Statistics from Content Marketing Institute revealed that blog post titles with eight words, at least, received a higher click-through rate of 21%.

We work with this piece of information to craft longer titles that cover the subject matter we are writing on in its entirety. For example, our case study article title is made up of 12 words - “The 7 Best Free and Paid SEO Tools to Use in 2021.”

Shorter title lengths are not a good choice since they limit our target audience’s content knowledge.

Crafting titles that end with either a question mark or exclamation marks will catch your readers’ attention and get them interested in reading your content. Curiosity is a major motivating factor for getting people to do something, and in this case, it will get people to want to know what you have to offer.

Statistics show that adding a colon or hyphen to your title attracts up to 9 percent more clicks. Punctuations like these can also shed more light on the topic and convince your audience that you know what you are saying.

It's always a great idea to convert general titles with specifics like the year of publishing, or number of tips/insights/resources shared inside your blog post.

In general, this helps trigger more clicks and engage more readers to consume your content.

We always introduce our articles with a question. Why?

Posing a question that your readers might be asking can keep them hooked to your content.

Questions are compelling if you know how to use them.

Sometimes, we opt for rhetorical questions that just seek to make a point, but at other times, we pose questions that will prompt our readers to think.

Here’s an example from our case study:

In our case study example, we went easy on our introductory question to get our readers interested without getting them overwhelmed or lost in thought. Hence, anyone experiencing difficulty with SEO will identify with the question and want to dive into the content.

So, with our kind of question, we highlight a pain point to let readers know that we understand their problem and they have come to the right place for answers.

In addition, we add questions within the content to sustain readers’ attention so they don’t quickly lose interest in the blog post.

Here’s an example:

However, note that it is essential to quickly back a question up with an answer.

Stating an exciting fact or statistical data is a great way to let your readers know you are well versed in issues relating to them directly.

Statistical information that is uncommon and shocking will get your readers hooked. At the same time, unrelated and uninteresting facts or data will be tedious, confusing, and even give readers a wrong impression of y0u.

Here’s an example:

We like to ensure that our statistics are current and authoritative sources, which we will always link to for verification purposes.

Story-telling is another fundamental technique that we use in our introduction to keep readers interested in the content.

A good story can do wonders for your content. Here's how:

Life is about stories because we are surrounded by stories - ours and those of other people.

We cannot overemphasize the power of introducing your article with a good story. Therefore, our stories are often short and end in a way that links to the content.

Look at this example:

In this example, we briefly took our readers on a journey of man’s quest for ways to make their work easier. Then, we related it to how SEO makes digital marketing more manageable.

There are a few techniques we use in storytelling:

• Depict a person, object, or place in your story

• Use words that appeal to your readers’ five senses

• Use stories as examples, not the entire content

• Make your stories relatable

• Your stories should align with the center-point of your blog post

• Keep them short, simple, and interesting

Sometimes we go for fiction, but other times, we use natural, credible, and relatable stories. We aim to lure our readers into reading more and following our line of thought. However, we keep our stories short and only use them to convey a particular message to our audience.

According to a Harvard University professor, Gerald Zaltman, 95% of the purchasing process is emotional.

Writing is a primarily emotional process, and it is essential to note that people will only patronize your product or service because they have a pain point.

But what are these pain points?

Pain points are problems that your prospective customers are experiencing.

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Let’s identify some of the pain points of digital marketers:

• Not sure if marketing efforts are working

• Winning over new clients

• Need more current data

• Too many competitors

• Dealing with unresponsive and dissatisfied clients

• Keeping up with the latest digital marketing trends

• Creating a talent pool

Well, the list can go on and on.

Mentioning one or more of these pain points at the beginning of your blog post will grab users’ attention and get them emotional. They’ll begin to see reasons why they need your products or services.

How can you position yourself as a potential solution?

The aim of identifying customers’ pain points is to get them thinking and looking for a solution.

To achieve this, you need to make the problem hurt by elaborating on their experiences and issues created by the pain point. Then, dig deeper into the problem so that customers will be more eager to find a solution.

Now that your customers are eager for a solution to their problem, what next?

Offer them a solution that works. It could be a product, service, or any tool that will end the problem you just agitated.

Here’s an example from our case study article:

We leveraged the PAS formula, but not in a very conventional way. Instead, we gave the formula a little twist by offering a solution before diving into the problem immediately after, and then we brought up the answer again.

Use FOMO power words in your titles or headlines, such as:

• Eye-opening
• Myths
• Top Secret
• Classified
• Restricted
• Censored
• Confidential
• Hidden
• Unique
• Unheard of
• Withheld, etc.

Leverage exclusivity in your content, e.g., special offers for subscribers, member-only offers, content, tips, resources, etc.

Make your offers and content time-restricted. Always use legit scarcity elements, and avoid hype at all costs.

Offer readers secret or restricted information to increase their curiosity and interest.

What kind of graphics should you avoid in your content?

(1) Stock images are easy to get but often commonplace and do not infuse much meaning to your content. You want your readers to pause, look at your pictures, and even share them, not to scroll right past them. So, stock images are simply too generic and will not give you the desired result unless you use them as a background image for a text you want to add.

