What is an IncomeSchool blog post?
An IncomeSchool blog post is a 1500-2500 word article written to answer a specific question people may ask on Google. It is written in a specific format designed to rank high on Google search pages and win the Google snippet. IncomeSchool Blog Posts follow a specific blog recipe detailed below.
What is a “Google snippet”?
Google Snippets are short snippets of text that appear at the top of Google’s search results in order to answer a searcher’s query quickly. The content inside a Featured Snippet is automatically pulled from web pages and blog posts in Google’s index. Common types of Featured Snippets include definitions, tables, how-to steps, and lists.
The IncomeSchool Blog Post Recipe:
You should follow this recipe to write the perfect IncomeSchool blog post. It helps you write the blog post in the best way possible to help Google see value in your post and provide an excellent user experience for the reader.
The IncomeSchool Blog Post Recipe will teach you how to format the blog post and divide it into sections designed to maximize the chance it will rank high on Google, win the Google snippet, and nicely answer the question the reader is asking.
Here is the recipe:
- The title: Always start with the title, which is the main question given to you. Write it exactly as it is given to you.
- The Tee-up Section: The first section after the title is the Tee-up section. It is about 2 to 3 sentences. These introductory sentences should give the reader confidence that you can help them answer the title question. Make sure you show confidence and authority (you can use personal experiences) to let the reader know you have the answer.
- The Answer Target Section: This section should be no more than 300 characters. In the answer target section, you should directly answer the main question. This section is most commonly formatted as a paragraph but can also be formatted as a list or a table.
- The Read-On Section: This section is one to three sentences. In the read-on section, let the reader know you have more information to share about the topic and encourage them to keep reading.
- The Subheadings Section: This section is 2 to 4 paragraphs. Here you will give the reader a more in-depth answer to the main question of the blog post. Include data, answer reasoning, quotes, nuances, and anecdotes. Use these writing styles to ensure you cover all aspects of the topic of the main question. Strive to give the reader the most helpful, in-depth information about the topic.
- The Related Questions Section: This is the last section of the blog post. In this section, you anticipate the next questions the reader may ask or need after reading the subheadings. Do not stray far from the main topic. You should include 2 to 3 questions related to the main topic and answer each in one paragraph or less.
Overview of the IncomeSchool Blog Post Recipe
IncomeSchool blog posts are written to answer a specific question, like, “How much can a regular drywall nail hold?”
When writing an IncomeSchool blog post, first make sure you do extensive online research about the specific question in the title so that by the time you start writing, you are knowledgeable on the topic.
After you do the online research and become an expert on the topic of the title question, write down the title, then tee-up the answer target with a few lead-in sentences. Use the tee-up sentences to establish your authority in the reader’s eyes and helps them see you as an expert.
Next, you will write your answer target. Your answer target is the one-paragraph answer that nails the answer of the title question. The answer target should make it so the reader could, at this point, walk away from your blog post with a great answer unless they’re interested in reading more, which comes up next.
The next section is the read-on section. In one or two sentences, encourage the reader to keep learning more because you’ll dive deeper into the details of the answer as the blog post goes on. After you do this part, you will go into the meat of your article with the subheadings section.
Now the subheadings section will be based on the online research you did before you started writing. The subheadings of the blog post will expand on the answer target. You should write two or three subheading paragraphs that give the reader relevant information, reasoning, data, charts, and details. You want to ensure your subheadings are on topic and significantly related to the main title question.
Lastly, after writing the subheadings and giving a detailed answer, you need to develop two to three related questions the reader may need or like to know and answer each question in a paragraph or less.
Now that you have a general idea about the IncomeSchool blog post recipe let’s go into each section in detail so you can become an expert and write a perfect IncomeSchool blog post each and every time.
The Title
So the first thing you’ll need to write an IncomeSchool blog post recipe is the title. The title will be given to you. It is the question the blog post will answer. Don’t rewrite the title that’s assigned to you. Take it exactly as it’s as is and put it as the title for the blog post. Capitalize the first letters in each word of the title.
Online Research
Before you start writing an IncomeSchool blog post, there are two critical things you must do:
The first thing is to get the topic of the blog post (the title). You will be provided with the title of the blog post in the form of a question. This is the blog post topic.
The second is to do extensive online research about the topic to become an expert in the field. An IncomeSchool blog post is written to answer the question in the title, and through online research, you have to become an expert on that topic. You need the information you gather from your online research to write your answer target, the subheading paragraphs, and to come up with the related questions.
You can do the online research through a Google search, a YouTube search, and by reading online forums where people have had actual experience with the question we are trying to answer. Doing thorough online research on the main topic (the main question) will allow you to write the best IncomeSchool blog post.
Now that you have the title and have completed the online research, you can start writing the IncomeSchool blog post. Remember always to follow the post recipe.
The Tee-up Section:
After the title, you need to write two to three Tee-up sentences to achieve two goals:
- The first goal of the Tee-up sentences is to clearly identify what the post is about. So, introduce yourself as a person and clearly state what is going to be in this blog post.
