When you’re penning a blog post, it’s casual to place the formatting. But however exactly should you format your blog posts to get much engagement and hunt success?

When it comes to penning the introduction, support it simple, concise, and tailored to your audience.

If you privation a defined attack for formatting your introduction, you tin usage the Problem-Solution-Proof (PSP) instauration formula.

Using the PSP look means you tin get consecutive to the halfway of the taxable by outlining the problem, giving a solution, and providing impervious of wherefore your assemblage should spot you—all successful conscionable 2 paragraphs.

It besides means there’s abstraction to enactment an representation supra the fold, making your station much visually engaging for visitors.

Once you’ve perfected your introduction, it’s clip to see however to put the remainder of the article.

The world is that galore radical bash not work from commencement to decorativeness anymore. A survey by Nielson suggested that lone 16% of its trial users work an nonfiction connection by word. 

So it’s important to marque your articles scannable to maximize engagement connected your blog. The easiest mode to bash this is to usage headings or, much specifically, H1 tags and different <H> tags.

Headings besides person a secondary benefit, arsenic they assistance to supply an SEO-friendly operation for your article.

Here’s what it looks similar successful practice. You privation to purpose for a wide hierarchy.

In my opinion, your headings should person 2 qualities:

• Individually, they should person an interaction and drawback the reader’s attention.
• Collectively, they request to signifier a logical outline and bespeak the cardinal elements of the nonfiction astatine a glance.

In practice, it’s often a balancing act: You’ll request to beryllium capable to operation posts successful a logical, hierarchical mode and besides entice the scholar to read on.

Generally speaking, a batch of contented connected the net falls into these categories:

• List posts
• Step-by-step guides
• Beginner’s guides
• Expanded definition
• Reviews

For this reason, earlier you make your written content, it’s a bully thought to probe what benignant of contented is already ranking for your people keywords truthful that you tin format it properly.

This whitethorn look similar overkill, but you don’t privation to discarded clip creating contented successful a format that readers are improbable to prosecute with. So it pays to get it close from the start.

For example, if we constitute a 2,000-word nonfiction connected “how to necktie a tie” and visitors are expecting a video, it’s improbable our written contented volition ever get a accidental to look astatine the apical of the SERP due to the fact that it’s not the benignant of contented our assemblage is looking for.

To amusement you however speedy it is to cheque for the ascendant contented type, let’s leap into Ahrefs’ Keywords Explorer, plug successful “how to necktie a tie,” and scroll down to the SERP overview.

We tin spot from this hunt that the apical effect is simply a video hosted connected YouTube. That means successful bid to vie successful this SERP, we’ll astir apt request to make a video connected this topic.

With that said, let’s instrumentality a look astatine immoderate of the astir communal written contented types that you tin easy format for.

List posts

List posts are precise common, particularly successful definite niches wherever visitors are looking for inspiration or ideas. 

Let’s commencement by plugging successful “things to bash successful capri” successful Keywords Explorer. 

If we scroll down to the SERP overview, we tin spot that astir each of the results incorporate a number, meaning they are apt to beryllium list posts.

From this example, arsenic determination are truthful galore database posts ranking connected the archetypal leafage for this query, we’ll request to instrumentality to the database station format successful bid to basal a accidental of ranking connected this SERP.

Here’s an illustration of the format you tin usage for a list post:

Step-by-step guides

Let’s present plug successful different antithetic keyword. I’ve added “podcasting guide” into Keywords Explorer to spot what we get.

Although the SERP effect titles incorporate numbers arsenic well, we tin spot that the ascendant contented benignant astatine the apical of the SERP is astir providing step-by-step guides. 

Here’s an illustration of the format you tin usage for a step-by-step guide:

Beginner’s guides

Let’s instrumentality a look astatine different contented type. I’ve plugged the keyword “chess basics” into the SERP overview.

From my highlights, we tin spot that the rubric tags of these pages are aimed astatine beginners. 

If we wanted to make a beginner’s usher for a topic, the format of the station mightiness look thing like this:

Expanded definition

Another communal benignant of contented is the expanded definition. This benignant of contented explains the meaning of a happening oregon conception earlier going into much item about it.

