Showcase Your Blog Content In 4 Steps

Guest Blog Post By Stephanie Ward

Recently I visited a blog I was curious about and wanted to see what kind of juicy tips I could pick up.

But there were no categories to choose from and only one post was visible on the main blog page.

There were no suggestions for posts similar to the one that was featured.

And there wasn’t a collection of the most popular content.

There were links underneath the one post that was showing for ‘older’ and ‘newer’ posts which is a smart move. Some people might be curious enough to click on one of those but it’s not likely.

This is because our time is so precious that unless we know for sure that we’re going to get something we need, we can’t be bothered to sacrifice the time.

And yes, there was a search box. But if you don’t know what you’re looking for, it doesn’t help. With blog posts, it’s often the case that you don’t know what you want until you see it.

So what can you do? Let me hook you up with 4 ideas.

(1) Feature the Categories of Your Blog

You don’t have to show all of your categories, simply select the ones that are most significant to your audience. Check out this option.

(2) Display More than One Blog Post on Your Main Blog Page

There are many options to choose from here. You can show one full post and partial views of several others. You can show only the titles of many posts. Go to the settings area of your blog to see what’s available.

(3) Show Your Most Popular Posts

Again you have options here about how you want to show these. You can use titles only or choose to show an image as well. You can also select how many you want to show. One idea is to feature this in your sidebar. Here is a link to several options for plugins.

(4) At the End of Each Post, Show a Few Related Posts

If someone has enjoyed reading one of your posts if you immediately share other posts they may find interesting they may continue reading. Plugins options for this here.

If you know what you’re doing, it should take you less than thirty minutes. And if this too techy for you, ask your web person to help you.

Don’t panic. You don’t have to add every single one of these options. Pick the ones that are best suited to your content and style.

Just keep in mind that the goal is to make sure that someone who is interested in your blog can find information pertinent to them.

While we’re on the topic of what your blog needs, here is something your blog absolutely doesn’t need.

Please Don’t Do This

Please don’t show ‘Archives’ or a list of all of the months. Why? Because it tells you nothing except that you’ll find previous posts there. No one, and I mean no one, is going to click to see what’s in there.

Again, people are already hard-pressed for time so they aren’t going to go digging around to see if there might be something relevant for them there.

So if you have ‘Archives’ or a list of the months on your blog, get rid of that and replace it with one of the outstanding options above.

I hope you’ll take action on this today. Because if your magnificent posts are buried deep inside your blog, they aren’t able to help anyone.

Get more visibility for your blog content by making it easy for people to see exactly what they can get.