SYLVIANE NUCCIO

How to Write a Blog Post that People are Yearning to Read

Write blog post people yearn to read
June 14, 2016 Business, Writing And Blogging

Write blog post people yearn to read

If you write in a clear, concise and easy way to understand, people will love you for it.

But to be able to write in a manner that people will want to read your blog post every time you publish one, it’s going to take yet a little more than just that.

In this post, I’m going to discuss everything you need to know to be able to write the type of blog posts that people are yearning to read.

A Clear and Easy to Understand Approach

An author friend of mine once told me that every time he read my articles it was very hypnotizing and he wanted to keep reading. He talked about my writing being so clear and easy to understand, that it pushes you to keep reading.

Even though I would listen to compliments like that all day long, I’m not saying it to brag about myself.

I’m saying this to show you that I think I can help you with your writing whether you want to learn from me or want to me to write for you.

On the other hand, I know a few writers who are actually very tough to read. Even though they are professional writers, I feel like an idiot when I read them, because I can’t even understand what I’m reading.

I’m sure you’ve come across some of such writers, haven’t you?

You know who I’m talking about right? The type of writers that make you feel that you can barely understand the language you’re reading in. Yes, that type of writer. They are out there.

And while they may have their niche of elite intellectuals that love them, they are not going to be your niche of potential buyers. Trust me.

As a business owner who blogs to attract his audience, if you make anyone feel that you are way up there, they’ll leave your blog and check for the one that’s going to be easier to read and more welcoming.

Now, that’s not something you want to happen, do you?

William Zinsser, the author of the book On Writing Well said that the best way to make sure you are writing for all kind of public is to simplify your content to a max.

He also said this about Writers: “Clutter is the disease of American writing. We are a society strangling in unnecessary words, circular constructions, pompous frills and meaningless jargon.”

To make your writing clearer and easier to understand, Zinsser’s basic formula is edit, edit, edit and edit some more.

His advice is to chop off anything that’s not needed (not vital for the context of your piece).

Basically, cut off any fluff words that are there just for the sake of being there, while not adding anything vital to the meaning of the article.

Here is an example:

Faced with such a variety of obstacles, the reader is at first a remarkable tenacious bird. He tends to blame himself. He obviously missed something, he thinks and he goes back over the mystifying sentence, or over the whole paragraph.

Can you find anything you could do without?

What about taking these out…

Faced with such a variety of obstacles, the reader is at first a remarkable tenacious bird. He tends to blame himself. He obviously missed something, he thinks and he goes back over the mystifying sentence, or over the whole paragraph.

The final cut could be…

Faced with these obstacles, the reader is at first a remarkable tenacious bird. He blames himself, obviously missing something, and goes back over the mystifying sentence, or over the whole paragraph.

As you can see here, no vital word has been taken off, but what has been taken off were useless words that only made the sentence heavier.

This is just a very short paragraph example, but if you have too many of these all throughout an 800-2,000 word blog post that’s going to weigh down your writing tremendously and you are going to lose on effectiveness.

Now add to this a few jargons and out-there kind of words that barely anyone understands, and you’ve lost your reader for good.

You see, there is a huge difference between being a fancy writer for some elite audience, and a blogger trying to promote your business to the public at large.

So, keep in mind that you need to write in a simple and clear way to make sure that anyone can not only understand what you’re saying, but want to read more about what you have to say.

However, no matter how efficient this is, being clear and concise is not enough. There are other aspects of writing that you need to include in your content. Some of which may surprise you.

Develop TRUE Empathy

The number one quality that you should develop in order to create blog posts that are going to bring you the type of traffic and business that you want is empathy.

Yes, empathy!

Not the type of empathy that you see most marketers employ by using selling techniques that are meant to remind the reader of his problem only to tell them that they have THE solution to their problem.

If this slick marketing tactic works to some extent, people are not stupid and I feel that anyone can see through it eventually.

Not to be mean, but there are some well-known online marketers using these tactics, and for having tried to get to know some of them, I can assure you that they are very disappointing when you do.

Don’t be like them, for your own benefit.

If you manage not to fall into the trap of trying to con your message with fake empathy, but rather put yourself in the shoes of your reader and truly use your content to convey the message that you have a solution for them, then you have defeated those slick marketers who use people’s feelings as marketing triggers, because you are real.

Do not see your reader as a faceless number, but rather as a real person with a specific problem, that you feel you can help them solve.

