Blogging is a great way for writers to build an audience, but how do you get people to pay attention to your posts?

There’s nothing more demoralizing than working for hours on a post only to hear crickets after hitting “publish.”

Having blogged professionally for five years now, I’d like to offer my top seven tips for writing blog posts that grab attention

1. Write a great post using the PASTOR method.

I learned the PASTOR method from copy writing expert Ray Edwards.

Click here for a podcast about the PASTOR method.

Click here for an article about the PASTOR method.

The PASTOR method of copy writing creates and releases tension in the reading experience, which will keep readers engaged.

I don’t follow every jot and tittle of the PASTOR method with every blog post, but it is a really helpful framework that I always keep in the back of my mind.

I hope you find it as helpful as I do!

2. Read it out loud or (even better) have a program read it to you.

As writers it’s almost impossible to be objective readers of our own work. This is a problem because it means we miss stuff.

We miss strange sentence construction, skipped words, repetition, and so on.

One way to get ahead of this is by reading aloud what we’ve written. Or, even better, have a program read it to you.

These days I tend to work in Microsoft Word, which has a “Speak selected text” feature. I select the text of my post, hit an icon, and the text is read back to me in a robotic voice.

The robotic voice is actually helpful because if even a robot sounds okay reading what I’ve written, I know I’m in good shape.

My friend, novelist and copywriter Erin Bartels, recently told me about a free online service that does the same thing: https://www.naturalreaders.com/online/

3. Consider using headings.

If your blog post is fewer than 500 words, you may not need headings. But if it’s 500 words or longer, I think they’re a good idea.

They break up the reading experience and signal to the reader how you’ve organized the content.

My advice when writing headings is don’t get too fancy. In most cases keeping them straightforward and explanatory is the best way to go.

4. Develop a compelling blog post title.

I can’t stress enough how important this step is.

Most readers will decide whether to read your blog post or skip it based on the title alone.

Your title should accurately reflect your content, of course, but its main job is to get people to click.

Here’s the process I use when developing a blog post title:

1. I usually start with a possible title or two in mind. The original title for this post, for example, was “How to Write a Wicked Awesome Blog Post That Grabs Attention!” Then I write the blog post to see what it becomes.
2. Next I consult Copyblogger’s article titles. With my topic in mind, I simply skim the article titles on Copyblogger and look for ideas.
3. Then I open the Kindle app on my desktop and peruse David Garfinkel’s Advertising Headlines That Make You Rich for more inspiration.
4. Finally, I use Coschedule’s Headline Analyzer app to refine my headline. I always shoot for a score of at least 70. (The current title on this post received a 74. My original title received an 81, but I just couldn’t stomach it. These tools are guides, not masters!)

This process helps me develop blog post titles that are many times more attractive than they would be otherwise.

5. Add an image that will go well with your title in social posts.

One of the main ways you’ll share your blog post is via social media, so it’s a good idea to insert an image within your post that will pair nicely with your blog post’s title.

I sometimes will purchase an image at Shutterstock, but more often I use one of the following services for free images:

• Unsplash
• Vecteezy
• Pexels

There are others, but these are the sites I use most often. Be sure to follow the guidelines from the image site to provide appropriate attribution.

6. Promote your post via email and social media.

So you’ve written a high-quality blog post, inserted some headings, developed a great title, and added an arresting image.

Now it’s time to go get some traffic!

In the past this step used to really bother me. I mean, I spend all this time writing a blog post, and now I have to spend even more time writing promotional copy!

Good grief, when does it end!?

But these days it’s far less aggravating. Why? Because I keep it really simple.

Sometimes I’ll promote my blog post by simply excerpting or adapting the beginning of the blog post. Then I drop in a link, and I’m done.

Other times I think about a particular person who I think would benefit from the post. I write an email to that person and adapt it to promote the post.

If I have time, I’ll include a bulleted list of the benefits a reader can expect from the blog post.

One practical tip: For the text that you hyperlink in an email, refer back to your blog post title. For this blog post my link text might be “Click here to write blog posts that expand your audience.”

7. Grow your email list.

Sharing detailed tactics for growing your email list is beyond the scope of this blog post, but suffice to say, it’s important to solicit email subscribers. I have a whole section in the BookCamp Members Area designed entirely to help writers increase their number of email subscribers.

As you grow your email list and let your subscribers know about your new blog posts, you’ll increase your views and get more and more traffic to your blog content.

At the very least, be sure your website includes an opt-in form so that you can capture some of the email addresses of those who visit your blog post.

Question: What’s one thing from these seven steps that you will put into practice? You can leave a comment by clicking here.