Coming up with fresh content ideas and finally putting those concepts to paper via a blog post for your brand or business is tough. But, following through with the actual publishing of your blog article is even tougher. Not only does the whole process have to start with inspiration (and a good enough reason why), but it also has to end with enough a confidence that you’ve accomplished what you set out to do with your content. The best way to establish that is by writing a great conclusion that brings your blog together.

Figuring out the best way to end your blog and wrap it up in a neat bow can be the trickiest part of writing useful and engaging content. But that doesn’t mean you should avoid it altogether. Whether you’re writing a how-to article or a blog for your online store, readers still need the closure that a conclusion provides. Not only do clear and concise conclusions benefit skimmers, but they also give you the opportunity to call readers to action and influence a conversion. Let’s go through exactly why a conclusion is important to have on every blog you write, and the best strategies for writing an effective one.

 

Why Your Blog Conclusion Matters

When you write a conclusion for your blog article, you have an opportunity to wrap everything up into one nice package. That main point you were trying to get across? You can now reiterate that here in the conclusion. That action you wanted your reader to take? You can now remind them to do it (and do it right now!).

Not writing a conclusion for your blog post is a lot like saying hello when you arrive somewhere without ever saying goodbye once you leave — it makes any interaction feel incomplete. If your readers (and potential customers) don’t feel satisfied after every interaction they have with your brand, even if it’s just a blog post, then that’s not good for you or your business.

Not to mention, most people who land on your blog post won’t actually take the time to read every word you write. Instead, they’ll read your headline, quickly glance at your introduction, check out your sub-headlines, and then head to your conclusion for a quick summary. Again, this means that if you fail to create a conclusion, then that last paragraph will take its place — and, most likely, another business will then take your place.

If you want to make your blog posts as effective as possible, then creating a compelling conclusion is one of the most important things you can do. Remember that blog writing is a form of content marketing, so apply that thought process to your strategy.

 

7 Easy Ways to Craft the Perfect Conclusion

Now that you understand the importance of a blog conclusion, let's go through some of the most beneficial strategies to crafting your own perfect conclusion.

 

1. Find your thesis — and then say it again.

Also known as “restating your thesis,” this strategy helps you to reiterate the most important part of your article. If you cover several topics in your writing and need to remind the reader how each piece relates to your blog’s main goal, then you’ll definitely want to summarize every aspect and relate it to your common theme at the end. Restating your thesis gives your readers a takeaway, making them feel like they learned something. The key to making this strategy work is keeping your conclusion concise and easy to understand, whether the reader parsed through every word of your blog or simply skimmed it.

 

2. Make the purpose for your blog clear.

Online users in today’s world want to get in and out as quickly as possible – especially when it comes to reading long-form content. If they do spend any amount of time reading your blog article, then they’ll want to have a good explanation of why they invested their time. In other words, they want you to give them an important takeaway that they can either hold onto themselves or share with others. This type of resolution helps the reader understand how the blog is useful to them and how they can apply what they’ve learned. If a reader goes through your blog confused and doesn’t have the grounding that a conclusion provides, then they may not come back to read any more of your material in the future.

 

3. Call attention to your conclusion with a heading.

Today’s readers are more skimmers than they are actual readers. If you write with a skim reading mentality in mind, then you’ll help your audience find the important parts of your blog. While most readers know to go to the final paragraph or two for the conclusion, calling it out by starting it with a heading (even something as basic as “conclusion”) can help them know where to go. In some cases, conclusions are on the longer side, which means offering a heading can help skimmers find where to start in order to get all of the main points of your post.

 

4. Don’t start all over again.

In other words, keep your conclusion as short and simple as possible. Readers don’t have time to sift through a lengthy conclusion in order to find the important parts. The longer your conclusion is, the more likely you will lose people along the way. Give your readers what they need to know and then let them go; nobody likes to waste time that they don’t need to be wasting by reading what they’ve already read. They will thank you for it and reward you by coming back for more. If you’re a numbers person, remember this: your conclusion should reflect the length of your article and be between 50 and 250 words. The longer your article, the longer your conclusion.

 

5. Tell your reader what you want them to do next.

One of the most effective ways to conclude your blog post is to tell your reader exactly what they should do or where they should go next. Sometimes, this is as clear as a call-to-action (CTA) button that may say “Click Here for Your Free Guide” or any other text that guides them towards your desired action. However, CTA’s can be more subtle, like offering a link to check out a service you offer or a link to another resource embedded in the text of the final paragraph via hyperlink. In both examples, you make it clear that there is a next step for your reader; if your blog post was compelling, this helps satisfy their curiosity and their desire to do more. This type of conclusion strategy is so effective because, in most cases, your audience is craving something more from you by the end of your blog.

 

6. Pose a question when appropriate.

Whether it’s to boost engagement or just to get your reader to think, writing a conclusion with a final question can help evoke a sense of curiosity while simultaneously reminding your reader what your article was all about. In best case scenarios, conclusions with questions help to create a real sense of community, inviting readers to comment below or even share your post with others. To get the most out of conclusion questions, make sure that you’re asking something that is engaging and still on-topic with your post. However, on that note, don’t ask a question for the sake of asking a question; if your blog’s topic doesn’t benefit from requesting engagement from your readers, then don’t force a question at the end.

 

7. Invite your audience to join a challenge.

When it comes to writing effective conclusions that are also engaging, creating a challenge is one of the most useful tricks to have up your sleeve. A “challenge” in this context is a request for engagement of some sort, similar to asking a question. However, challenges are more similar to CTA’s in that they instruct the user to perform a specific action, albeit more focused on the community-participation aspect. Challenge your readers to use a hashtag to share their thoughts on social media about your topic or tell them to create their own multimedia content to enhance your message. User-generated content, or UGC, is a great way to elevate your blog post from a simple website page to a cross-platform event. Once your readers have participated, be sure to reward them by sharing their content and ideas in a blog update or on social media.

 

The All-Important Conclusion

While taking the time to sit down and write a blog post for your business should be first on your to-do list, creating an effective conclusion for that post should be a close second. Not only is your audience hunting for that conclusion, but they’re also eager to see what happens next. Conclusions are a great opportunity to reemphasize your blog’s purpose and influence readers to take any desired action after they’ve been engaged with your writing. Just like this conclusion is reminding you what we’ve discussed in this blog, so to should your conclusions.

What’s your go-to strategy for writing an engaging conclusion? Share your tips in a comment below!