Fresh-Conclusion Blogging Begins With the Headline

On watch for OPW (Other People’s Wisdom) that can help the business blog content writers I train do a better job for themselves and their clients, I found quite a number of posts on the topic of blog post headline Do’s and Don’ts. As a result, I’m devoting this week’s Say It For You posts to curating and commenting on those poor-headline prevention tips.

Copybogger’s Henneke Duistermaat cautions writers against a common blog-writing mistake:  stale conclusions. In fact, he suggests writing your conclusion first, then filling in the rest of your blog post. Serving up an uninspiring conclusion, she says, is like presenting the cheapest supermarket ice cream after a lavish home-cooked meal.  Once you’ve thought through your conclusion, you can reflect focused enthusiasm in the title you select for your post.

As a long-time blog content writer, I agree.  Effective blog posts must go from information-dispensing to offering the business owner’s (or the professional’s, or the organizational executive’s) unique perspective on issues related to the search topic. And the more technical the subject, the greater the importance our “translation and interpretation” function becomes. The title should help focus our readers’ attention on the very aspect of our topic we’re about to discuss, helping them make sense out of the ocean of available information they can find on the Web.

“We live in a world full of cheap information,” laments Dustermaat.  “It’s hard to remember when information was a scarce resource. But time is a scarce resource.  It always will be,” he says. 

The harsh truth, he concludes, is that your readers don’t need another blog post.  What they need is you – your wisdom, your ideas, and your unique stories on your chosen area of expertise. The point Dustermaat is making is that fresh-conclusion blogging has to begin with the headline.