I can assure you that honesty always pays off in the end. If you are real to your audience, they’ll feel it and they’ll respond to your message accordingly.

But if you’re not, the same rules apply.

Write as if you were Speaking to a Friend

Whatever you do, don’t sound like a robot.

Even if your blog post must have a corporation tone to it, it’s still important that you maintain a conversational writing style.
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I have a few clients for whom I write corporation style blog posts, yet I use that conversational style, because I always keep in mind that no matter what type of blog I’m writing for, there is a real person on the other side of the computer screen, and they don’t care on what type of blog they landed on.

What they care about is can this help me in any way?

Don’t Confuse Copywriting and Blog Writing

When you write a sales letter, you write to convince someone to buy a product or a service. The sale is pretty much the motivator, even if you’re doing your best to show real empathy.

However, when you write a blog post you write to inform and educate. Do not ever make a blog post sound like a sales letter.

While this tactic is much less common today, it used to be very common in a rather recent past.  And if you are new to blogging you might fall into this trap which won’t serve you well.

Keep in mind that there is little chance that you are going to make a sale with a one-time reader. It’s going to take time to build that relationship.

That’s what your blog is for, so you can use it to build that relationship with your reader by giving them top-notch tips and advice while showing them your expertise in the matter.

This formula has worked and continues working for all the successful business bloggers out there.

Remember that if you use each of these tips each time you write a blog post, you’re bound to get it done right. And when you do, your reader is bound to want to read your blog post every time.

Sylviane Nuccio

66 thoughts on “How to Write a Blog Post that People are Yearning to Read”

  1. Hi Sylviane. I completely agree with you. When I read a post that starts out telling me that I’m not getting any traffic to my blog, or that I’m sick and about to die, I leave immediately. I don’t like reading posts that are so heavy handed. You need to connect with your reader, not make them feel like an idiot.

    Thanks for sharing your tips. They are very good advice.
    Ben invites you to read..How to Maintain Your Water FilterMy Profile

    1. Hi Ben,

      I love what you’re saying here. I totally agree. I am so glad that I didn’t make you feel this way with my post.

      Thanks for your comment.

      ~Sylviane

  2. Hi Sylviane,

    I always try to keep my post conversational. When I first started writing my posts were very stiff and rigid. I thought that sounding like an authority would make it seem more official but it just came across boring and lecture-y. I’ve learned there are ways to get your readers to trust what you’re saying without making them feel like a kid that did something wrong.

    ~Lea
    Lea Bullen invites you to read..How to Improve Your Life Without Doing Too MuchMy Profile

    1. Hi Lea,

      That’s totally right. The more rigid and cold your writing, the less likely people will want to read, actually.

      Thanks for sharing your experience.

      ~Sylviane

  3. Hey Sylviane,

    We always have to remember that we are writing for real people. Empathy is vital when it comes to maintaining the attention of your readers and giving them a reason to keep coming back to your blog.

    Yes, I’ve read quite a few blogs where they have their own “jargon”. It’s much less enjoyable and engaging to read these types of blogs, and I didn’t stay too long myself for each of these types of blogs I ran into. I can only imagine how many others left those blogs without finish reading them.

    Thanks for the reminder Sylviane!
    Sherman Smith invites you to read..Conquering The Fear Of Publishing Your New Blog PostMy Profile

    1. Hi Sherman,

      Indeed, those jargon word blogs are not speaking to anyone not knowing the jargon.

      Having studies the marketing side of content I’ve learned that even words that I felt most people would be accustomed to, are not ideal. So, we really need to be careful with those.

      Thanks for coming and have a wonderful weekend.

      ~Sylviane

  4. Hi Sylviane,

    Besides my last blog post which I did get carried away with, I do write things keeping it simple. When having empathy for the reader and writing about a solution to a problem, keep it short and simple. This way the reader goes away with an idea or something to act upon. That’s so simple but people usually make things complicated for themselves.

    Clutter: I cannot stand going to read something and it is full of clutter and various topics. If I want to learn about a butterfly, just write about that! Don’t tell me about squirrels. You get the picture…I know you do.

    You are such an awesome writer and I always get amazing tips from you.

    -Donna

    1. Hi Donna,

      Yes, it’s very important to stay on topic and not going all over the place. It’s hard to stay on track at times.

      Thank you so much for your kind words.

      Have a wonderful weekend.

