitter, get the scoop on what it takes to make your blog posts shine!

1. Create Interest

Depending on your blog’s niche, it may be difficult to generate interest for your post. Discussing the finer points of mutual funds or giving advice for keeping your garden well-nourished may very well be essential reads for your audience, but they need to be lured in and have some curiosity for the topic at hand. 

The best bloggers are well-known for their ability to tie the less sexy topics to something with a cult following or a hot newsstand allure. Man Vs. Debt’s The X-Men Guide to Unlocking Your Mutant Financial Powers, for example, was spread all over the web during the first week of its publishing. By combining super hero pop culture references with finances, he scored a win in the interest category. If this type of sensationalism goes against the feel of your blog, tone it down by simply posting on a hot trend for the season. (My sunburn remedies article gets a considerable amount of traffic annually during the months of June – August.)

2. Be Personable

While there is a major distinction between a slang-laden nonsensical blog post and one that reads like the Chicago Manual of Style, there is a sweet middle ground that you should strive for. If you are unsure where your blog stands in the spectrum, try this simple test: Does it read more like the advice of “Dear Abby” or a college term paper? Keeping it nearer to the advice presented in a column like Ms. Abby is the more popular choice among blog readers. It will captivate, inform, and avoid sending a condescending tone to your audience. Remember, blogs became mainstream because they were originally someone else’s personal thoughts – and readers could relate to that. Keep the same kind of personality tempered with a bit of professionalism throughout for the ultimate mashup in blog style.

3. Employ Friendly Formatting

If I just spoke my mind on and on and never stopped to take a breath and then you had to stop periodically to go back and see what it was that I was originally talking about would you continue to read my blog posts?

Probably not.

A healthy dose of headers, sub headers, bullet points, and summaries will be the golden ticket to your blog’s success. Without it, you’re facing an ugly uphill battle. For blog posts with a word count higher than 200 words, it really helps the readers to break your post up into “points.” As with this post, there are 6 points, introduced, defined by heading, discussed briefly, and then summarized in the closing. Before you shy away from this method because it too closely resembles a high school essay, remember that most readers have a short attention span (oh look duckies!) and will be turned off by rambling sentences that morph into one big ugly blob without the healthy boundaries of some headers. Trust me. It works.

4. Use Pictures

To further break up the monotony that can plague many blog posts, grab a few bold and telling photos to create interest and add some “oomph” to your post. You may choose to insert a high-quality photo for each point in your post, or just randomly add one or two in the body where they seem to fit. Some of our most popular posts we've created for ourselves and our friends feature stunning photography. At the bare minimum, you should have one photo as the header to your post to draw in readers and reinforce your theme or point. 

You can take your own pictures, get Creative Commons material from Flickr, or purchase stock photos. I recommend staying with one method of photos, if possible, however. The beauty of a well-placed stock photo sets a tone in one post that might not be supported by the latter post featuring that grainy iPhone pic you shot at the sports bar last week.

5. Keep It Concise

Say it once. Summarize again. Then leave it alone. 

Even the most experienced bloggers can struggle with "overspeak." Stories about your cousin’s uncle’s dog next door may add valuable insight into your post on pets for children – or it may just take up valuable space. Judge each word accordingly to see if it makes the grade. 

6. Encourage Discussion

My goal is never to start a flame war, but posts with zero comments can leave me feeling bummed. If you thrive on community, appreciate a good link back, and want to educate others on your opinions, you should do all you can to create a supportive structure for commenting (even if the comments are dissenting in nature.) While some topics will create discussion on their own (eating animals, religion, sex, politics, big box stores, spanking, and other “hot topics” come to mind), others will need a nudge to get the party started. End each of your articles with a question for your readers to ponder. 

There is no replacement for excellent writing, but in the blog world, a good formula for success can get you pretty far. The key is in being consistent with your post elements and sincere in your intent. Do you have another “key” element to your blog posts that you feel are non-negotiable?

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