For once, Howard feels happy with his writing.
The opening of his blog post flows nicely. The tips are solid, and he’s finally got to grips with tightening his own content.
Even the rhythm sounds good.
Is he finding his voice?
Now just a few final lines …
But what can he write?
Howard’s mind wanders back to last night’s dinner at Ning, his favorite Malaysian restaurant.
He thinks of the sweet spiciness of the soft-shell crabs. He licks his lips, remembering the tingling feeling and the aromatic mix of spices. Lemongrass. Ginger. Chilies.
Suddenly, Howard realizes what’s missing from his post … an ending so good that it sings around in his readers’ minds for days … a lingering reminder to implement his advice.
But how can he write such an ending?
A good closing paragraph inspires your readers
Many bloggers don’t write a final paragraph. They share their tips, and that’s it. Their content peters out.
But as bloggers, our task is not simply to share tips, but to encourage our readers, to make them feel good, to spark action. As bloggers we’re mentors to our readers.
How does a mentor inspire?
Start with imagining your favorite reader. What’s stopping them from implementing your advice? Do they feel overwhelmed? Do they think they can’t do it? Do they feel it’s too much effort for too little gain?
When you understand what’s holding your favorite reader back, you can help them with specific advice. Give a pep talk or remind them of the benefits of implementing your advice.
Shall I show you how?
Closing option 1. Repeat the essence
Imagine a long list post with 18 writing tips.
Would readers feel overwhelmed? Would they remember anything?
A simple way to write your final lines is to repeat the essence of your message—the one thing you want your readers to remember to do.
In the concluding paragraph below, for instance, the reader is reminded that good blogging is a conversation with your readers:
The truth about seducing your blog readers
Blogging isn’t about hitting the publish button.
Blogging isn’t one-way communication.
You’re starting a conversation with your readers. To have a good chat, you need to listen more than you talk.
Learn who your readers are. Understand their struggles. Know their frustrations.
Treat your readers even better than you would treat a friend. Help them overcome their doubts and their fears. Encourage them to realize their dreams.
Captivate them. Seduce them. Enchant them.
Sweep them off their feet.
Closing option 2: Circle back
A circle is a simple closed shape; it’s balanced.
So circling back to your introduction gives your writing a finished and balanced feel.
How?
Communicate a powerful image that symbolizes your advice in your opening, and go back to this image in your closing lines.
For Copyblogger, I once wrote a post about vivid writing, and the opening paragraph talks about your message standing out like a red poppy in a sea of grey content.
In the closing paragraph, I repeat this image:
Enchant your readers
How often do we read content that surprises and delights?
How often are we really inspired by a blog post?
Life is too short for monotone voices. Life is too short for wishy-washy writing. Life is too short to regurgitate ideas without adding value.
It’s time to have fun, infuse your content with your personality, and dazzle your readers with your words.
Come on. Dare to be that red poppy shining brightly in an ocean of grey content.
Let your ideas sparkle, shimmer, sing, swing, swirl, shock, and sizzle.
You’re the leader your readers are waiting for.
Get ready to spark change.
Closing option 3: Remind readers why they should care
You and I both know that change is hard.
How can we encourage our readers to roll up their sleeves and implement our tips?
Tell them why they should care: How will their efforts pay off? How will they feel better?
The paragraph below, for instance, is the closing of a post with 6 tips for conversational writing. To encourage readers to do the hard work of editing, they’re reminded why a conversational style is powerful:
Embrace the power of your voice
Do you ever think back to a conversation you had with a friend? Do you hear their voice in your head?
That’s how readers should experience your content. Let your words linger in their minds. Inspire them long after they’ve read your words.
In a world of endless pixels and meaningless likes, we crave human connections and voices that resonate with us.
So, be yourself. Brew a cup of green tea. Offer your readers a slice of homemade cake.
And have a cozy chat.
“Sugar?”
Closing option 4: Give a pep talk
Sometimes, we ask the nearly impossible from our readers.
Because a big obstacle sabotages their efforts to implement our advice. Obstacles like self-doubt, feeling overwhelmed, or being totally stressed out.
