The single most important piece of content that you will create as part of your content marketing strategy will be the blog post. A great blog can drive traffic to your website, increase search engine rankings, but also provides a starting point for all other content. Now that your website has that shiny new blogging platform and you’re prepared to attract and engage with your audience, it’s time to get down to business and create those posts. There is one small hurtle to overcome; how should you format the blog post? What is the best structure for a successful post that will get your article found, get them to read, and hopefully get them to act?

People consume a vast amount of content every day. Depending on the source, experts say we’re consuming content upwards of twelve hours a day. That’s half the day of consuming info from Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, text messages, Netflix, Snapchat, radio, TV, and you get the idea. The more media outlets we create for ourselves, the more we consume. Let’s face it, we’re content consuming machines and it seems to increase every year. In fact, as I’m writing this article at a gymnastics facility waiting for my son’s parkour class to finish, I notice that four out of five parents are busy with their smart phones ravenously consuming information. If you’re wondering about the fifth parent, she’s busy chasing a toddler around the room.