Learn How to Write a Blog Post That Turns Browsers Into Buyers

Blog writing is your path to finding the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. 

In an age in which content is king, blog writing is one of the most powerful marketing options any entrepreneur, coach, or service business owner has available to them. 

In fact, if you continually crank out long-form content that your ideal clients can’t get enough of, Google’s going to start sending traffic your way. The more high-quality content you have, the more traffic you get. 

That’s why everybody starts blogging with a focus on search engine optimization (or SEO). They want to drive traffic to their blog. But in focusing their efforts on SEO, they often forget to ask a key question that can cost them in the long run…

What happens when the potential clients arrive?

Have you ever searched Google for a topic, found that fantastic blog post title that speaks to exactly what you’re looking for, clicked the Google link, and then landed on a blog article that disappointed you or even sounded like nails dragging on a chalkboard inside your head?

A moment of hope dashed against the rocks. 

Annoying. Frustrating. Useless.

After an experience like that, it’s common to bounce and avoid links associated with what is now seen as a not-so-helpful blog.

That’s what can happen if you focus your efforts solely on SEO.

Don’t get me wrong. I encourage you to optimize your blog content for SEO. But, please, do not do that at the expense of the human element.

It is this human element that I want to focus on today. In a world dominated by concerns about SEO (and even AI-generated content), another potentially more important aspect that sometimes gets lost is persuasive blog writing.

So, buckle up, because whether you’re writing your first blog post or 100th, I’m going to show you writing tactics that come from copywriting you can use to get attention, make connections, tug at those wants and needs, and move readers closer to buying your products and services one step at a time.

SEO blog writing and persuasive blog writing work best together

Once people land on your blog topic, you want them to feel engrossed by what they encounter. That means you have to be intentional about the way you craft your article outside of SEO concerns to leverage the art and science of persuasive writing. If you can do both, you will have not just a great blog, but a successful blog. 

At this point, I expect a certain amount of pushback from many. You may even be thinking, “Writing blog articles should primarily be about informative content rather than persuasive copy.”

If that’s you, I hear you. Yes, there is often a big difference between the approach a content writer takes and that of a copywriter. But, I think there are persuasive writing principles used in copywriting that can take your blog articles to a whole new level. If you blend them into your SEO blogging, you can start writing content that shifts from attractive and informative to downright irresistible.

Let’s look at some of those techniques and principles that will help you start making money from your blog. 

Know your ideal client

If you ever listen to Heather talk or have participated in one of her marketing programs where you have direct access to her regularly, you are going to hear about the importance of knowing your ideal client like the back of your hand.

When you create your blog strategy, you want to make sure you are writing the type of blog that attracts your ideal client. If you know them really well, then you will be able to create the content that they are looking for.

It would be easy to stop there. And many do.

But is that all you expect from your blog?

I want you to move beyond that.

While you are writing your content, if you want to be persuasive, you have to connect with the hopes, dreams, and aspirations of your audience, as well as their concerns, fears, and pain points.

Literally, mention them while you are writing. If your readers see you identify them, they will get the sense that you totally understand where they’re coming from. That sense of connection is the equivalent of getting your foot in the door.

Create emotional connections

Many people are surprised to discover that human beings don’t make decisions rationally. They make them emotionally. This is something that we’ve discovered through neuroscience. 

If you know your audience well enough, you know what their emotional triggers are. For example, if you’ve gotten down this far into the article, more than likely you are either writing a blog and looking to improve, or you are considering the possibility of getting into the game.

If you are a blogging entrepreneur, you want to make money. You want your blogging activities to support your bottom line.

More than likely you realize that creating and maintaining a blog will take a considerable amount of time and energy. 

If this is you, this is probably your primary concern or fear:

• You don’t want to spend a lot of time and energy on your blog and not see any return on investment. You don’t want to throw away valuable hours that you could be spending on other money-making endeavors or with friends and family enjoying life. 

Once I know that, I can then write in a way that identifies your concern or fear, and then gives you a path forward so you can put it behind you.

