Are you finding it difficult to keep readers on your art blog? In this post, you will discover 5 components all art blog posts must have to keep the readers reading.
5 Components All Art Blog Posts Must Have
People read blog posts differently than books. Most of the content on a blog is skimmed.
Your goal is to keep your readers on your site for as long as you can. This can be done by creating a flow for your audience. Make it easy for them to read and digest your content while providing them a call to action at the end of the post.
According to Tony Haile:
“55% of people spent fewer than 15 seconds actively on a blog page. The stats get a little better if you filter purely for article pages, but even then one in every three visitors spend less than 15 seconds reading articles they land on.“
Why is it so difficult for writers to keep someones attention on a blog post they have written?
Reasons why people are not reading your entire blog posts:
- Too difficult to read on a mobile device.
- The content is not skimmable.
- They are scanning the web where they do not have a lot of time to read an entire post.
- The content is not what they are looking for.
- You didn’t hook them from the beginning.
- It is easy for them to find other content relating to the topic you are writing about.
Art Blog Post Checkoff List
In the beginning, I wondered why people were not reading my posts or leaving after just a few seconds too.
Over the years I have spent a lot of time researching this topic and came up with this check-off list that I use.
This is what I look for in each of my posts:
- Does the first couple of sentences hook the reader and explain what the content is about?
- Am I using Subheadings to make it easier for the reader to find what they are looking for?
- Do I transition one topic to the next?
- Do I provide links to content that supports what I am writing about? Do I link to more detailed information I have written about that relates to the post?
- Do I provide a conclusion at the end of the post?
Learning how to write and blog is a skill that can be learned. I am still learning and trying different ideas to improve my writing so you can get the information you are looking for.
Now that you know what I am looking for in each of my posts, I am going to discuss them in more detail so you can incorporate them into your art blog posts.
Opening Paragraph
Besides the title, the opening paragraph is the most important part of your post. What you write for the introduction will either have your reader go to a different blog or continue to read further.
The first couple of sentences will need to convince the reader that your post is valuable and will solve their problem.
Let’s take a look at the opening paragraph of this post.
Are you finding it difficult to keep readers on your art blog? In this post, you will discover 5 components all art blog posts must have to keep the readers reading.
I start by asking a question about a problem that the reader might have. I then follow-up with what they will learn from the post.
If the reader needs a solution to the question I have asked they will continue to read because I clearly outlined what I will be covering.
The introduction is short and to the point.
The meat of the content will follow.
Subheadings
Subheadings will provide two benefits.
First, using H2 tags helps Google and other search engines to understand what your content is focusing on. This allows the search engines to refer your content to the right people. The people who are interested in what you are writing about.
The second benefit is to make it easier for your readers to find what they are looking for.
Most of the time people search for content because they need a solution to a problem they have.
They might only need a bit of information to help them solve their problem.
Using subheadings will make it easy for your readers to gather the information they are searching for.
No one wants to read 2,000 words when they are in a hurry and just need a few sentences to help them solve a problem.
Would you like to read for fifteen minutes just to find out how many eggs you need to bake a birthday cake?
Content Flow
Besides using subheadings in your posts, you should focus on bridging your thoughts together.
Each section should easily transition to the next.
If you jump around from topic to topic, you will lose your reader’s attention. The outcome will be your reader visiting a different site.
You might want to consider writing different posts if your thoughts stray too far away from the main topic.
Focusing on the main point of the post will help you to create a flow for your readers.
By going from one point to the next without taking a left-turn and talking about something that does not relate to the post will keep your readers on your page.
Links
Internal links and external links provide value to your readers.
An internal link will link to a more detailed post you have written.
For example, above I linked to an article I wrote about internal links. If someone wants to learn more about internal links they can click on the link to learn more. By doing this I am creating a better experience for my audience by keeping the posts short and to the point while linking to more detailed posts in case they are looking for more information.
External links are a great way for you to back up your thoughts.
At the beginning of this post, I linked to a quote that Tony Haile wrote which supports the main point of this post. Doing this makes the post more credible.
Not only do external links make your content more credible, it also helps you to get noticed by influencers. The people who you link to will notice that you are supporting them and their blog posts. Most bloggers will return the favor by linking back to your site. External links will show Google that you are an authority in your niche and might help you to rank higher in the search results.
Conclusion
A good article will answer:
- Why
- How
- What
The introduction will answer why you should read the post. The main part of the post will answer how to solve the problem and the conclusion answers what you have learned.
Many bloggers forget the conclusion of a blog post.
Why is a conclusion important for your posts?
Studies have been shown that a lot of blog readers will read the introduction of the post then scroll down to the conclusion to see if the article is worth reading.
Keep in mind that most people who read blog posts only skim the content. You want to do everything you can to keep them on your page for as long as you can.
Conclusion:
In this post, you have discovered 5 components all art blogs must have. Now it is time to put them into action.
After writing your posts answer these questions:
- Do the first couple of sentences hook the reader and explain what the content is about?
- Am I using Subheadings to make it easier for the reader to find what they are looking for?
- Do I transition one topic to the next?
- Do I provide links to content that supports what I am writing about? Do I link to more detailed information I have written about that relates to the post?
- Do I provide a conclusion at the end of the post?
In time this will become a habit and you will always be writing great posts your audience will enjoy.
Are you incorporating all of these components in your posts? Which ones do you struggle with?
I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments section below.
You might also be interested in:
- Starting an Art Blog
- How to Build an Audience for Your Blog -Sell Art Online
- Evaluate Your Last Years’ Art Blogging Efforts
- How My Blog on Art Marketing Reached 25,000 Monthly Views
- How to Optimise Your Art Blog Posts with LSI Keywords
28 Day Blogging Challenge for Visual Artists
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