The start of your blog post matters. But so does the end.
In fact, without a powerful end to your post, all the work that you put into the title and paragraph one is wasted. Because the end of your post is what keeps your readers coming back for more.
Here are seven powerful ways to end your post.
1. Sum up your key message
Sometimes, you need to hammer a point home. The final few lines of
your post are a great opportunity to make sure that your key message
gets across.
If you can, bring out a new point—or sum up in an engaging way. If
you just rehash what you’ve already said, readers will wander off,
bored.
Example:
To write 100 books (75,000 words per book) over the next
30 years, you need to be writing 1,000 words per day (writing five days a
week, 50 weeks per year). At a brisk but comfortable pace, that’s an
hour a day.If you want to write 100 books in the next ten years, that’s 3,000 words a day.
Being prolific is closer to possible than you might have believed.
—David Masters, Writing Secrets of Prolific Authors, Write to Done
2. Encourage the reader to take action
Many blog posts are full of excellent advice, but how often does that advice actually get put into practice?
Readers love posts that are practical, and if you can persuade them to do something (and see the benefits) then they’ll be much more likely to return to your blog.
Example:
But in the meantime, here’s a tip you can use right away.
You’ll have vastly better copy on your website in 20 minutes by
following these two simple steps:Go look at your web copy right now.
Take out every word that doesn’t contribute something new.
Come back here and tell us about the before-and-after. I bet you’ll have something to say!
—James Chartrand, Do You Have Useless Website Content?, Men with Pens
3. Ask the reader to share your post
If you want more tweets or Facebook shares, ask for them. Readers
won’t always think of sharing your post, and they may not notice that
you’ve got a “retweet” button waiting—unless you tell them.
You might also want to encourage readers to forward a post to
friends: unless you’re writing for a predominantly techy audience,
there’s a good chance that a lot of your subscribers are getting your
feed by email.
Example:
If you enjoyed this post, I’d be very grateful if you’d
help it spread by emailing it to a friend, or sharing it on Twitter or
Facebook. Thank you!
—Ali Luke, How to Have Confidence in Your Writing – and Yourself, Aliventures
4. Link to another useful resource
When readers finish one post, they’ll often be ready to read another
on a similar topic. If you’ve written an inspirational piece, for
instance, it’s a great idea to link to a practical guide that helps
readers turn that inspiration into action.
You don’t need to link to blog posts, either. Pointing readers
towards newspaper articles or books in your field isn’t just useful—it
also helps demonstrate that you’re on top of what’s happening in your
niche.
Example:
If you enjoyed this, you might also enjoy these posts inspired by art:
- Writing as an emerging sculpture: Inspiration from Michelangelo’s slaves15 ways modern art galleries can inspire writers
—Joanna Penn, 7 Lessons For Writers From Leonardo Da Vinci, The Creative Penn
5. Ask a question to encourage comments
Questions work well in titles and first lines—and they’re also a good
way to end a post. Asking a question for readers to respond to (e.g.
“do you any tips to add?”) is likely to increase the number of comments
you get.
Don’t go over the top with questions, though: one or two are usually
enough. You don’t want your readers to feel bombarded with a whole
string of questions.
Example:
Did you find some great strategies of your own in the
videos? What are the exciting ideas informing your own marketing—and how
are you implementing them?Let us know in the comments.
—Sonia Simone, 3 Content Marketing Ideas You Should Steal from Coca Cola, Copyblogger
6. Tell readers what’s coming next
If you want people to subscribe to your blog, or to keep visiting the
site for updates, you need to let them know that you’ve got good stuff
coming up.
At the end of your post, let readers know what’s coming tomorrow (or
next week). You might simply drop a hint like “I’ve got something big to
announce next week…” or you might tell them to stay tuned for a more
advanced post on a similar topic to the one they’ve just read.
Example:
Next week I’ll post about moving larger WordPress sites.
Those might not work with this method because your export XML file will
be too large, and you might not be able to upload it via the WordPress
import feature.
—Daniel Scocco, How to Move A Small WordPress Site Via the Import/Export Tool, DailyBlogTips
7. Promote your product or service
Even though you might have information about your
book/ebook/ecourse/etc. in your sidebar, some readers won’t see
that—they’ll either be reading in an RSS reader or they simply won’t
notice.
The final line of your post is a great place to let readers know
about your product (or to remind them that it exists). This works
especially well if your post has been on a similar topic—for instance,
if you’ve written about procrastination and you’ve got an ecourse on
getting things done, there’s an obvious link between the two!
Which of these tips would work well on your next post? Leave a comment below to tell us what you’ll be trying out…