- The second goal of the Tee-up sentences is to establish rapport and credibility with the reader so that they feel that you are a real person who they have confidence can help them answer the topic question.
Caution: One area where you can easily go wrong while writing the Tee-up section is if you go off-topic and use words unrelated to the question in the title.
Let me give you an example of that. Let’s say your post is “How to roller skate?” If your post is on how to roller skate, an excellent tee-up section can look like this: “I was learning how to roller skate a couple of months ago, and there were a lot of tricks to it. So I decided to research and write a helpful post on how to roller skate; I will share my experience with you today.” These three sentences clearly identify who you are, give you credibility as a roller skater, and tell the reader what the post is about.
On the other hand, if you write something like, “If you’ve ever learned to ride a bicycle, once you learn it, you do it. And that’s like skating,” then it is not a good tee-up because you wrote about bicycles so much in the first sentence. When Google, a machine, is reading that article, it may not understand what your blog post is about. Likewise, when people look at the search result, generally, they only read the first sentence, and, in this example, if they see it’s all about bicycles, they may not know what your article is about.
Here is another example: Suppose we’re writing a blog post answering the search topic, “Is Orange Theory Fitness Club good for beginners?” My answer target paragraph should directly answer the topic question. I might write an answer target such as, “Orange Theory has special programs to make it a suitable option for beginners. They have introductory classes where new members are shown how to use their facility, and the pace of their course is slowed down for those who are just getting started.” This is a good answer target, but it needs to be teed up with content before this section to signify that an answer is coming next.
I may start the blog post with two sentences that tee-up the answer target. It might look something like, “When I first joined Orange Theory Fitness, I was really nervous about it being only for more advanced athletes. I wasn’t sure if it would be a good option for a beginner like me, but I went in to see how it would go.” These sentences set the stage for the answer target and provide helpful context for Google to find your answer. They also established me as an expert with personal experience directly related to the topic.
Write the tee-up sentences normally and naturally, but keep in mind that you don’t want to put anything here that could trick the search engines or make the reader not super clear on exactly what your blog post is about.
Very Important: the first paragraph of a blog post following IncomeSchool’s post recipe should be teeing up the answer target, and the second paragraph should be the answer target itself.
The Answer Target Section:
The Answer Target paragraph is probably the most critical piece of the entire post recipe. It starts by restating the question in simple terms, and then immediately afterward, 200 to 300 characters, about 2 to 3 sentences, that explains the answer in the most simple, straightforward terms possible.
We want to give the person reading the blog post the answer they came for immediately without any delay whatsoever so that they know that this post was helpful.
Here are a few tips to make sure you accomplish that. In this particular paragraph, don’t be too creative in your writing. It is acceptable for the rest of the blog post to be very neighborly in writing how you would answer this to a friend. But in the Answer Target, we really want something straightforward and directly answer the title question.
Suppose you are writing a post titled “How fast do BB guns shoot?” An excellent answer paragraph may be, “An average BB gun shoots between 300 and 1500 feet per second. Most BB guns for youth shoot under 800 feet per second, while adult BB guns generally shoot between 750 and 1500 FPS. The speed of the gun is mostly determined by the method of how the gun propels the BB.” This answer target is directly on point; it answers the title question quickly and gives the reader something a little bit more than just “it depends,” which to most questions the answer is “it depends,” but we want to be more helpful than that.
The answer target should answer the title question in the first five to ten words; otherwise, you should reorganize your answer target so that the answer comes directly first.
Here’s an example of that. If I am writing a blog post to answer the question, “Do fish sleep upside down?” My answer target could look like this, and this is a poor example: “While many fish have different sleeping habits, most fish sleep upside down.” Note that I didn’t give the actual answer until the very last portion of the sentence. So rather than starting my answer target with the caveat, “While many fish have different sleeping habits,” I should move the caveat to the end. My answer target should be: “Fish sleep upside down. Many fish have different sleeping habits that vary based on the size or type of water they’re in.” You can see a difference between putting the answer somewhere in the first sentence and putting it right at the front of the sentence.
We want to give a specific answer right at the beginning, and then you can follow up with the remaining space in your paragraph with any of the caveats that come with the answer.
Your answer target should always be under 300 characters and no less than 150 characters. You must also ensure that your answer target sounds like an encyclopedia or a definition-style paragraph. It should sound like it comes out of a textbook formatted with authority.
Another thing you need to ensure is never to put a “yes” or “no” in the answer target. So back to the fish example, “Do fish sleep upside down?” I shouldn’t say, “Yes, most fish sleep upside down.” I shouldn’t say, “No, most fish sleep upside down.” I shouldn’t use the “yes” or “no” because depending on how the searcher asks the question on the Google search page, it may not make as much sense or result in an incorrect answer. So keep the “yes” or “no” out of the answer target.
Every answer target absolutely must meet these four criteria:
- An answer target must be able to stand alone. If the answer requires additional context, it won’t work. If the answer requires the question to be worded a certain way, it won’t work.
