4 Things You Need To Write Converting Blog Copy

Blogs aren’t just blogs.

Eh?

Think about it. If you’ve been writing blog posts all this time, ask yourself “why?”

To share info or tips with your readers, to find people with common interests, to just sort of vent about your day? Or maybe you haven’t started blogging yet and you’re not quite sure why you should.

The short answer is: conversion.

Conversion should be your primary goal when it comes to blogging. (Unless you just want to journal, in which case, this blog about business blogging is not going to make your day, soz.)

You’ve got something to offer, and can be an incredibly effective way to take your audience from readers of your stuff to buyers of your stuff. Sounds good, right? Hell yeah. Maybe sounds a bit tricky? Nah. Here’s how it’s done.

1. Planning

First, you’ll want to suss out your funnel. Simply put, you want a way to:

• engage readers
• turn some of those readers into subscribers
• turn some of those subscribers into buyers of your stuff, and
• turn some of those buyers into repeat buyers and/or referrers

And so it goes.

I mean, there are a gazbillion articles complete with funky images online that show you what a funnel does – some of them quite complex. This is a super (dooper) simple version for the top part of your funnel, not the reengaging and reselling bit at the skinny end.

When we’re talking about where your blogs fit into the mix you start with: mapping out what you want to stand for, what you want to say (or write), and how each blog fits into the lovely funnel you’re going to create.

Once you’ve planned out your funnel, it’s time to brainstorm some blog topics. Consider how your chosen topics will work together and nudge your reader towards the buying of your stuff. It’s also pretty important to consider what you actually want to write about. If you’re picking topics that you ‘should’ write about but which send you to sleep when you put pen to paper, ditch ‘em.

Write what you know and what you enjoy.

The best blog posts out there are the ones that showcase the writer’s enthusiasm and expertise on their chosen topic – not that are written to tick a box. (Trust me, we – the readers – can tell when you do that!) 

Now, check your calendar. When are you going to publish your blog posts (and share them on your socials)? Take into consideration your audience demographics – if you’re writing for 35 year old working mums, you’re probably not going to get as many click throughs if you publish your posts during the Monday morning get-the-kids-ready-and-out-the-door-oh-crap-I’m-running-late-for-work rush than if you posted them on, say, Friday evening when they’re scrolling Facey with a glass of wine in hand. If you’ve got data from Google Analytics or other nifty website tools, use it to your advantage when planning your blog schedule.

2. Copywriting

It’s my jam. If you need a bit of a hand during the actual writing of the posts, or you’re ready to dig into 4 weeks worth of copy bloggery goodness, check out my DIY options here my Crisp Copy Blogathon course here. There are even a few freebies in there to get you started.) But in the meantime, this blog contains some basics to see you through.

Pick your topic and get writing. Write and write and write some more. This is what I call the vomit draft, and it’s where you put everything about your topic onto paper. You have my full permission to ignore grammar and spelling during this stage of the process. Once you’ve got it all out of your system, it’s time to edit. Cull the fluff, arrange everything into logical order, make use of paragraphs and headings, and give it all a good polish up.

3. Keywords

Congrats, you’ve got a blog post! Well, almost. Have a think about your key words and phrases first. You want to please the Google machine (more on SEO here), so it’s good practice to include even a few obvious key words in your blog. If you’re writing about the importance of sequins in the practice of llama dressage, for instance, have you actually used the words ‘llama’ and ‘dressage’ in your post?

Remember: before your audience reads your blog, they have to be able to find it.

But!

Using SEO keywords isn’t the only way to get your blog in front of the right eyeballs. It’s one option, but there are plenty more – building an engaged email list, social media sharing, guest blogging. Don’t think this is the be-all-and-end-all – good SEO only gets your readers to the door, you’ve gotta convince them to stay. 

4. Blog Titles

And now for the cherry on top of your gorgeous bloggy sundae: the title.

Stick to around 12 words for your title, make sure it captures your post topic, and is a little bit interesting. Depending on your audience you might want to use humour, intrigue, or a bit of drama. Again, it’s important to know your reader and what you want them to do. Engage them and you’ll be on your way to a successful funnel in no time.

You know how you just read through these 4 steps and thought “Heck, think I could manage some of that?” 

Good.

Because these are the 4 exact modules of the Crisp Copy Blogathon, 4 easy to consume modules taking you through how to plan and write blog content faster, easier, and with better conversion. It’s lifetime access, so snaffle it once and keep it for as long as the course exists. Take a look here.