The paragraph below is the closing of post I wrote about how I started my online business. It gives readers a pep talk to overcome their self doubt:
Quit doubting yourself
You may feel overwhelmed.
You may even feel intimidated by others bragging about their huge followings, their launch successes, and the amount of money they’re making.
But remember, everyone starts at zero. Zero followers. Zero subscribers. Zero profit.
You may doubt whether you’re able to pull this off.
That’s normal.
Even people like Neil Gaiman, Sheryl Sandberg, Sonia Sotomayor, and Emma Watson feel like a fraud sometimes.
Nobody is perfect. Nobody knows everything. And nobody possesses the perfect blueprint. We all stumble around from time to time.
So pick up the courage to get started.
And keep moving forward.
You can do it.
Closing option 5: Connect with and comfort your readers
As a blogger, you position yourself as a voice of authority.
But the problem with authority is that it creates a distance between you and your readers. Readers might think … she can do it, she’s an authority. But I can’t. I’m not good enough.
This is when you can offer comfort and a sense of connection … tell readers they’re not alone and that you’ve had the same doubts:
The magic of writing
When I started writing, I didn’t think of myself as a writer. I doubted my skills. I didn’t know whether I had enough ideas.
But every time I had to write an article, I learned more about writing. I followed my curiosity. I discovered what I’m passionate about, and I learned what resonated with my audience.
You might think you don’t have enough to share. Or you might doubt your writing skills.
This is what I’d like to tell you:
You’re unique. You have unique experiences. And you’ll discover your voice and your passions when you write more. Writing brings clarity, deepens your understanding, and strengthens your ideas.
So, commit to writing. To creating valuable content. To being helpful to your readers.
Start making tiny ripples.
That’s how change begins.
Invigorate your readers
A good blogger understands the beauty of language, and how to use words for maximum impact.
But the real beauty and the real power comes from within …
A willingness to help, to be honest and generous. A spirited drive to share your ideas.
A real sense of human connection.
The real beauty of writing comes from a deep understanding of your readers, and a desire to spark change, no matter how tiny.
Empower your readers.
Be good.
Human content wins.
P.S.
The Enchanting Blog Writing course teaches you to captivate your readers from your first to your last word. You learn, step by step, how to shape, simplify, and flesh out your ideas, so you can educate and inspire your readers:
Even though I’m a published writer, I found the course super helpful and my blog posts contain more meat and substance than ever before.
~ Stacy S. Cohen
I write about historic food, and I’ve just given the Henneke treatment to a blog post. I included the first few lines in an email to my subscribers, and it had the best click through rate I’ve ever had.
~ Paul Couchman
That’s crazy!
I read this blog post a few days before you posted it again.
And I reread it.
To see if I missed anything.
And yes, a link you wrote about ”How to Start an Online Business”.
And I also noticed a technique you used. How to emphasize sentences: you use punctuation. A full stop. By the way, you wrote an article about this. That’s why I notice it now. 😉
Here are the sentences you emphasize:
‘So, commit to writing. To creating valuable content. To being helpful to your readers.’
When I read you, I gobble up your words. I feed off them.
Thanks!
It’s almost as if I reposted it because you had just read it.
But, honestly, I’m not spying on you, Alexandra. 🙂
I made some minor edits to the post but kept all the original examples. And yes, I changed the link because Smartblogger had moved my guest post to a different URL. You taught me about checking links. Thank you!
You know, when I started this blog, I would have never thought I would be writing about punctuation. But I’ve learned that punctuation can make quite a difference to the tone of our writing and as you say, you can use punctuation for emphasis and rhythm. It’s seems crazy but I think I’ve written three blog posts about punctuation. And they were fun to write!
Thank you for stopping by again, Alexandra. Always good to see you.
Always good tips so well written and thought out!
Thank you!!
Thank you, Dannir. Happy writing!
Thanks for sharing an amazing and informative blog.
I’m glad you found it useful, John. Happy writing!
Hi Henneke,
Great stuff! I look forward to getting your emails and reading your blog.