In fact, this entire article is about overcoming that primary pain point, the fear of spending all that time and energy without sufficient return on investment.

I want you to be able to write your articles in a way that gives your readers not just hope but also a solution that they can implement in order to make their dreams come true.

If you dream of having a blog that not only informs visitors but helps you transform them into clients, then let’s keep going.

Craft an engaging introduction that sucks readers in

In copywriting, the opening part of an ad is called the “hook”. A great hook does more than just get a reader’s attention. It makes them hunger for more.

Writing a great hook is truly an art form. It takes a deep understanding of the ideal audience and creatively knocks the socks off of them.

There are many ways to craft an alluring hook. Here are some elements you might consider:

• Tell a story
• Use shocking statistics
• Describe vividly one of their hopes or fears

One of my personal favorites is to address my readers’ hopes and fears right out of the gate. The typical formula I use is this

• Speak to their hopes
• Identify that which keeps them from attaining their hopes
• Invite them into my solution that will help them to overcome the problem, thus helping them to attain their hopes.

If you want your blog articles to capture the hearts and minds of your readers, stop writing mere introductions. Instead, spend your time and energy questing for the perfect hook.

The perfect hook is a literary catalyst that keeps your readers from being mere spectators and invites them to participate in the amazing narrative that you are unveiling before them.

Write captivating headlines that excite readers

Visitors to your blog will arrive with the attention of a goldfish…if you’re lucky. You must capture attention quickly and move it forward.

One way to do this is through powerful headlines. Think of your blog post headlines like stepping stones across a stream that get you to the other side. Each stone carries you to the next until you get to your destination. 

Craft exciting and descriptive headlines that leverage energy and imagery. For example, in the previous section, I could have simply written, “Craft engaging headlines”. Instead, I wrote, 

” Craft engaging headlines that suck readers in”. With that little addition, I made the headline far more exciting.

Keep in mind that many people are going to skim down the page rather than read. If they read just the headlines as they bounce from one blog section to the next, they should be able to get a really good idea of what your article is about.

Make your blog a vehicle for storytelling that sparks the imagination

The time-tested art of spinning a good yarn is about more than just entertaining readers. When someone hears (or watches on the big screen) a story unfold, their brain starts to fire as if they are having the experience themselves.

This is a great way to draw people into your messaging. While they might not be able to experience directly what you want them to, they can have an imaginative experience if you write a post that immerses them in a story.

This is especially helpful when writing for the coldest portion of your audience. At this stage, people are probably barely aware of your blog and don’t really care about your products or services because they don’t realize they have the problem your products and services deal with. Stories are a great way to help people to see and feel the problem that they had not yet noticed. Once they notice and feel the problem, then they will be open to hearing more from you.

Get your blog into hearts and minds by leveraging persuasive language

When writing, you want to be as concise as possible. Don’t use more words for the sake of filling space. Learn how to write in order to get the most bang for your buck. Make the words you use count. Here are some tips: 

• Use “power words”. Words have power. And, some words have more power than others. Why say, “I have the best service” when you can say “I have unparalleled service”? Swap out “great” for “stellar”, “It will surprise you” for “It will knock your socks off”, and “It was a bad day” for “It was a day of doom and despair”. Look at what you write and ask yourself if you can write it better by just making tweaks to the word choices. 
• Use jargon and phrases your audience relates to.When people hang out together, they naturally pick up on the mannerisms of their group, which includes ways of speaking. If you know your ideal audience well enough, you can probably list out some key phrasing they use regularly. If you use this “insider language” regularly,  you can create a blog your target audience will relate to, and it will get you in the door. 
• Write in 3’s.This may sound a little odd, but it works. There seems to be something about the number 3 that people like…a lot! Think about those old fairy tales: Goldilocks and the ___ bears. The ___ little pigs. Aladdin got ___ wishes. Yep, 3’s are everywhere. (By the way, how many examples did I just give you?)
• Ask rhetorical questions.When writing, you want your readers to think in a certain way. A great way to encourage that is through rhetorical questions. When they read the question, they are asking it inside their head. When you follow it up with an answer, you are now answering their question. They get to feel you helping them, even if you are the one who triggered mental the event in the first place. 
• Use data and statistics. How many times have you heard a fascinating statistic and thought, “Wow!” Then, sometime later you try to tell someone about it, but you can’t quite recall the statistic itself. Maybe you say, “It was something like…” and tell them what you think is close. That’s the emotional effect data can leave with us. Even though we can’t recall the data with precision, we still feel its importance enough to share it. 

