How to Write Great WordPress Posts
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When helping website owners make their site the best it can be, so that we have a chance at ranking, writing posts always comes up and produces the most groans. Coaching on the dos and don’ts of writing great WordPress posts—posts that are ranked and maybe even shared is something many ask for but have difficulty following through on.
Your posts have to be discovered…
How does that happen? Get into the habit of doing the basics so that your posts get ranked over time.
Otherwise your content will be lost amongst the millions of similar pages unless you know about and consistently implement SEO basics. These basics are not a guarantee — they are the basics that, without implementation, leave you very little chance of any traction.
The next trick when “SEO’ing” is to keep your content readable and compelling. That is, if you have a topic that folks want to read about. No amount of “SEO” will garner eyeballs if there is no interest in the subject.
Even those who consider themselves “authors” aren’t always aware of the formatting and styling that works online to encourage content consumption. Without considering certain things, folks may click away.
Learn to Be a Better Writer
Over the years, a handful of topics have always met with resistance. Learning to write better is most certainly one of them.
Yes, you have things to say, points you want to make, and information you know folks need to know. But if that content is poorly written and structured, you are handicapping yourself from the start.
The online arena has its own set of proven strategies to embrace. It is no longer a build it, and they will come. The reality is that you are lucky if you get found.
Websites are defined by their content. You won’t accomplish realistic goals if the content is shallow and untrustworthy.
That leads to what I always talk about—your E-E-A-T factor. Without E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authority, and Trust), you will have minimal overall success.
While most website owners obsess about their websites’ looks, they should also translate some of that obsession to their content.
Are you guilty of these bad habits?
You should embrace the six points below and consider them in your everyday content creation efforts. While initially challenging, this will become a habit over time.
Post titles that suck.
You’ve heard of clickbait, right? That’s when a title lures the reader to click through based on the promises it infers. Then, it’s a letdown. The content is shallow (usually to get them to click on ads) or not worth the reader’s time.
Make sure that your post content delivers what the title claims. And, not too many ads.
Huge paragraphs that go on and on and on…
While what you say is important to you and may be good stuff, if not properly structured, your great content can appear overwhelming when visitors land on your page.
Online users have the attention span of a gnat. Statistics show the average length of time spent on any blog is 96 seconds — just a minute and a half. And they scan first and, maybe, read after. That’s where the acronym TLDR (too long, didn’t read) comes from.
When the topic is very wordy (2000 words or more), format it with top-of-page Table of Contents navigation and in-page links so visitors can navigate quickly to each section. Another option is to create a series where you break up your post into an easily digestible multi-part series.
Using the Kadence Theme, as I do, is as easy as adding the “Table of Contents Block” as I did above. The Yoast SEO Pro plugin also has this feature.
Over-formatting text with too many styles…
Let your theme’s style sheet format your content (bolding, colors, sizes, etc.). Doing so will allow all your content to display consistently and professionally throughout your website.
When it comes to formatting text, adding additional formatting should be the exception, not the rule.
Posts that are over SEO’d and on the verge of spammy…
We all want the best rankings, but keyword stuffing hasn’t worked for years. Concentrate on the SEO basics, such as including your primary phrase in the post title. Then, pepper that phrase throughout your headlines and post along with variations of the same.
If you want your content to be perceived as credible, always keep front and center that you need to be writing for your site visitors, not search engines. This approach gives you the best chance to convert (order, appointment, contact form).
This is where your online writing skills and experience will pay off. Over time, your writing will improve, and your content will be read and have the best chance of being ranked positively.
PRO TIP: Yoast SEO’s readability tools help you improve your writing skills and SEO. Upgrading to the “Premium” version is worth the cost.
Posts that include photos not correctly formatted or inserted.
We live in a visual world. Photos and graphics help to make your point and enhance your message. But just inserting them willy-nilly doesn’t help make your content look professional.
Here are a few considerations when adding images to your blog posts:
Posts that have no internal links or Call to Action…
Always inform site visitors why you are writing about what you are writing about and what you want them to do. For example, do you want them to read more, subscribe, buy this, or order that? Then, guide them on how to accomplish that goal.
The other extreme is overdoing it. Be too sales-hypey-pitchy, and you’ll lose visitors if your content serves no purpose other than to be the online equivalent of a used car salesman.
When it makes sense to do so, linking to your other posts within the content of a post helps visitors find out more. Internal links also keep readers on your site longer and build your credibility to be that info source worth bookmarking — and doing business with.
Blogs are Serious Business
Having a personal blog to share your thoughts and points of view is one thing. But if you want to be taken seriously, you must approach your content creation as a business would.
By consistently applying the above tips, you can structure your blog content to have the best chance of being read, linked to, shared, and ranked. And that is ultimately the purpose, right?
At your service,
