There are lots of blog post styles to choose from. One of the most interesting types is called a round-up blog post. I will teach you the basics of writing one for your own blog. You will learn about researching content, what to include and tips on making it SEO friendly.
What is a Round-Up Blog Post?
A round-up blog post consists of a variety of compiled posts from around the internet on a specific subject. It’s usually written by one author or compiled with permissions from all of the authors and presents them in a list format to give readers who are interested in the subject an easy way to find related posts without having to conduct their own research.
Round-up posts are great for readers because they get updates on a specific subject without having to go through all the trouble of finding them on their own. They’re also good for bloggers because they can show their readers that they are keeping up with trends and not just regurgitating what’s already been written on the subject.
They can be a great way to build relationships with other bloggers who get a backlink for being featured in the article. They are also a good way to promote your own blog posts.
Deciding on The Round-Up Type to Use
Round-up posts are easy to create, but there’s more than one approach. Below I have listed the three different ways you can do it so you’re not limited in how you want to go about writing yours.
Three ways to approach a roundup post are:
- Themes – roundups based on a theme or topic
- Contributors and how they are related to the niche’s subject matter.
- Categories, which can be by type of post like recipe round-ups or by major holiday events like Christmas time with gifts for men, women and kids as examples.
How to Write a Round-Up Blog Post
When it comes to writing the round-up post, it is important to research the content you are going to be writing about. If it’s not something that you specialize in or have experience with, then spend time doing some background reading and researching on what goes into this type of task.
Once you have decided on the topic of the round-up, you are ready to start finding contributors.
How to Find Contributors for a Round-Up Blog Post
Look for contributors with a lot of followers in the community that you are trying to reach. Check their follower count on Twitter or Facebook, and if they have many subscribers to their YouTube channel. These social media numbers indicate how much exposure your roundup post will get.
Don’t forget about niche websites as well! If you want to provide a well-rounded article, don’t limit yourself to the ‘big’ names in the niche. Reach out to contributors with a small following, but who have expertise in the niche you are trying to target.
Exposure for your roundup post may not be huge – it will depend on how many followers they already have and their social media activity – but at least it won’t go unnoticed!
Can you create a roundup of your own content?
You can definitely create a round-up of your own content. For example, if you have a food blog, you could get together all of your recipes that contain a certain ingredient such as garlic or broccoli. Then you could write a bit about the health benefits of the ingredient and use the round-up to offer recipes that use it.
Or if you were writing an Ultimate Guide for Using Facebook for Marketing, you could include a round-up of all the content you’ve already written about that topic. Summarize what the content is about and create an easy to follow link to the longer piece. This is good for the reader and for SEO.
Formatting Your Round-Up Blog Post
One of the easiest ways to format a post that links to other blog posts is to use a free plugin from Mediavine. This plugin allows you to add a link, internal or external, and pulls information about it including a featured image. Then it creates a ‘card’ inside the list that includes a call to action button linking to the original article.
You could also make this manually using blocks and buttons in WordPress. Make sure you have permission to use an image from someone’s website and that everything links back correctly.
Tips to make your roundup blog post SEO friendly:
- Include a summary paragraph, so that people don’t need to read the entire article.
- Add images and videos within each section of the post for added visual interest.
- Include hyperlinks in between sections as often as possible–especially when it’s related to others so people can quickly move from one section to another.
- Include your keywords as often as possible, but don’t overdo it.
- Make sure the links you include are relevant and semantic–even if they’re from different sites, linking to other posts on your own blog will help increase traffic.
What to Do After Your Post is Published
Most of the promotion of a roundup blog post is similar to other types of post. The only difference is that you will want to notify contributors once the post is published.
Many contributors will share your post with their own audiences when they are featured or mentioned in a round-up. This will help you get access to a new audience for your post!
Round-ups are a great way to get your content out there and showcase other people’s work in the process. It also allows you to network with other bloggers or brands that may be interested in what you have to say about their topic of expertise! Think about how you could use a round-up post on your blog.