      ~Sylviane

  6. Hi Sylviane,
    You have just reminding me those writers who just write but I dont understand their languages. Although they are professional.
    I like to write always in conversational ways and love to read those articles which writen with simple language.
    You are awesome because I did not get bored while reading this article.
    Yes I am agree that there is a difference between a sales letter and a blog post.
    Nice information and thanks for sharing.
    Cheers
    Riju Debnath invites you to read..4 Essential Blogging Investments Strategies for BeginnersMy Profile

    1. Hi Riju,

      That’s great news to me that you didn’t get bored while reading my post. Goal accomplished 🙂

      Thank you for coming.

      Have a great weekend.

      ~Sylviane

  7. Hi Sylviane
    This is definately a problem that I was facing with feew of the people who are working with me. They used to write a huge article with alot of information but when I used to read the article for myself I used to find alot of mistakes. And one of the major mistake being that each line had a whole different meaning in the article which eventulaly decreased the interest of the readers as could see the daily traffic would go lower when I wasnt working on the particular site.

    And now that have found a simple soultion to it through your article I would like to thank you for helping me out. Thank you sommuch.

  8. Hey Sylviane,
    According to my point of view if I am to make my article attractive for my readers that they should read then my article should be meaning full, reader-friendly & most important it should be conversational.
    Your points are also right. I will try to include all these steps in my coming article soon.
    Thanks for sharing an informative content

  9. Hi, Sylviane

    That 4 points really target the heart of how to write a good post.

    One point stood out of me is the simple, clear content. Kind of feeling very irritated by the unnecessary long post with many non-common words. They may be brain-washed by the idea that the longer the post, the better will be the rating by Google. When I started my blog about a year ago, I don’t like to tweet in twitter because just 140 letters. Now I look forward to have chances to share the contents from FB to twitter because I have to edit, edit, edit, …. until 140 letters.

    Thanks for the information.

    Stella Chiu
    Stella Chiu invites you to read..7 Ways to achieve Life with BalanceMy Profile

    1. Hi Stella,

      I’m glad you enjoyed the topic of this post, and like simple and clear content. I do too.

      Even in videos, I can’t stand it when people are rambling. They don’t realize that it takes some much away from their message. Clear and concise works for any type of content.

      Thank you for coming, and you have a wonderful weekend.

      ~Sylviane

  10. Definitely with great content, but especially went somebody who is searching to find solution for their problem, they would read it pretty much everything. Thanks for this great post.

  11. Hi, Sylviane,

    An another amazing post from you, In these days we see many blogs popping out everyday so it is very vital to create a meaningful blogpost which tend people to read that. Many thanks to provide wonderful tips about the same

  12. Hi, I am a new blogger so wanted to make my content attractive, so that people stick with it. I duly face problems while writing new article….
    Now reading your tips I will certainly apply this on my next blogging, thanx for the post.

  14. Hi Sylviane,

    Sharing my personal issue, writing a good blog, or making a quality content has been always a hard task for me. I had to work harder on it, yet to be cross many milestone though. This is my fortunate day, I have reached your blog and learnt something essential.

    1. Hi Vinayashree,

      I’m so glad you found my blog and that you found value in here.

      Hope you’ll come back. I’ve also just published a brand new free eBook for new entrepreneurs that you can download from here too.

      ~Sylviane

  18. Your proven advice is spot on Sylviane!

    And I definitely agree, you should never try and write your blog post, as if you’re writing a sales letter!That is excellent advice.

    The other thing you mentioned, regarding some of the well known online marketers, using
    phony empathy marketing tactics, for no other reason, than trying to generate sales!

    Sadly, far too many aspiring marketers, fall into that trap!Thanks for reminding us, not to go
    down that road!
    Mark invites you to read..How To Make Your Advertising Dollars Work Up To Up 500% Harder Than You Do!My Profile

    1. Hi Mark,

      Yes, sadly aspiring marketers fall into that trap. I know I had in the past too because that’s what I was taught. This is what I call business cult which I will be addressing in a post when I get back from vacation.

      Thank you so much for your feedback.

      ~Sylviane

  20. Hi Sylviane,

    Valuable points are mentioned on content writing.

    I agree with the points which is mentioned above. Actually at initial stage i did the mistakes as mentioned. then only i realize my mistakes and tried to improve the quality of the my blog contents.

    The steps adopted by mine is matches with you.

    Dear friends the above mentioned are really worthful. It will bring positive change in your traffic.

    Thank you.
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  23. Hey Sylviane,

    That was an excellent take from your end. I hate the idea that people write contents for search engines instead of readers these days. However, if someone gives importance to the value of the content, it is certain that search engines would love such contents, too. That’s how the whole system should work.