Let’s plug successful “latte” into Keywords Explorer and scroll down to the SERP overview.

In this example, we tin spot that the apical effect is asking what a latte is. 

We tin usage this format to physique retired a station connected this topic.

Another constituent you tin adhd to an “expanded definition” format station is FAQs. Adding this conception with schema tin beryllium a bully combination. 

Here’s an illustration of immoderate fashionable FAQs astir H1 tags from our blog:

Reviews

One of the astir fashionable contented formats is the reappraisal format. This format is reasonably self-explanatory—visitors to your tract are expecting the merchandise oregon work to beryllium reviewed.

Let’s instrumentality a look astatine a “review” SERP successful Keywords Explorer.

This is 1 of the easier-to-spot formats, and you tin spot astir each SERP effect rubric has the connection “review” in it.

When it comes to penning reviews, Google provides elaborate guidance connected however to constitute a bully review, which you tin work about below.

Many contented creators cognize however to format content. But successful the unreserved to nutrient content, it’s casual to fto the prime of the formatting descent oregon omit it altogether.

Here’s a reminder of what you should and shouldn’t do:

Don’t marque your nonfiction needlessly long—keep it succinct and to the point

If you are penning to scope a connection count, past you are creating contented wrong. You should truly absorption connected penning the champion blog station you can. 

Though, it’s utile to cognize however agelong antithetic pages connected the SERP are due to the fact that it gives you a consciousness of the accidental available. 

The champion mode to cheque is to usage Keywords Explorer’s SERP overview, arsenic it lists the connection number of the apical pages connected the SERP.

Using a instrumentality similar this, we tin spot that for this topic, the fig #1 ranking nonfiction is the shortest nonfiction connected the SERP. 

So if we hired a freelance writer to constitute a 4000-word blog station connected “what is simply a latte,” chances are, it would beryllium too much.

Use substance formatting for emphasis

Basic substance formatting, similar utilizing bold, italic, oregon <a> links, is simply a bully mode to item definite parts of your contented for hunt engines.

Google’s John Muller had this to accidental astir bolding text:

Does bolding important points connected a paragraph assistance the SEO? Yes it does. It does assistance america to amended recognize that paragraph oregon that page.

Use a array of contents 

I mentioned making your blog posts scannable earlier on. In my opinion, determination is nary amended mode to bash this than by adding a array of contents, arsenic it summarizes your contented successful a fewer lines that users can click.

Adding a array of contents is simply a bully mode to let your page’s visitors to scan your content’s halfway topics quickly.

It tin besides trigger sitelinks, which tin perchance assistance you triumph adjacent much integrated clicks.

Use interior linking to explicate different concepts

Internal linking for SEO is 1 of the astir almighty aspects of formatting a blog post, successful my opinion. 

Check retired our video and guides connected however to bash it below.

Use outer links erstwhile linking to utile resources

External links should beryllium utilized much sparingly than interior links. But it’s bully to nexus to relevant, trusted sources that assistance supply discourse for your content.

Add an writer bio

Adding an writer bio is simply a bully mode to supply legitimacy for your readers. If visitors to your tract tin spot that the contented is written by a existent person, it adds to its authenticity.

At Ahrefs, we person an writer bio beneath each station with links to our societal media profiles.

Use images to heighten your content 

Generally speaking, it’s a bully thought to adhd images to assistance convey much meaning to your content. 

It’s important due to the fact that immoderate SERPs volition propulsion done images from your articles.

Here’s an illustration wherever images from my blog station connected website structure were pulled into the Google SERP:

Use original, web-ready images

When it comes to images, it’s casual to usage a banal image. But a amended thought is to usage your ain archetypal images wherever possible. They besides should ideally beryllium “web ready.” This means utilizing WEBP representation formats for the champion performance.

When it comes to optimizing your images, you tin besides usage alt text arsenic portion of your basal image optimization.

Final thoughts

Many of the elements of formatting a blog station for hunt are not difficult. Yet surprisingly, galore online publishers inactive don’t instrumentality the clip to do it.

Taking a structured attack to formatting tin assistance your contented basal retired from the assemblage and get it recognized connected the SERPs.

Got much questions? Ping maine on Twitter. 🙂