What is Blog Post?

A blog post is a single piece of content published on a blog, a shortened form of the now-archaic term weblog, which is an online platform for publishing written content. A blog can be a section of a website or a standalone website of its own. Both are composed of blog posts, pieces of content that each cover a single topic and may (but don’t have to!) include images and videos alongside the written content. 

Written content is a key component of a blog post. A YouTube channel isn’t a blog because it’s purely video—it can be considered a vlog, short for video log. Similarly, a feed of purely still images, like an Instagram account, isn’t a blog. 

In the earlier days of social media, when platforms like MySpace and Live Journal dominated the scene, blogging and social media were much more entwined than they are today. Now, they’re largely separate, though many bloggers promote and cross-post their work on their social media accounts to drive traffic to their blogs and promote their personal brand. 

The structure of a blog post

Following is the exact basic structure of a good blog post.

Use these elements to optimize each post for both readers and search engines:

Headline

The headline, or title, of your blog post, has to capture the attention of potential readers. People may see it in their social media news feed or search results. Make sure you include the main keyword phrase that people could use when searching for the topic you are covering.

Publish date

Publish date of your content is optional but recommended. If you frequently update your blog, post dates can help your visitors to determine the recent posts. It’s not that important on evergreen content pages but is often used on daily published content.

Author by-line

An author by-line helps readers identify who wrote the content and is particularly important for blogs with many writers. Furthermore, the author by-line could give your content more trust if a recognized writer creates it.

Post category

Category classes used to group your content into distinct sections. It’s recommended to use category t

ags for each blog post you create. Grouping relevant content together will be helpful to your visitors and to search engines crawl your blog.

Introduction

The first paragraph of your blog post will either keep people reading or make people leave. Make sure that it compels people to read the rest of your content. You should use your targeted keyword phrase for search engines at least once in this paragraph.

Main content

It is the main part of your blog post content. Think of the headline as the promise and the main content as the fulfillment of that pledge. Your main content should please anyone who visits your post based on the headline. If you create content that does not meet the promises of your headline, people will start to identify your blog as unfulfilling. The length of your blog posts can range from 300 to 3,000 or more words. It’s best to alternate the length of your posts as you gain insight into what works best for your audience.

Sub-headlines

Many people will scan your blog content as opposed to reading it word for word. Write subheads that break your content into digestible sections. Make sure those subheads represent the content within them.

Bolded text

Use bold text in a few areas of your main content to help highlight important points. Use it selectively. Otherwise, your entire article will seem bolded, thus taking away the ability to highlight key portions of the content.

Bulleted/numbered lists

While you don’t want your entire post filled with bullet points or numbers, these lists do help separate out steps and tables with useful content.

Media

Supplement the text part of your content with media, such as related images and videos. It will help break up your content and illustrate your points better.

The least you can do is to include a featured image in your post. Add your post’s main keyword phrase in the filename of the picture as well as the ALT tag. It will help you in search optimization of your post.

Conclusion

The conclusion should be a paragraph or two at the end of your post to summarize the content you’ve written. The reader should understand what material you’ve covered. If they didn’t, chances are, they will go back to see what they might have missed.

Call-to-action

The last line of your blog post should be some form of a call to action. It can be as simple as asking readers to share their thoughts in the comments or to share the post on social media. If you wrote the post to promote a particular product or service, the call to action should encourage the reader to learn more about it.

Social share buttons

Social media is a useful instrument for promoting your blog content. You need to make sure to include social buttons to all your content, so people can easily share it on social networks. You can place them at the top of your content, at the bottom of your content, or on the side, as a floating widget.

Comments section

Aside from your blog post content, comments are the most important part of your blog. This section gives your readers an opportunity to interact with you and other visitors. It’s important that you respond to the comments and open the conversation.

You don’t have to include all the elements from this list in every post. Make sure you always have an engaging introduction, quality content, and a solid conclusion.