How to Write an Awesome Blog Post for Your Insurance Agency

If you own an insurance agency and are out looking for ways to develop more new business. You’re likely told over and over that you need to have a website and post new, original content to your blog.

This is actually solid advice. The way we reach new customers is changing, and the way we approach new client acquisition needs to evolve. This begins with a website where you can create relevant, shareable content.

There is no doubt, this will challenge you in ways that may make you uncomfortable. It will also be an investment in time. But if you get good at it, you can use the many social media platforms to gain traffic and new fans, who you can then work toward becoming customers. But where to start? Well, you’ll need to get better at blogging. This may be a bit intimidating as you get started, but writing a blog post isn’t actually that difficult. The challenge will be writing a GOOD blog post.

I’m just like you, a small business owner, not a professional writer and the New Yorker isn’t going to be inviting me to write a future expose, but experience has taught me what makes a GOOD blog post. I won’t lie to you, being a good writer is a great place to start. But it’s not a requirement. I work at it and can always be better. It’s a skill that gets better with practice. You will need basic writing skills, however. That being said, the average writer can follow the formula below, and achieve a level of successful posting content to your website.

Lesson #1: Blogging is not like writing a college (or even high school) term paper

You aren’t writing your blog post (I hope you’re not) to be like a college term paper. So you can flush that notion right away.

Please allow me to take this opportunity to apologize to all my college professors!

A good blog post is like a good, comfortable, safe conversation. So, when writing your blog post the tone and tenor should be conversational.

You want your reader to feel as if you are talking to them … not at them.

That was an easy lesson, not too hard, and you avoid writing term papers … we’re all winners!

Lesson #2: You need awesome headlines (or blog titles)

This is the most important of all the lessons in this post, it should have been the first lesson, but I wanted to get that “term” paper issue resolved so I could calm your anxiety … because you’re likely new to blogging.

Headlines are critical, you must have killer headlines if you’re going to have success getting your blog post read. Some even recommend that you create your headline before you start writing. I don’t think that is necessary, but you may find it helpful when you’re getting started.

If you’re thinking that you don’t need to take this seriously, think again.  Many blog posts, even those with the best copy and awesome, relevant content, have failed because they had a sleepy headline.

If you want some resources for writing better headlines, take a look at our recent blog post, or check out this great post by Brian Clark at Copyblogger.

This may sound a bit weird at first read, but the best headlines are found in your local supermarket tabloid, you should take a look at how they gain your attention. The tabloids have some of the best headline copywriters in the business, so there is a wealth of expertise … don’t be afraid to study how they write headlines.

You can also browse successful blogs, like Copyblogger, and look at how they craft their headlines, and which of them have the most comments.  There is a correlation between headlines and interest, so you can identify a good headline by the number of comments or social shares the post received.

Lesson #3: Keep them coming for more (what’s your hook?)

One of the lessons I learned when I first started writing was simple, your headline has only one purpose, and that is to get the reader to read the next line.

The purpose of the first sentence of your post is to get the reader to read the next sentence … and so on and so forth.

That’s the hook.

If you can’t grab your reader in the first few sentences, then you’re not going to have much success getting your post read.

Let me give you an example, and I’m going to use very this post to illustrate my point:

I opened this post:

“You want to get better at blogging, but you’re not sure where to start, and you’re a bit intimidated by the entire process. Well, writing a blog post isn’t too hard, but writing a GOOD blog post can be challenging.

I’m just like you, a small business owner, not a professional writer and the New Yorker isn’t going to be inviting me to write a future expose, but I have a good understanding of what makes a GOOD blog post.

Sure, I can be a better writer, and I do work at it, but even if you aren’t the best writer, if you follow a formula, you can be successful blogging too.”

If you breakdown what I did, you can see I’m using some basic principles:

1. For starters, the tone is conversational.
2. I told you that writing a good blog post is hard, but if I could do it you could too.
3. I baited you to read further by saying I understand how to write a good blog post.

I also established some social proof with you by establishing that I’m just like you, and if I can do it you can too.

I’m not saying to open every blog post just like this, but it does illustrate the concept. And you don’t have to write like me … you can certainly do better. J

Lesson #4: Make sure you know what you want to write about

Every blog post should have a purpose, so know what you want to discuss before you begin. Before you write the first word you should know where you want to start, and how it should end … and the points you want to make between should take you logically to the end.

I can tell you, I’m pretty spontaneous and enjoy being extemporaneous (and some even say verbose), but each time I’ve tried to write a post without a plan, I’ve failed.

You’re too busy to work without a plan, if you attempt to “wing it,” you’ll find that you spend more time editing, and restarting … and you just don’t have that kind of time.

So, don’t waste time, plan, prepare and then start to write.

Lesson #5: Dive deep into your topic

If you are not reading a popular blog, you need to start. It’s a great way to see how a good blog post is written in real-time, and you’ll also begin to see that popular blogs have one thing in common, they write content that provides excellent detail.

When you write a good blog post you need to be able to take a deep dive into a subject and provide step-by-step details about your topic.

If you write superficial blog content, providing information that only skims the surface, you are not very likely to get readers. However, when you write a detailed post, you will have more success getting traffic.

Of course, you need to write on a topic that your reader is going to find interesting, this won’t work if you write a detailed post about a topic that has no audience.

I hope you’ll learn from my experience and not waste your time writing mediocre blog posts.

Lesson #6: Conclude with Style

You should come up with a way to wrap up your post, a sign-off if you will. I’ve seen some call it simply “conclusion” or “The Rub,” and I often will sign off with “wrapping it up.”

When you “wrap up” your post you want to sign off with this simple approach:

1. Don’t be long-winded, be short and to the point.
2. You don’t want to provide the college term paper conclusion or to re-state your arguments, sum it up with something new, meaningful, and relevant.
3. You want to get engagement, so leave your conclusion open. This invites comments and social sharing.

Lesson #7: Adding the final touches

You’ve written your conclusion, but you’re not done. Before you can post your article, you need to make sure you proofread your copy. A good post will not have spelling, grammar, or flow issues.

None of us are perfect, so you’ll want to double-check everything.

Personally, when I write blog articles for one of my businesses, I have one of my managers proofread my copy. I actually make it a personal challenge to have no spelling, grammar, or flow issues … and it’s a rare post that comes back with no errors.

But even after all the proofreading, you’re still not done. You’ll want to dress up the post with a cool image. Pictures capture the emotion of the content, and help the reader make an emotional connection with your ideas … it’s also nice on the eyes.

Conclusion

You may have your own style, but that’s fine, this is a craft and there are many ways to skin this particular cat. But if you’re new to blogging, or you’re trying to get better, you will find these lessons helpful until you find your own formula and voice.

All of us who blog are constantly working on this craft, so if you have some ideas that add to the conversation, please add them to the comments.