Tackle counter-arguments head-on in your blog topics

Our natural tendency as business owners is to shy away from talking about all those reasons not to work with us. It makes sense: We don’t want potential clients to start thinking about “that” because they might decide to not work with us. 

Truth be told, they are already thinking about “that”, “this” and “the other”. They are already aware of multiple reasons to not work with you. So, the best thing to do is address all the elephants in the room. 

Use “objection busting” in your articles where appropriate. This goes well with “ask rhetorical questions” above. Literally, ask the question around the concern or objection that they currently have, then give them an answer so they can get past it. One way to do this might be to start your blog off with a blog title that is a question you want to address. 

Establish your credibility with social proof

Let’s face it, you have a vested interest in saying good things about your products and services. That means you are probably the last person potential clients should believe when it comes to evaluating how good they are.

This is where you need to point your readers to others who agree with you.

The easiest form of social proof to gather is testimonials. Potential clients don’t know how good your products and services are until after they have bought them. But they can know about what others who have bought from you think. And if you can get testimonials that say you’re the best thing since sliced bread, that matters in the minds of potential buyers.

Case studies and success stories work similarly. If you can tell the story of how you helped another business experience transformation so that those who are looking for the same transformation can relate to it, that’s a huge step toward making a sale.

Ever hear anyone say, “Don’t believe me? Then, don’t take my word for it…” and then they point you in the direction of someone else saying the same thing? That’s a great way to incorporate objection busting mentioned above (“I don’t believe you because you have self-interest in saying that”) with your social proof.

Dazzle them with visuals

Imagery is incredibly powerful in a blog. Most blogs start with a picture for a reason. It sets the pace visually and emotionally for the rest of the article.

Don’t get trapped in thinking that visuals just mean pretty pictures, though. Think bigger than that. Here are some options outside of simple pictures.

• Infographics. I like these because of the potential to tell the story in a strictly visual format.
• Video. Some blogs have a video of the author giving a visual presentation of the blog along with the text of the blog article below. This could be the person reading pre-created text for the video, or it could be the blog article text being the transcript of the video.
• GIFs. These can be helpful for things such as visual walkthroughs of books or planners where you see the pages flipping.
• Screenshots. These are great for how to’s, where you can circle all of the things they need to notice on their monitor view.

 And moving beyond that, when you’re writing the text of your article try to use highly visual language. 

Listen to this…

Last Saturday I was at the store in the checkout line. I just couldn’t resist grabbing that candy bar and slipping it into my cart.

And compare it with this…

Last Saturday I stood in a slow-moving line at the grocery store. It had been a long day and I was definitely ready for supper.

Having nothing else to do my eyes scanned the shelves nearby.

Then I saw it: the candy bar.

The picture on the wrapper revealed its contents to me: chocolate-covered caramel and nutty goodness. 

My stomach rumbled. My mouth watered.

I looked away. But it was too late.

My resistance failing, I reached out, grabbed my newfound treasure, and slipped it onto the conveyor belt, hoping that nobody noticed my moment of weakness

Whether visuals are images or textual illustrations, they have a way of drawing people into the article so they hunger for more. (And, notice how I used a visual about food before talking about making readers ”hunger for more”. That textual illustration reinforces the message.)

Tempt with a targeted call-to-action

If I were to tell people that they should place their shiny new iPhones in a microwave and turn it on, they would probably think that was the dumbest idea they had ever heard and walk away.

