By: Russell Johnson
How to Create Shareable Blog Content
Creating shareable blog content is an essential skill for anyone in digital marketing, content creation, or personal blogging. Shareable content expands your reach, enhances engagement, and drives traffic to your website or blog. This essay outlines the key steps, strategies, and best practices to create blog content that resonates with audiences, making it irresistible for readers to share.
1. Understand Your Audience
The foundation of creating shareable content starts with knowing who you are writing for. When you understand your audience’s preferences, needs, and challenges, you can tailor your content to meet those expectations, making it more likely to be shared.
Create detailed buyer personas: Define your target audience by outlining their demographics, interests, and pain points. This allows you to craft content that speaks directly to them.
Engage with your audience: Interact with your readers through comments, social media, or surveys to get direct feedback on their preferences. By listening to your audience, you can understand what kind of content resonates with them.
Solve real problems: Shareable content often provides solutions. Whether it's addressing a common issue in your industry or offering advice, content that helps people solve problems is more likely to get shared.
2. Write High-Quality, Valuable Content
High-quality content is the bedrock of any successful blog. If your content is well-researched, comprehensive, and adds value, readers will be more inclined to share it.
Be informative: Readers share content that teaches them something new or useful. Ensure that your blog posts are rich in information and supported by facts, data, or case studies.
Create in-depth posts: Comprehensive content that covers a topic thoroughly tends to perform well. Aim for long-form content that offers a detailed exploration of the subject while maintaining clarity and structure.
Use credible sources: Supporting your points with authoritative sources, such as research papers, statistics, or expert opinions, builds trust with your audience. Content from trusted sources is often shared as a way to demonstrate authority on a topic.
3. Craft Compelling Headlines
Your headline is the first thing readers see, and it plays a significant role in whether or not people click and share your content. A catchy, attention-grabbing headline can make your blog post stand out in social media feeds, search engines, or email newsletters.
Use numbers: Headlines with numbers tend to attract more attention because they promise specific and actionable information. For example, “10 Ways to Improve Your Content Marketing Strategy” is more engaging than a vague title like “Improve Your Content Strategy.”
Incorporate emotional triggers: Emotionally charged headlines often get more clicks and shares. Words that evoke curiosity, surprise, fear, or excitement can compel readers to click and share. Examples include, “The Secret to Boosting Your Website Traffic Overnight” or “How to Avoid the Biggest Mistake Every Marketer Makes.”
Keep it concise and clear: Readers want to know what they will get from reading your post. Keep your headline short, to the point, and specific. Vague or overly complicated headlines may discourage readers from sharing.
4. Use Visuals Effectively
Visual content is highly shareable, especially on platforms like Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook. Incorporating strong visuals into your blog posts enhances user experience and makes the content more engaging.
Add high-quality images: Use relevant images to break up text and make your blog post visually appealing. Stock photos, infographics, charts, or original images related to the blog topic can boost shareability.
Create custom infographics: Infographics are one of the most shareable types of content. They condense information into an easy-to-digest visual format, which people are more likely to share.
Use videos: Including video content within your blog post can also boost engagement. Videos explaining a concept, providing a tutorial, or presenting a case study can make your content more shareable.
5. Make Your Content Easy to Read and Share
Even great content can be ignored if it’s not presented in a readable and accessible format. Blog posts should be structured in a way that’s easy to skim, since most online readers don't read word for word but scan for key information.
Break up the text: Use short paragraphs, bullet points, and headings to break up large blocks of text. This makes your blog post easier to read and encourages readers to share it with others.
Use subheadings: Subheadings help readers quickly find the sections that interest them, and they improve SEO. Each subheading should clearly indicate what the section covers, providing additional entry points for search engines.
Incorporate calls to action (CTAs): Encourage readers to share your content by including clear calls to action. A simple line like “If you found this useful, please share it with your friends!” can motivate readers to take action.
Optimize for social sharing: Use social media plugins that allow readers to share your blog post with one click. Make sure the share buttons are prominent and accessible, such as at the top, bottom, or side of your post.
6. Focus on SEO
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) helps your blog posts rank higher on search engines, increasing visibility. When your content is easy to find, more people can read and share it.
Target relevant keywords: Perform keyword research to identify terms that your target audience is searching for. Incorporate those keywords naturally into your title, headings, and throughout the blog post.
Optimize meta descriptions: A well-crafted meta description not only helps with SEO but can also influence whether readers share your content. Write concise and engaging meta descriptions that summarize the blog post and encourage clicks.
Use internal and external links: Link to other relevant blog posts on your site, which can keep readers engaged for longer periods and increase their likelihood of sharing. Additionally, link to authoritative sources to add credibility to your content.
7. Promote Your Blog Post
No matter how good your content is, it won’t become shareable unless people see it. Promotion plays a key role in the shareability of your blog posts.
Leverage social media: Share your blog post across all relevant social media platforms. Tailor your message for each platform—what works on LinkedIn might not work on Twitter or Instagram.
Collaborate with influencers: If you can get influencers or other bloggers to share your content, it can exponentially increase your post’s reach. Reach out to relevant influencers in your niche and ask them to share your content if they find it valuable.
Encourage email sharing: Send your blog post to your email subscribers and encourage them to forward it to others. You can include easy-to-use share buttons in your emails to make this even simpler.
8. Keep Content Evergreen
Evergreen content is content that remains relevant and useful for a long time, making it a key factor in generating ongoing shares.
Choose timeless topics: When possible, write blog posts that won’t become outdated quickly. Topics like “How to Start a Blog” or “Tips for Better Time Management” are examples of evergreen content that remains relevant.
Update old posts: If you have blog posts that were popular in the past, periodically update them with new information to keep them fresh. This can also give your post a second wind and increase its chances of being shared again.
9. Foster a Community
Building a loyal community around your blog can dramatically increase the chances of your content being shared.
Engage with readers: Respond to comments, ask for feedback, and build relationships with your audience. When readers feel like they are part of a community, they are more likely to share content with others.
Create interactive content: Quizzes, polls, and surveys are interactive elements that engage readers. People love sharing quiz results or content that includes them in the narrative.
Conclusion
Creating shareable blog content involves a combination of understanding your audience, producing high-quality material, optimizing for SEO, and actively promoting your work. By crafting content that resonates with your readers, incorporating visuals, and making it easy to share, you can significantly increase the chances of your blog posts being distributed widely across platforms. A shareable blog post not only enhances visibility but also builds authority and trust within your niche.
