The 10 Questions Every Blogger Should Ask Before They Hit Publish
Who is your intended audience? The answer to this question dictates how you will proceed. If your audience consists of industry professionals, geeky “inside baseball” language is acceptable. If your audience is consumers, then you’ll need to aim it at someone who may know less about your industry than you do.
Is your post aimed at your readers, and not just a pile of SEO keywords? It’s like a lightbulb going off in every business owners head, and the thought goes like this: “If I just add my keyword 50 times within 400 words, Google will love me!” The reality is they may love you for a short period of time. Then you may find yourself unranked, or worse, unindexed. Plus you will have written a piece that no actual human with a wallet to reach for would bother to read.
What problem does your blog post solve? If a reader took the time to seek you out, they’ve got some kind of problem that they’re dealing with. That’s where you and your copious amounts of industry knowledge come in. If you offer them the solution, they’re more likely to remember you.
What information are you offering? My wife and I just bought a house. Believe me, it’s full of pleasant and unpleasant surprises. I’m not always going to Google “Plumber, Aurora, IL” Instead, I’ll probably Google “Installing a fixture” or “fixing a toilet” or something more specific. If you’re offering me this information now, I may hire you in the future. Even better for you, I may hire you when I scratch my head and think to myself that there’s no way I’m actually doing this.
What are you doing to un-complicate your readers’ lives? While your industry knowledge may seem self-explanatory to you, it’s not to others. The goal with each individual post should be to provide some type of order for your readers. Take some type of complicated information and distill it down. For example, when I mention SEO to a business owner with little technical experience, their eyes gloss over. When I talk with them or write about increasing their visibility within the search engines, information is better received.
What are you doing to make your reader feel like they are not alone? Any time someone faces a problem, there’s a feeling of isolation that goes along with it. Social media is great for creating a sense of community. When you write “how-to” posts or other informative posts, try using inclusive language. For instance, even in a highly technical world, there’s still a lot of businesses that don’t understand SEO. They are not alone.
Did you stick to the point? Make sure your topic is well stated, and stick with it. Don’t let your writing meander. Readers have short attention spans. A post from a plumber on how to fix a toilet does not need information on sinks or bathtubs. You’ve only got a short moment to make an impression. That means giving the intended info quickly.
Is your post written in a conversational, friendly manner? This is really important. Just because you’re communicating in the written form, doesn’t mean it has to read like an academic paper. In fact, in most cases it probably shouldn’t. Think about what you’re wanting to say. How would you tell a friend over coffee? This is closer to the language you should be using.
Is your post free from grammar and spelling mistakes? I harp on this one because it’s so important. Mistakes erode trust, and trust is crucial to building an online relationship. The question in a reader’s mind usually goes something like this…”If they don’t understand the English language, how much can they really know about _________?” The question may be asked consciously or unconsciously. Don’t be giving your readers reasons to move on to the next search result.
Do your readers know what you want them to do? Sometimes this is overlooked. If it’s comments you’re after, ask questions. You can even tell them to comment in the section below. Content marketing is supposed to be about information, but there still needs to be a call to action. Don’t be afraid to occasionally link back to your website pages, and other blogs when appropriate. For example, your blog post “How To Know When You Need A Plumber” needs a link back to your about page.
Do you have a checklist that you like to follow? What’s on there I may have missed? Leave your comments below.
Matt Brennan is a Chicago-area marketing writer and copy editor. He is also the author of Write Right-Sell Now.
Trackbacks/Pingbacks