What’s your standard for determining if a blog post is “good”? When does a post qualify as valuable enough to be shared with your audience? There likely isn’t a specific answer for this – it’ll depend on you, your brand, and your target audience. However, there is a good gauge by which you can measure your content: Does it deserve a “thank you”?
What do I mean by this? I mean that when your audience reads your blog post, they should be grateful for your information and be willing to thank you for writing and sharing it.
I know that my blog posts have varied (in my opinion) from decent to great posts. The funny thing is that, sometimes, the ones I think weren’t so great, are the ones that get the most traction. Why? Because they provided the most overall value to my audience and they welcomed the content.
So the next time you sit down to write a blog post, really think about your content and your angle. What question are you answering? What solution are you providing? Why does your audience need to know this? Will your audience be appreciative of the information?
Your blog shouldn’t be all about you. It should be about your brand helping your audience. If you are writing with this goal in mind, then your posts will be well received by your readers. And when your readers get the answers they’re looking for (or maybe didn’t know they were looking for), you will be rewarded with thank you’s.
So before you hit that “publish” button, ask yourself, does this post deserve a “thank you”? If not, throw it in the proverbial trash can and start again. Publishing content for the purpose of publishing doesn’t serve your audience. Publishing content to solve your customers’ problems, will always result in higher readership, more shares, and plenty of thanks you’s!
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Really thought-provoking points here Jenn. I too am surprised by reader’s reactions: every now and then I think I get things right and typically no one notices. On the other hand posts that I think are nothing special sometimes generate a great response. Obviously I am not a good arbiter or importance. Do agree though (at least for my blog) the subject shouldn’t be “me”. Hopefully my readers are looking for bigger and broader topics, and I do try to deliver. Great write Jenn.
I hear you Christopher! Sometimes I wonder what sparks one post over another and wish I could better dissect what works.
Glad you enjoyed this post. And thanks for taking the time to leave your thoughts.
Thank you Jenn! Your article makes a lot of sense. I especially like your comment about your readers getting the answers they were looking for, and ones they didn’t even know they needed, really hits home!
Thanks Kim! Glad you found it useful. I sincerely believe that as long as you are helping your customers, you will create a loyal band of followers and brand advocates. The best way to help them is to provide them the answers to what they’re looking for!
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