Derek Halpern of Social Triggers has shared a great resource. Check it out – How to Write the Perfect Blog Post.

It reminded me of a post I wrote two years ago about how to format a post for SEO – How to Optimize a Blog Post for SEO. Since that time blogging has become less about SEO, but the basic format is still relevant. Derek goes into much more detail making his layout more useful.

I’ve been examining the layout and find it really useful. It’s easy to listen to Derek because he uses real psychological data to back up his claims. Derek is all about results and this blog post format has gotten him results.

But this has me wondering if there is really a perfect way to write blog posts?

Let me explain.

There Is No Perfect Blog Post

I’ll use a comparison I’ve used before here on Ghost Blog Writers. Songwriting is very much about formula. Professional songwriters have a few various methods for writing songs just like bloggers. I’m sure some songwriters schedule time for writing. Some sessions are probably more spur of the moment.

The songs these songwriters write for the most part follow a few basic formulas. Songs usually start out with a verse or even two verses. The chorus comes in next. There is a second verse followed by another chorus and then a bridge and maybe a final round of the chorus.

Listen to your favorite songs. There is a good chance this is how the song is written.

But I would argue there is no perfect song formula. In fact, I would say that people get bored with the same old format and topic after a while. That’s where creativity comes into play. People expect things to change over time.

Life is very cyclical. People look for change. Music tastes change. Formulas change. Not every great song follows the same basic formula. Some songs do follow the traditional formula, but others may start out with the chorus or maybe some don’t even have a chorus at all. It’s good to have a variety.

Derek’s perfect blog post is about more than just the format. It’s about the content as well and that’s where the real value is. It’s a great format for beginner’s to see how a blog post can be laid out, but it’s also good because it discusses how the content should be written.

It’s your job, though, to find the right topic. If you find the right topic you can have a little more leeway with the format of the post. If you have a great story people will read it even if the format or the layout is different from what Derek has laid out above or one that I’ve said here in the past or any other format you’ve seen on the Web.

If you’re a new business blogger and are looking to stand out it can actually be an advantage to offer something completely different from what everyone else is doing. The important thing to remember is that the blog post has to be an enjoyable read for your target audience.