How to Formulate an Effective Blog Post

Well here is my recipe for a fantastic blog post! I’m not sure who coined the term ‘Evergreen Blog Post’, but it’s a great way to describe a post that continually draws traffic to your site. These are the die-hard blog posts that stay in the top search engine results for specific keywords over long periods of time.

Take your time and research your subject

Most successful Evergreen Blog Posts will take time to write. They need attention, preening and primping to get them to perform well in the search engine results pages.
You need to carefully consider the keywords and keyword phrases you are targeting. An Evergreen Blog Post needs to be promoted at the right time, it needs to be given a good launch out into the blogosphere. A post that is well commented on, linked to, shared, re-tweeted, liked and +1’d will have a better chance of soaring up the search engine results pages and staying there.

Evergreen Blog Posts that continually draw traffic to your blog are often how to’s or tutorials – people use the Internet to find information and to learn, you need to target a keyword and become a top resource for that subject – so editing the post to ensure you have used your phrase throughout is vital. Any other of your posts mentioning the keyword that link over to the Evergreen Blog Post will further support you/your post as an authority on the subject.

If you want an Evergreen Blog Post, you need to research the subject thoroughly, looking out for links and images to incorporate from your own resources as well as helpful links from elsewhere on the Internet. Search your blog to find where you may have mentioned this key word in passing previously and edit to add a link wherever appropriate.

What tools are useful for writing an Evergreen Blog Post?

“OMG: I am suddenly struck with an awesome idea for a blog post!”

Ok, deep breath – time is usually short but you need to get this idea recorded! What tools can you use to never let a good idea pass you by and always have great research to hand? It’s not exactly rocket science, but here is the way I tackle these flashes of inspiration.

• Quickly create a new draft post on your blog, type the idea or paste in the link – it might be just 3 words if you have 30 seconds or it could be a stream of consciousness if you have 5 minutes to spare. The idea is then right at the coal face of your blogging, you simply need to hit drafts and all of your yet-to-be-released amazing ideas are staring back at you.
• Create draft posts to record good ideas from your phone if you are out/not near your computer. Look into what you can do with your blog from your phone, often you can e-mail posts. Most of us always have our phones on us – if you don’t then at least carry a notebook and pen.
• Use a bookmarking service (I like Delicious or Pinterest) to record relevant links, or links that inspire. You can easily search through all of these links, especially if you use a specific tag. This is also useful for adding credits and remembering images that may be a good fit for the post.

Evergreen Post Maintenance

• Keep an eye out for opportunities to share the link.
• Keep on-topic forum threads where your link is posted alive.
• Check through for broken link.
• Add any up to date info. Let people know you have edited and updated the post to keep up with the latest developments.
• Refer back with links to the post when writing about connected subjects.
• Seasonal posts can also be popular year-on-year, but they may need optimizing.

Further reading –

• www.bestbloggingtipsonline.com – The Evergreen Strategy for getting more blog traffic.
• www.internetmarketingjam.com – How to write blog posts that stay popular for years and keep growing in value!
• www.marketingartfully.com – Writing Evergreen Keyword Blog Posts.

I like to check the news and comment on it when I write to get people talking! I’m really excited about upcoming Spring Crafts like these from FaveCrafts!

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By: Hillary Pullen for Craft Blog UK
Original post can be found on Craft Blog UK. Republished with Permission.