Question. What do you think about using AI assistance in writing? There seems to be a lot of discourse on the subject and it’s all over the map. Do you use AI?
I’m a tech guy still learning how to write. I’m not put off by AI. I treat it like a tool but try to avoid using it like a hammer. I use AI primarily to help me research a subject. (I always check references.) I sometimes use AI to brainstorm. I generally use AI (like Grammarly) to help me polish my writing, particularly to find and correct my fat-fingered typing, missing punctuation, misspellings, and such.
I don’t use AI for my own writing. But I am exploring what I’d be happy to recommend. Your approach sounds pretty sound to me.
I most interested in using AI as a kind of writing coach—getting AI to make specific suggestions on how to improve writing beyond grammar and spelling mistakes.
Love it, Henneke, you’re so good at writing. Always fun to read. Your messages are light as air yet laced with gold. Friendly and inviting. Instructional, with a gentle clarity that inspires every time. Thank you.
PS, Wow, how close you’re able to get to your reader with ‘Sugar?’, and all the build up that led there. Felt like you were sitting next to me☕️
Awww, such a lovely compliment. All of it! Thank you, Gina. While writing, I was thinking that we might be having a cup of tea together. 🙂
Thank you Henneke for sharing another insightful & illuminating article. Your pep talk tip #3 fully resonates with me. Now I understand how important it is for a writer to close their blog, or presentation or even their book, in a way that inspires the reader to action. You only get one shot to make a lasting impression 🙃
I’m glad you enjoyed the pep talk, Seth. Thanks so much for stopping by. And happy writing!
Oh my goodness!!!
How could someone write such powerful closing paragraphs?
I must confess…
Heneke you’re something else! SMH.
I’ve been following you for the past 24 hours, after I landed on your post about writing conversationally.
It was then that I realized that I don’t even know how to write a simple blog post.
So, I scrolled down to your footer and under the popular topics widget, I clicked on “Tips for beginning writers”.
I really enjoyed all the helpful resources I found there. Thank you for you kind “heartedness”. Emm…
I don’t even know if that word exists lol.
Anyway, I have a handful of burning questions I would love to ask you and I don’t know how to go about it.
One of the most troubling one is: How do you come up with amazing closing paragraph sub-heads like: “Invigorate your readers, The magic of writing…”?
Is there a kind of magic formula? Thanks for your answers in advance.
Thank you so much for your lovely comment, Emmanuel. I’m glad you’re enjoying my blog.
I usually write sub-heads as a kind of mini-headlines. There isn’t one formula but often I use a how to (how to invigorate your readers) but then leave the how to off (invigorate your readers).
You may find this blog post helpful: https://www.enchantingmarketing.com/online-headlines-and-subheads/ (scroll down for a specific section on writing subheads for blog posts).
Happy blogging!
Hi, Henneke,
I don’t know how else to thank you for all the help you have freely provided to readers. But I will say it this way: You are the kindest, most amazing human being on this earth.
Robert T.
I’m glad you’re enjoying my content, Robert. I’m partly sharing my skills and expertise for free to help people become better writers but I also need to live from this work and get enough people to buy my books and courses so my sharing isn’t completely altruistic. 🙂
“It’s time to have fun, infuse your content with your personality, and dazzle your readers with your words.”
“The real beauty of writing comes from a deep understanding of your readers, and a desire to spark change, no matter how tiny.”
Absolutely Henneke!
Yummy tips. You’ve just given us the reasons why every writer should be writing.
Thanks
Thank you, Siver. Happy writing!
Me gusta… me gusta ???
Muchas gracias 🙂 🙂 🙂
Another valuable, tip for all sorts of writing, Henneke.
I love this one so much I’ll leave it on my desktop.
To check and re-read it over and over again.
Just finished my last book in the children’s series and taking time to read for a change. Enjoying life with, little pressure, for a little while. Whatever age one is at, learning never ends.
Love your blogs, <3 :-)A.
Yes, you’re right. This tip also works outside blogging.
