Everybody’s asking “how to” do just about everything—here’s a template to help you answer all of their questions.
I’ve heard the Internet referred to as both a cesspool, and as a complex organism.
It’s no wonder people often rack their brains about how to get blog traffic in such an environment.
For the record, cesspools can be defined as disgusting or corrupt places. Complex organisms, on the other hand, are creatures that have specialized tissues, which can be nerves, organs, leaves, flowers, etc.
I see the connection between both descriptions. There are dark corners of the Internet where most people won’t want to spend time; Complete with malware sites designed to steal user information, and a slew of questionable content. All this exists within this amazing communication tool that has given voice to millions who didn’t have a mass voice before.
How do you stand out among all the crap that’s out there? How do you stand tall on a digital soapbox and say “I have some awesome information for you”?
The answer is the How-to blog post, which I’ll dive into now.
How to get the blog traffic you seek
The How-to blog post is for the person or company that has expertise to share. If you’re a business, guess what? You have expertise to share. How-to blog posts are not for serial marketers or false prophets because this type of blog post is about real, legitimate, valuable, high-quality content that you don’t find coming from people without experience.
What kind of content fits the How-to post? Think about any of the questions you’ve had swimming around your head. The topics that have kept you awake at night because the answer has continually avoided you.
This is the type of subject matter used to creating How-to blog posts. We use keyword research to find the best how-to topics, but I’m sure you can think of some basic topics a customer of yours is looking for, in regards to your niche.
Below is an example of a how-to blog post template that you’re welcome to copy and use whenever you’d like. Templates are great when your company blog is just starting up and you want to train a new blogger to write skimmable, web-readable content. Some writers are used to writing huge blocks of paragraphs, and that’s just not what people want when they’re looking for how-to content.
How-To Blog Post Template
How-to posts are often around 500 words, but they can be much longer. They teach a user how to do something through a list of steps. The goal of the post is to target a keyword phrase and teach users to do something relating to that keyword phrase. The key to this post is making is skimmable.
Title of your How-To Article [with keyword phrase]
Subtitle of your How-To Article [with secondary keyword phrase]
Introduction: This is where your introduction paragraph goes. It’s what establishes your expertise on the steps you’re about to publish. It’s 100-200 words worth of introduction, generally. Insert your targeted keyword phrase at least once.
Steps (numbered) which includes all the information you want to teach:
- Do this: Describe step one.
(insert image if applicable) - Do this: Describe step two.
(insert image if applicable) - Do this: Describe step three.
(insert image if applicable) - Do this: Describe step four.
(insert image if applicable) - Do this: Describe step five.
(insert image if applicable)
Tips and Tricks Subtitle [include keyword phase here]
Introduction paragraph to Tips and Tricks Goes Here
This section could include some tips on how to accomplish certain steps faster, or ingredients you might be able to substitute, or whether steps for setting up an email in MailChimp will work for Constant Contact.
Tip #1: Write your first tip here.
Tip #2: Write your second tip here.
Tip #3: Write your third tip here.
Question that provokes a comment…
Call to action (buy this related product now / learn more)
Note: Include internal related links when applicable in the article.
Why you should create how-to posts
Everyone has opinions. Some of these opinions resonate with us, while others don’t. Everyone is welcome to their own beliefs, but they are not welcome to their own facts.
Facts are determined through research, testing, and the acceptance of the fact by others.
People are constantly inundated with opinions, so facts will be refreshing to your audience. How-to articles have a tangible value beyond the belief-based articles from others because they are specifically teaching a process or an activity. The same cannot be said for opinion-based articles.
Ultimately, how-to articles are filled with benefits. They’re informative, interesting, and potentially life-changing.
Imagine writing an article on how to get blog traffic. The article publishes, you promote it, it ends up ranking well in Google, and it drives traffic to your site. This article would be proof of a successful how-to strategy.
How to proceed
Think about what you’re the best at—what you’ve tirelessly studied, researched and learned through different perspective. Look at what you can teach the world, and then research keyword phrases that align with your content. At that point, you’ll be well on your way to crafting how-to articles that have benefits and the ability to impress audiences.
And if you need help writing content for your blog, check us out.
Are you already writing how-to articles? How have they worked for you? If not, do you plan on using how-to articles in your content arsenal now? I’d love to hear your thoughts.
