Back again with more tips on becoming a star blogger
Today we’re taking a closer look at how you can create the perfect blog post. It can be quite a challenge—something those working in content marketing will likely relate to.
Finding topics can be tough, especially the good ones. If you’ve been blogging for a while, you might feel like you’ve already covered everything you find relevant.
I often get questions about what to write in a blog post, and many also ask about visual content—should it include images?
To keep it short, there are many things to consider when writing the perfect blog post. So here are some tools to help you crush it.
Let’s dive in!
Finding topics
Finding topics is one of the hardest parts for many bloggers. It’s easy at first—you have a lot to say—but that can fade, which can be frustrating (I’ve been there myself!).
So, what can you do when that happens?
The best part of working in the online world is just that—you’re online. This means you have access to a range of tools for generating new blog content.
Let’s look at a few of them.
Buzzsumo
Buzzsumo is a tool that gathers content from across the internet and ranks it based on how often it’s shared on social media. Super handy. It helps you discover which topics or blog posts from your competitors perform best.
For example, I follow a guy from the US named Neil Patel. He works in the same field as I do and is one of the most respected in the industry. If you enter the name of his blog “Quicksprout.com” into Buzzsumo, you’ll get a list of his most popular posts.
You can also see which platforms perform best for him—which might be useful insight if you’re in the same industry. Chances are, the same would apply to your business.
Try searching for a topic like “content marketing” in Buzzsumo, and you’ll get a list of highly viral content. Pretty smart.
Even if you choose one main topic, you can easily draw in several subtopics—and Buzzsumo is a great tool to help identify which areas to combine so you can create one comprehensive post.
Keyword tool planner
If you’ve been working in online marketing for a while, you’re probably familiar with Google’s Keyword Tool Planner. It’s often used in connection with Google Ads.
It works by letting you search for keyword terms to see what people are searching for, how competitive the terms are, and it also helps you identify long-tail keywords (longer phrases that are easier to rank for).
This can help inspire headlines like:
- 5 ideas for quick and delicious dinners
- 10 easy recipes every student can afford and find time to make
Issuu.com
One of the world’s largest publishing platforms, Issuu, is a great source of inspiration. You’ll likely find tons of magazines or publications in your niche.
Why not grab some inspiration from them?
A quick search for “marketing” gave me several magazines. I picked one on content marketing and opened it on Issuu. The first thing I saw was the table of contents—which is gold.
While you now have to create a profile to browse many magazines, some are still accessible.
Based on what you find, you’ll surely come up with some blog topics. Here are a few examples:
- 5 tools and tactics for content marketing
- 5 tips to structure your content marketing campaigns
- 5 steps to educate your audience through content marketing
Simple, right? And the resources are already in the magazine. You can also search the web for your new title to get more related articles for inspiration or different angles.
Amazon.com
This method is quite similar. Go to Amazon and look up a marketing book. I chose Growth Hacker by Ryan Holiday—I’ve read all his books, and he’s sharp!
Click on the cover to open the preview. Like Issuu, you get access to the table of contents without needing to buy the book (though I do recommend it!).
And voilà—more topic ideas! If you need help spotting them, here are a few:
- 5 tips to finding your growth hack
- Step-by-step guide to finding product-market fit
- 5 must-try ways to make your content go viral
A great (and free) tool for finding inspiration for new posts. If you read a lot of industry-related books, there are loads of ideas waiting to be used. I often draw inspiration from the books I read.
Other helpful tips
- Optimize old content and consider adding new sources. Older posts often drive the most traffic because they rank best in Google.
- Make sure to cite sources when you’re not 100% confident in the topic.
- Don’t be afraid to link to others. It shows you’ve done your research. It’s about giving your readers the best content—not hoarding it.
The headline
Crafting the best headline deserves its own section. Only 2 out of 10 people will read your full post. The other 8 will only see the headline—so it has to grab their attention immediately.
Are your headlines good enough? 8 out of 10 only read the title.
Good tips for writing headlines
- Keep it to around 65 characters
- Limit it to about 6 words
- Be specific
- Make sure the headline matches the content
- Include numbers (e.g. 100 cat videos you need to see before you die)
- Use emotional or strong adjectives
Formatting
Another critical factor when writing blog posts is formatting. Many believe that just dumping a lot of text will work—it often doesn’t.
Post length can vary, and it’s worth analyzing your blog readers’ behavior. Tools can show how long people read before bouncing, helping you determine an ideal post length.
If you don’t want to analyze, just ask five readers. Or ask family and friends when they start losing interest. If you have too much to say, split the content into a series.
Some quick data
Medium.com found, through its tracking tools, that people spend about 7 minutes on a blog post. That equals roughly 1,600 words, depending on how many images are included.
Mention influencers and industry leaders
If you’re an experienced blogger, you probably know others in your niche. Mentioning industry leaders or well-known bloggers can pay off—they’re likely to notice when their name is included.
In a future post about social media, I might link to a well-known expert and then email them asking if they’d consider sharing it—if they find it valuable. You’re giving them exposure, which benefits everyone. Remember, it’s all about providing value to your readers, even if that means linking to others.
Link to their content → Send a short email → Hope they share it.
Visual layout
There are many great themes for WordPress. If you find a good one, it can elevate your blog significantly.
Personally, I use a theme called Total—it’s flexible enough that you can even build a webshop with it. Being familiar with WordPress, I’ve customized it to suit my style and needs.
If you want to see how a solid layout looks, check out a layout draft I created for Trendsonline. It’s simple and inspired by big sites like Medium and Entrepreneur.
Setup of Trendsonline.dk
Final layout tips
- Make sure your blog is easy to read on mobile. A clunky mobile experience turns people away.
- Test your site speed with tools like Google Speed Test.
- Add interactive elements like quizzes or games to engage readers. The more involved your users are, the more loyal they become.
- Reply to comments. It builds relationships with your audience and increases engagement.
- Include data in your blog posts. As shown in this post, data adds credibility and supports your points.
- Optimize images to be clear but lightweight. WordPress offers several tools to help with this.
Conclusion
Phew! That was quite the list. But as you can see, there are tons of tools out there to help you write the perfect blog post.
If you use any tools I didn’t mention, feel free to share them in the comments below!
Just remember—nothing beats writing from the heart and making a real difference for your readers. That’s gold.
That’s the difference between a good blogger and a great one. Don’t just think about what’s in it for you. Think about how lucky you are to share knowledge that others can use to grow.
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