- Answer targets need to be written in a Wikipedia style and sound factual and even somewhat formal tone. A casual tone, especially if you use slang, won’t work.
- Never start an answer target with a “yes” or a “no.” The wording that the searcher uses can completely change which answer is correct.
- The answer target must be more than 150 characters and less than 300.
The Read-On Section:
Now that you’ve done your online research and written your answer target paragraph, it’s time to write just one or two sentences to keep the person leaving the page without finding the great helpful information you have down below.
For example, if my post was about “How fast does a BB gun shoot?” I’ve already given them a range and a general answer in the target answer paragraph, but I also have some beneficial information for them later. So in the read-on section, I might write something like, “Many BB gun shooters select a gun based on which gun can shoot the fastest. There’s a lot to choosing the right speed for a particular application, and the speed advertised on the box is probably inaccurate.” You see how I’ve intrigued the reader to continue reading in several ways because they won’t have that information just from reading the answer paragraph.
The Subheadings Section:
The next part in the post recipe is your first subheading. In the first subheading paragraph, we want to dive into the topic in much more detail than just that quick two or three-sentence answer target. This is a great place to include a table of information that further explains the answer target paragraph. This is a great place to have a bulleted list of examples. Take your time writing the content in the first section because this is exactly what the reader came for. The subheading paragraphs aim to give the reader a detailed answer that covers all aspects of the main title question. Each subheading paragraph should be 250-400 words.
Here is an example: Suppose this post is about “How much does a swimming pool cost?” In the target answer paragraph, we gave the reader a direct range and tried to answer it as clearly as possible. In the first subheading, we developed that more with a bulleted list of example pricing of different pool sizes. In the second subheading, we may address issues such as the cost difference between concrete, fiberglass, and vinyl liner pools. So we’re still directly about the cost and did not go off-topic, but we went deeper into the answer. And then you try to think, OK, what’s the next topic? The cost of a pool is significantly impacted by where you live, so the third subheading may be how your region or locality impacts the price of a pool. You can see how we’re developing the answer further with each subheading. It’s still tightly aligned with the blog post’s general topic and title question.
While filling in your subheadings, keep the post recipe next to you. Review it multiple times. Make sure that you don’t get too off-topic. You want to ensure you answer your reader’s question in detail, so whatever your blog post is about, you want to cover every aspect of the title. Use the subheadings section to expound upon your answer target. Give any caveats here. Make it super helpful and in-depth. You can also use the subheadings section to explain the reasoning behind your target answer. Use quotes from experts and nuances and anecdotes if you have any. All of those things are going to make your article really helpful
The Related Questions Section:
This is the final section of the blog post. Under this section, you will write two or three questions further afield from the blog post’s main topic and then give each question a solid answer about 300 characters long. The good news is that your online Google research will often give you these related questions.
For example, if you do an online Google search of “How fast do BB guns shoot?” you will find at the bottom of the search results page a section called “related searches.” This is a great place to find related questions to your main search.
Also, in the middle of the Google search results page, you’ll see a box called “people also ask,” which will give you some excellent ideas for related questions. Just make sure you don’t go too far off-topic from the main title question.
Here are some examples of related questions. Suppose the IncomeSchool blog post is titled “How fast do BB guns shoot?” This is the main topic. You already gave the reader a Target Answer, and then you gave much more details in the subheadings section. In this case, a good related question would be “Are BB guns safe?” because BB gun safety is probably one of the reasons the reader asked about the speed, to begin with. Another good related question could be, “Can you hunt with a BB gun?” The reader may want to know if a bb gun can shoot fast enough for hunting. And this is how we choose the related questions and then give a 200 to 300-character response to each one. The related questions section should not be more than three questions.
Here is another example of related questions. I’ve been looking at dogs recently because I want to get another dog that’s good with kids, is a good family dog, and is good with other dogs. I may search Google for “Are Corgis good family dogs?” If I am writing an IncomeSchool blog post to answer the question, “Are Corgis good family dogs?” my answer target may be this: “Welsh Corgis are smart, loyal, and love to please. They are good with children and other family pets. Corgis can adapt to both city and country living with few problems. This makes them great family dogs, especially families that plan to expand and add kids.”
But when I did my online Google search, I noticed that the “people also ask” section says, “Are corgis high maintenance?” because someone looking if corgis are good family dogs may also wonder if they require a lot of care and may be high-maintenance. A person may not want a corgis as a family dog if they are high maintenance. So “Are corgis high maintenance?” is an excellent question for the Realted Questions section in my IncomeSchool blog post.
Another question I found while doing my online Google search (also under the “people also ask” section of the Google search results) was, “Do corgis bark a lot?” If someone asks, “Are Corgis good family dogs?” which is the title of our blog post in this example, they would probably also like to know if corgis bark a lot. If a dog barks a lot, it may be very annoying to my kids and family. So “Do corgis bark a lot?” is a great question related to the main topic of this blog post.