Yet…

A few years back, people heard that they could recharge their new iPhones by placing them in the microwave. And, when they tried it, it didn’t go well for them. 

What’s the difference?

The people who ruined their iPhones did so in pursuit of something beneficial: a quick and easy way to recharge their devices. 

(For the record, don’t put your iPhone or any other phone in the microwave.)

Whenever you offer a call-to-action, don’t just tell people what to do. Also, tell them why they should do it. Focus on the benefit of doing the thing. 

It’s easy to change the language on a button:

• “Sign up now” becomes “Sign up and claim your prize”
• “Join here” becomes “Take the first step into a new future”
• “Schedule a call” becomes “Spend time with Heather getting priceless marketing advice”

This goes for any call-to-action you have in your article. If you are promoting a new product or service, write your blog post in a way that highlights why they should take the desired action. 

After all, what’s better than a great blog post? How about a blog post that generates income.

Start a blog post with the intent to leverage reciprocity

Gary Vaynerchuk has recommended the mindset of “give, give, give, ask”. Whenever you consistently give value to people again, again, and again, they start to feel a sense of appreciation. Eventually, when you ask if they’re willing to buy something, they very well might, even if it is just something small.

It’s amazing how many people want to give back to those who have helped them move forward with what they’re doing.

Your blog is a way for you to “give, give, give”. A lot of people stop there. They look at their blog as a way for them to present something of value to their readers. While that’s wonderful that they want to be generous, I encourage you to think beyond that, as well. 

Use your blog as a platform that offers your readership—those who consume your content on a regular basis—the opportunity to reciprocate. This will make your blog a much more powerful marketing platform for you as it actively helps you build up your bottom line. Don’t be afraid to subtly monetize your blog. This is what the perfect blog is meant to do.

When you write a blog post, the littlest practical changes can have the most impact

Ask yourself, “What kind of blog do I want?’ If you primarily want to publish informative posts for people to consume out of the goodness of your heart, you can do that. If that is truly what you want, you don’t have to shape any of the content of your blog posts with persuasive language to have an effective blog. 

If you are more like me, however, and you tie the success of your blog into being something supportive of your business, priorities change. The reason you drive readers to your blog is so they consume the content of your blog post and feel closer to you than when they arrived. 

Part of what I love about this approach to writing a blog post I’ve outlined is that it only requires a minimal amount of change in the routine. Most of the change is actually that of mindset, so when you sit down to set up a blog article your intent is slightly different. Aligning your writing habits to this slightly different goal may take practice, but in the end the finished product will be many times more valuable for your business.

If you became an entrepreneur because you envisioned the possibility of building a business that allowed you to live the life of your dreams, then you want to approach everything with a multifaceted marketing mindset

There’s so much to the field of marketing that many entrepreneurs, service business owners, and coaches often just shut down at the thought of trying to process at all. They give up on trying to figure it all out and end up doing the same old routine that they’re used to.

If you want help learning how to market your business, I strongly suggest you consider the Get Leads and Clients Academy. This program is designed for entrepreneurs, service business owners, and coaches so they can learn what they need to in order to market their business effectively and rise to the next level. Not only do Get Leads and Clients Academy members get full access to a complete library of marketing materials that they can access on demand at any time, but most importantly they get personal access to Heather herself who’s been doing marketing and helping entrepreneurs just like you for more than a decade to grow and scale their businesses.

Imagine being in a program that actively helps you learn how to maximize your time and energy in order to get the most leverage out of your daily activities (not unlike what this blog article is helping you learn how to do).

If that’s what you want, click the link below to learn more about how you can unlock a new future for both you and your business.

What Should You Read Next?

• Speedy Blog Posts: Tips to Write a Blog When Time is Scarce
• Effective Objection Handling That Overcomes Hesitation & Gets You Clients
• How to Create the Perfect Blog Post for Marketing and Promote It to Maximize Your Investment