Another type of graphics to avoid using in your long-form blog posts is the (2) royalty-free image. They are often worse than stock images in terms of image quality. In addition, these images will reduce the rate of your article, won’t get you backlinks, and could even make you lose traffic.

Which graphics are the best?

Instead, use graphics that are unique, attractive, and contextually relevant to your blog post. If you have the time, you can create custom graphics for each of your blog posts. But if you decide to save more time, you can opt for third-party pictures instead.

Pictures that go along with text are more manageable for readers to remember than just plain text.  According to research, readers retain 10% of the content they read after three days, but retention increases to 65% if images accompany the text.

Blog posts with graphs and charts attract the attention of data lovers. They prove the value of a point you are trying to make, and niche blogs love to link back to them. Data-rich posts with graphs and charts are ever-green, even if they may not appeal to everyone.

We love using third-party graphs and charts in our content to elaborate on some points or data we mentioned. In addition to generating natural backlinks, they also attract more traffic and increase rankings in SERPs.

Screenshots are also vital when describing products or tools. You can easily explain your points by using screenshots, just as we have done in this article. Blog posts that depend on screenshots include reviews, tutorials, Tips & Tricks, How To’s, etc. They help to describe different steps of a process for easier comprehension.

Illustrations add a lot of meaning to a blog post. They make your posts more memorable and easier to digest. Also, they are not quite common, so leveraging them will allow you to stand out from the crowd as a more original writer. 

Furthermore, your descriptions should look professional and effectively reflect your brand’s tone and message.

Most bloggers prefer to design their illustrations themselves to enable them to convey their message better. It is a time-consuming process but very rewarding in terms of engagement and backlinks. However, some bloggers copy these images and do not send backlinks. To avoid this from happening, endeavor to add your website address or logo to your illustrations.

Infographics are much loved for their ability to generate many social shares. With infographics, you can compile different information in one single image. As a result, they attract natural backlinks and boost traffic.

Although we do not often include animated graphics in our blog posts, they are also very effective in boosting engagement. They are not easy to generate compared to other images but effectively grab readers’ attention.

Often used in influencer marketing, quotes are valuable for increasing your reach as a content marketer. Creating custom graphics using quotes from influencers in your niche will make your content more powerful, memorable, and easier to share.

Add keywords to image file names

Keywords are crucial for SEO and constitute a significant image ranking factor. We include keywords in our image file names, then separate each word with a hyphen so that search engines can easily recognize them. Unfortunately, search engines do not recognize underscores.

Include image descriptions

Image descriptions, which we place below each image, provide an opportunity for us to add keywords to our image captions, which will improve our readers’ experience and boost SEO. Around 150 characters are alright for image descriptions.

Alt tags help to describe images and what they represent. They are created for search engines and are only seen by users when an image refuses to load. Alt tags provide context with which Google indexes your visual content. Also, they give readers an idea of what photo is on the page if it doesn’t load.

It gives your blog post a nice layout

Users can find specific information faster.

It improves on-page time.

Tracks the more vital segments of your content

Improves bounce rates

Shorten your paragraphs

Shorter paragraphs will make your article look less cramped and increase the whitespace around and between the content. Typically, we use a maximum of three short sentences per paragraph.

Use bullet points to break up text

Bullet points help to convert long (sometimes boring), information-rich paragraphs to bite-sized content so they can stand out and be noticed. Your readers can see vital information on your post with bullet points, and your writing will look less choked up.

Use clear and concise headings

Headings are great for your readers and search engines. Your long-form blog post will have a hierarchical structure, and readers will understand your content better when you use them correctly. Also, they help to break up your content using H-tags such as H1, H2, H3, H4, and H5.

For SEO purposes, you can add your keywords or keyphrases in your headings.

Use the right tone and writing style for the right audience

Find out if your audience will prefer a conversational tone, humor, or something more formal. Knowing the right one to use will keep your audience interested in your blog post.

Your blog post needs some forms of design to improve readability. The typography or font you choose will determine whether your write-up will be easy for people to read or not. So, take your font size and style into consideration and give readers lots of white spaces and a good experience on your page.

Colors are equally important as a good contrast will help blend your text into your website’s background and make it easier for visually impaired or colorblind audiences to read your content.

Both, inner and outbound links count!

Hyperlinks are excellent for your content but don’t overdo it. Include a couple of hyperlinks to authoritative sites but space them out as much as you can so as not to overwhelm your readers.

Also, inner page linking (done right) is essential to your blog’s growth and overall SEO results and rankings. This is where you link to other relevant and targeted pages, posts, and sections on your website, using related keywords and key phrases.

How can readers get in touch with you?

A CTA or call to action is necessary to direct your readers to take the next step intended to convert them.

Example:

We try to make your CTAs as inviting as possible to increase conversions.

You can also share a clear and concise link with a precise header to get your readers’ attention.

Edit and proofread your articles.

For maximum performance and productivity, perform this task the next day, after you're done with the actual writing.

Humans are the best editors. But after proofreading, we use Grammarly to double-check and edit our articles so we can catch mistakes (grammatical and spelling errors) we might have missed while proofreading.