    Thanks for such a meaningful explanation.

    ~ Rahul

    1. Hi Rahul,

      Well, it’s not done as much today, but it was so common in the past. The only reason it stopped it’s because Google stop ranking this type of content a few years back.

      Thanks for your feedback.

      ~Sylviane

  27. Hi Sylviane,
    Thanks for writing such an amazing piece of content. One of the problems that I had from the beginning in blogging, is my article is not read, shared, converted by my visitors. Just for this, I am kinda sad.
    By the way, I have read this article from the beginning go the last line of it, hope it helps. And for sure, I’d let you know if these steps help me.
    Thanks again.
    ~Shakir
    Shakir Hassan invites you to read..Logitech HD Pro Webcam C920 Review – Explained in Plain EnglishMy Profile

    1. Hi Shafi,

      Yes, that’s exactly what happens. For the most part blog posts are very repetitive with nothing really sticking out. If we are going to base our business results on our blog we must learn to write content that’s attractive, otherwise, it just won’t work.

      Thank you for coming by and for your comment.

      ~Sylviane

  30. Awesome post ! Thanks for sharing. From my experience, i learnt 3 things. i.e Make the post content rich with high quality images, Use Examples when ever necessary, and Most noteworthy, your information should actually target some set of people.

  32. The most important aspect of writing an article is trying to educate not trying to sell. As you mentioned copywriting and blog writing both are different things.
    Great post.

  33. Hi Sylviane Nucci,

    Thanks for this awesome writing. I have a question. Please make me grateful giving proper advice to overcome this. I usually work on my blog at least 10 hours per day but why I can’t get proper traffic? I’ve performed a lot of ways of SEO like Blog commenting, Web 2.0 link building, Directory submission, Guestbook posting etc. But yet I’ve seen a positive result. Of course, I’ve used “White hat SEO” method while performing SEO. Although, I’m ignoring by Google. Why? Will I need to make long my working period than before?
    I am eagerly waiting for your kind reply.

    Thanks
    Sadhan Pal

  34. Thanks for your nice article containing the necessary information. It’ll help the new buddies like me to enhance their skill.

  35. Hi Sylviane,
    A great post! Thanks for sharing. You explained everything very detailly and in a simple way that even a non-techie can understand. These tips helped me a lot to improve my way of writing a blog post as I am a newbie to the Digital Marketing World.

  37. Hey Sylviane, i’ve recently started writing blog posts and sometimes it can get really difficult to generate some kind of interaction with readers and getting them to comment. But i found your article really interesting and i will definitely try to followw your great tips. Thanks a lot

  38. Hey Sylviane,

    Awesome post having the immense information about the way of writing blog post! I am totally agreeing with you that writing manners should be readers friendly. Conventional blog helps to build healthy relation with readers and healthy relations can increase traffic.

    We should always keep in mind that we are blogging in the virtual world but not for the robots. Thus, the conventional blogging is very necessary to connect with the readers. Thanks for sharing such a useful post.

    Keep sharing and have a wonderful day ahead.

    With regards,

    Suraj Kumar

  39. Hello! Sylviane.

    It is my first visit to your blog which was joyous. A learned a lot from this post (which is very precise).

    I will look to apply those strategic tips in my blog post which you have mentioned above.

    I would like to join a tactic that one should use a user-engaging featured image in your blog posts to make it more informative and clicky.

    Thanks For Sharing.
    Regards,
    Prakhar.
    Prakhar Shrivastav invites you to read..20+ Female Bloggers shared their content development strategiesMy Profile

  40. This is a big question that always be in my mind that what topic, What theme I should choose to write a unique content for my blog readers & new readers can reach on my blogs.

    1. Hi Monika,

      And if English is not your mother tongue or a langue that you master, it’s always better to have someone edit your posts or write them for you.

      Thanks for coming to my blog and for your comment.

      ~Sylviane

  41. Really good tips Sylvian,
    I think most writers nowadays confuse copy writing and blog writing. That’s an important distinction that people need to learn.

    The other tips are valuable, would aim to implement them in my writing.

    Thanks

  42. I agree with a lot of this Sylviane. One thing that I do think though is that people often focus too much on being clear and concise and not enough on being captivating and writing a story. Particularly in something like travel writing, being *too* concise makes people trim the emotive language and imagery that crafts interesting blog posts! So there is a balance (for me anyway.)

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