The Template I Use to Help in Making a Good Looking Blog Post

 

“Your post should display how much of a professional writer and blogger you are! The more professional your post looks the more respect and trust you will earn! “ ~ Phillip Dews

 

Blogging is hard.  I am not going to lie.  What blogging platform (CMS) should you use, Coming up with the idea, writing the content, creating the headline, finding or creating the images or videos, SEO… MG!

If you have a WordPress Blog, and have decided that you are willing to INVEST in your “Inbound Marketing” with a “Content Marketing” Campaign, then you will want to know how to create a good-looking blog post.

This may be the #1 question that I get from my real estate clients. I created an e-book, called the Simple Guide to Real Estate Blogging to aid with this difficult question.

 

Download The Simple Guide to Real Estate Blogging

by Jason Fox

Download Free Blogging Guide

*You will need to subscribe to get access to the Simple Guide to Real Estate Blogging and over 100 more Marketing eBooks, Guides, and White papers

 

This post is going to assume that you already have a WordPress Blog, and that you have the idea and the content for the post.  That you just want help in getting that idea onto your WordPress Website as a Good-Looking Blog Post.

 

WordPress Backend – Where You Post Your Blog

 

This is for the “Just Getting Started” Bloggers.

In order to create a WordPress Blog Post you will need to “Login” to your WordPress Backend.  You can find the Login screen by adding a /wp-admin to the end of your WordPress domain name –

Type:  into your web browser.

This will pull up a login screen that looks similar to this:

WordPress Login Screen

Once Logged In you will see the WordPress Dashboard that will look similar to this:

Wordpress dashboard

To start Blogging you just click on Posts and Add New as you can see in the diagram below and it will pull up a screen that looks similar to this:

Add New Post

Like a painter your fresh canvas awaits your artistic strokes.

Create A Formula or Template

 

I have a formula for creating my blog posts.  Although the content, images, and titles are always unique; the way I format my blog post is always the same.

  • Create an Attention Grabbing Headline 
  • Add an Eye Catching Image
  • Use an interesting quote or statistic to reinforce your idea
  • Write a 2 or 3 paragraph summary of your idea
  • Add your first of 2-5 sub topics
  • Add 2-3 paragraphs of content to each sub topic
  • Add links to my other website content and other respectable websites
  • Add a conclusion
  • Make sure that I have written at least 1,000 words although 1,500-2,500 is preferred

 

That is my basic formula, it changes some here and there, but for the most part this helps me in making a good-looking blog post fairly quickly.

You can borrow mine, or find one that you like.  Remember that like most Marketing Strategies there is no perfect idea and to maximize your results you should be testing your ideas.

 

The Steps to Creating the Blog Post

 

  1.  I get a blog post idea (usually it is a question that a client asks me)

  • For Example:
    • What the first step of the home buying process?
    • How do I prepare my home before I sell it?
    • How long does it take to buy a home?
    • When is the best time to sell my home?
    • What is a seller’s market?
    • How long will it take to sell my home?
    • What is a buyer’s market?
    • How can I figure out how much a home is worth?
    • What is a stratified market?
    • Why is my home’s assessed value different than the market value?
    • How much do I have to pay an agent to help me buy a house
    • Are real estate prices negotiable?
    • What kind of credit score do I need to buy a home?
    • How much of the sale price do I get?
    • How much do I need for a down payment?
    • Is paying 6% to sell a home required?
    • Should I sell my current home before buying a new one?
    • Do discount agents provide the same service as more expensive agents?
    • How many homes should I view before buying one?
    • What is a home buyer rebate?
    • What is earnest money?
    • Should I sell my home before buying a new one?
    • How long can the seller take to respond to my offer?
    • What if my offer is rejected?
    • Why do I need a mortgage before I buy a house?
    • Should I order a home inspection?
    • Can I back out of buying a house?
    • Do I need to do a final walk-through?
    • How can a real estate agent help me buy or sell a home?

 

 

2.   I create the title of the blog post (this will be the H1, or Heading 1 tag)

Add A Title

 

3.  I create an image using Canva.com

Create an image using canva

 

4.  I add the image to the “Featured Image” link of my post.

  • (making sure to add a keyword to the ALT Text tag area)

 

5.  I create the Sub Title and wrap it the H2, or Heading 2 tag.

subtitle h2

 

6.  I do a Google search for a quotation or statistic that I think is interesting and reinforces my blog idea.

  • I wrap it in:
    • block quotes
    • Click To Tweet
      • I currently use the plugin Social Warfare for this feature.

  block quotes

This is an amazing article about creating amazing articles.

This is an amazing article about creating amazing articles.Click To Tweet

tweet this

 

 

7.  I write a few paragraphs explaining what my blog post will be about and why I am writing it.

 

8.  I add my first Sub Topic Heading and wrap it in H3, or Heading 3, tags.

 

Subtopic h3

 

9.  I write 2-5 paragraphs of content

 

10.  I repeat steps 8 & 9 a few times 2-5

 

11.  I type the word Conclusion or Summary or Final Thoughts and wrap it in H4 tags

 

12.  I summarize what I just wrote in a few sentences

 

13.  I Select a Category OR Tags for the blog post.  (I use categories)

 

Choose a blog category

 

14.  I use a plugin called WordPress SEO to make sure that I am remembering to Optimize my blog post for the search engines.

  • The tool can be accessed at the very bottom of your blog post page, and looks like this:

 

WordPress SEO

 

15.  With the Yoast WordPress SEO plugin once I have entered my desired keyword in the tool, before I publish, I can check to see if my blog post is optimized.

 

WordPress SEO Green Light

 

16.  I re-read for grammatical errors, formatting issues, and clarity.  Then run a spell check.

 

17.  I publish my post or schedule it to post to a future date.

Tips For Making A Good Looking Blog Post

  • Don’t write with SEO or Google in mind… write for the people.
  • Don’t forget about SEO or Google while preparing your blog post.
  • Don’t have more than 3 sentences in a paragraph.
  • Be sure to use bold, italic, bullets, numbers, lists, indent, caps, etc to break up the text.
  • Make sure to set up your blog post so that it is skimmable.
  • Don’t forget to add your Featured Image.
  • Be sure to add at least 1 link to content on your website (reference another blog post, your about page, or a page on your site that relates to the blog post)
  • If you add video, remember that Google can not see any words, be sure to transcribe the video below the video.
  • Try to add an actionable item in your post (In this post I gave you a link to subscribe to my site if you want to download my free ebook).
  • Did I mention that the Title or Headline is very important.
  • Shoot for a minimum word count of 1,000

Minimum of 800 word count

  • Don’t be afraid to throw in some Sub Sub Headers and wrap them in H4, or Heading 4, tags.
  • Be sure that you have Social Sharing buttons that are easy for your readers to find and share your good-looking blog post.

 

Resources

 

Conclusion

If you become a good blogger you will generate high quality leads for your real estate business… This I promise you.

What I can’t promise you is that you will be a good blogger.  It is a long, tedious process, that will beg you to give up.

Having a Process for making a good-looking blog post will help you to achieve your goals a bit faster.

I have given you my Formula, Steps, Tips, and Resources to help you become a World Class Real Estate Blogger.