The 2 Things I See People Skipping The MOST In Their Blog Posts
Every Friday morning I sit down to do my favorite task of the week: read through The Writer’s Room member’s blogs that they’ve submitted for the week to give feedback and suggestions.
This is something I started doing during Blogmas last December and it’s something that my members get to take advantage of every single week.
I love reading through their content for a few reasons:
➡️ They’re all in different industries and have some insane perspectives that I genuinely learn from
➡️ I get to watch firsthand as they improve their writing skills and confidently step into their writer identity
➡️ It’s interesting to read and observe various writing styles
➡️ AND I love providing feedback when necessary so that they can hone their writing skills even more
One theme that I’ve noticed, however, regardless of anyone’s industry, writing style, or skill level, is that there are two parts of a blog post that many people tend to skip over…
And these two sections might surprise you.
The intro and the conclusion.
When I first noticed this theme, I found it interesting because if you think back to English class, we’re taught that every story has an introduction and a conclusion.
So you would think that these two sections would come naturally for us as content creators. But as I started to think about it more, it began to make sense.
Many times when you’re passionate about a topic, it’s so tempting to just jump right into the content and give your audience what they came to you for.
And then, once you’ve spilled the tea, it’s easy to just move right on.
But that’s where I want to challenge you, just like I do with my members.
An introduction and a conclusion are two of the most important parts of an effective and SEO friendly blog post, so you DON’T want to skip either of them!
In this blog post, you’ll learn why both of them are needed and how to write them effectively!
Why Your Blogs Need a Solid Introduction
You know how every social media guru out there will tell you that you need to HOOK your audience in before diving into your content?
Well, the same is true for your blogs! Your introduction essentially serves as the hook that also tells your readers what they’re about to learn.
Think of your intro as the thing that tees up your blog topic and essentially tells your reader what to expect. Now, your introduction doesn't have to be long by any means, but you want to meet them where they're at and address the problem or struggle they're likely feeling that your blog topic is about to help them with.
It's kind of like a "let me guess" vibe where you describe how they're feeling and then you're essentially saying, "Good news! this blog post is going to help you with XYZ…”
Overall, your introduction should set the tone for the content that follows while providing context, establishing relevance, and ultimately outlining the main points so that the reader is very clear on what they’re about to learn and understand why the topic matters.
If writing introductions isn’t your strong suit, there’s a few tips you can follow:
1. Write your introduction last
Just because your introduction is the thing that comes first in your blog post, that doesn’t mean you actually have to write it first!
Sometimes, it’s easier to jump straight into the meat of your content and then come back to your introduction at the very end. This ensures that you actually include the relevant information and context in your introduction because you already know exactly how the rest of your blog post reads.
2. Lean on AI for help
I’ll never be one to preach that ChatGPT or any other AI platforms can write better blogs for your business than YOU, but that doesn’t mean you can’t use them as a tool.
You can absolutely lean on AI to help you with an intro when you’re feeling stuck. Once you’ve written the meat of your blog post, you can literally copy and paste the text into ChatGPT and ask it to write an introduction for you.
From there, you can tweak what it provides to match your voice!
3. Observe introductions from others whose blogs you find engaging
One of the best ways to learn ANYTHING in my opinion is to study what others are doing and emulate accordingly.
Note: emulate does not = imitate.
When you imitate someone else’s work, you essentially are copying what they are doing without making it your own.
Emulating, on the other hand, goes beyond mere copying and instead involves putting in the same effort as someone that you admire to get to their level.
When it comes to blog writing, I believe it’s incredibly wise to analyze how others are doing it and pay attention to the techniques they use and consider how you can do something similar to fit your writing style as well!
Why Your Blogs Need a Solid Conclusion WITH a Call-to-action
Just like you want to start your blog posts on a strong note, you also want to end them on a strong note and guide your readers into their next best step with a relevant call-to-action (CTA).
In your conclusion section, you should summarize the key points discussed in your blog post and reinforce the main message or takeaway. From there, you can move into the action that you ideally want your readers to take that directly relates to the topic at hand.
For example, in this blog post I was educating my audience on 3 Reasons To Prioritize Blogs Before Social Media and the final CTA was opting into my Beginner’s Guide to Blogging For Your Business, so the reader could get started with blog content in their business with ease.
After providing them with valuable information in the blog post itself, I offered the next best step for them to take further action that was relevant to the content they just consumed.
Oftentimes people think that a CTA means directing people to buy something, but it’s important to know that’s not always the case. Common call-to-actions for your blog posts could be:
Opting into one of your lead magnets
Subscribing to your newsletter
Reading another blog post
Following you on social media
If you struggle with coming up with call-to-actions for your content, CLICK HERE to download a free CTA Master List!
Overall, the whole point of a conclusion in your blog post is to leave your readers with a sense of closure for the topic at hand and guide them to engage further with you.
If writing conclusions isn’t your strong suit, there’s a few tips you can follow:
1. Summarize Key Points
With longer form content, it’s often helpful to provide a concise summary of the main points discussed in your blog post. This helps reinforce the key takeaways for readers and reminds them of the valuable information they've gained from reading your content.
2. Refer back to your introduction
To create closure at the end of your blog post, refer back to your introduction paragraph and revisit what you mentioned earlier.
For example, if you started your blog post with a question like, “Have you ever felt like [insert problem they’re experiencing]?”, you could revisit that question by saying, “My hope is that you now feel [insert solution you’ve provided].”
This will remind your reader of their problem, while ultimately pointing them to YOUR solution!
3. Think of it like wrapping up a present with a pretty bow
Similar to your introduction, your conclusion doesn’t need to be lengthy! In this section, you ultimately want to wrap up what you’ve just said and present it all with a pretty bow.
The best conclusions are clear and brief and avoid unnecessary repetition or extra details. The faster you can get to your call-to-action, the more likely your readers are to actually take action.
Want more writing tips like this?
Overall, an intro and a conclusion is something you DON’T want to skip when it comes to writing your blog content.
If you found this blog post helpful, you should know that I have wayyyy more where this came from, which is why each week in Notes From Natty I share a weekly writing tip to help you level up your blog and email content writing.
Subscribe here to get the next entry – they hit your inbox every Friday morning. 💌
New to my world? Nice to virtually meet ya. 👋 I’m Natalie, but everyone calls me Natty (you can too) – blog and email writer for creative business owners and service providers.
If you like what you read and want more, there’s a few ways we can stay connected:
Get a Note From Natty straight to your inbox every Friday morning featuring a weekly digest full of stories, biz and blog writing tips, and a round up of the latest at Natty Writes!
Binge the blog for a mix of blog and email writing tips, how-to’s for blogging in your business, tangible resources, and of course a little bit of BTS of a blog writer’s life along the way.
Browse the tools, recs, and resources that I personally (and professionally) couldn’t live without.
Join the Writer’s Room Waitlist to be the next to know when the BEST (yes, I’m biased) done-with-you writing membership is back open for enrollment.
If you’re in need of some blog content in your business, or are simply curious about what that would look like, check my services here.
And if you just wanna say heyyyy, follow me on the ‘gram and send me a DM!