Enjoy your quiet time. And congrats on finishing your children’s book series! 🙂
More great writing advice. I never really know how to end my blog posts and they usually just end with “thanks for reading” and “please share this post”. I always thought I was supposed to end with a call to action, so that’s what I’ve done. But you’ve presented a different approach that feels better to me. It creates more of an emotional connection rather than a command to act. I like that. I’m going to try it with my next post.
Yes, I’ve also seen people asking for comments at the end of the post, but it doesn’t seem to work particularly well. Encouraging people to act on my advice feels more natural to me.
Thank you for stopping by again, Mary Ann. I appreciate it!
Hi Henneke,
This was a great post. The ending is something i usually struggle with and I’m struggling (at times) to find my way to create a “perfect” ending. This post certainly gives me a lot of ideas of various things I can do to really drive my message home.
I really like #2 and #4. Those are what I’m most familiar with but I have no issues with trying them all.
Take care.
I find writing endings tough, too. That’s why I usually write them the next day (the day after I drafted the main body of the post).
I hope you’ll have fun trying these different ideas!
I have “circled back” to this blog post as I am writing the end to a “White Paper”. Thank you for your tips.
That’s lovely to “hear,” Susan! Thank you.
Mmm…lovely.
I have not suffered from feeling as if I’m not a good writer, as some have done. I enjoy writing and love playing with words.
But when you show us how to be better, I realize, I was self-deluded. I have the potential to be a good writer. And someday I will get there, I know. But I am so thankful for a good teacher like you. In the schools, we were told to write, not taught to write.
I shall learn it, yet! Thanks for this lesson!
And I think there are words in Dutch that would not translate to English, also. It’s that way in all languages, in translation. My mom was German, and she used a German word for a certain type of snow for which English has no word: a skif. That is, just a light, dry, blowing snow, as if it were flour strewn all over the highways, being blown by a cold dry wind.
A LONG definition for such a short word: skif.
I love words. Someday I’ll learn to use them well. <3
There’s so much we don’t learn at school. I sometimes wonder what I did learn! 🙂
I’m sure you’re shortchanging yourself. Your writing is better than you think. Everyone of us can always do better, but that’s what’s true for any skill.
The Dutch word “gezellig” is difficult to translate into English. It’s something like cozy and can refer to an atmosphere or describe an interior.
Language is so fascinating!
‘Their content peters out.’
However could you say the same thing in Dutch? That sentence has such a forlorn feeling to it, it makes you… wander over deserted, gloomy stretches of heath.. in the rain. And the wind.
I was rereading your guest post on my blog again today, the one from 2013, as I am going over all of my content this week, and it struck me not only how good it was, but how alike our styles were at the time, when you wroite in Dutch. In English, however, you sound completely different. I wish I could see you pull of the same colourful, sensitive (in the meaning of catering to all the senses) type of writing in Dutch again, for once.
That would be an interesting challenge (translating my current writing into Dutch). I tend to think my Dutch isn’t good enough anymore … But I might try it some time. Just to see whether it’d work.
If you look at my writing in English from 2013, then it’s quite different from now, too. The rhythm is different and the word choice, too.
For all the years I’ve been writing, I have to admit that other than song lyrics I’ve always felt that my closing paragraphs are pretty weak. Most of the time I do what you mentioned above, which is to write a final paragraph as part of the original article without a real closing, unless I’m storytelling. That and titles… oh well lol
I know – it’s hard to tick all the boxes!
What helps me, is to write the final paragraph the next day or a couple of days later. Same for the title. I leave that one percolating at least overnight, too. Often a better idea strikes the next day.
Happy writing, Mitch. Thank you for stopping by.
Hey Henneke,
I make sure I put an effort to implement these tips each time I write a post.
To me it feels like a post is complete whether I’m writing or reading when this is done for your conclusions. I feel that conclusions lead the reader to not only take action but also give then a reason to come back. It’s as if you’re saying “may the saga continue” or “to be continued…” in a sense.
In this way it keeps them in suspense and causes them to mentally go back over what you just wrote.
Thanks for the share Henneke! Have a good one!
I’m sure a cliffhanger approach can also be used for a final paragraph. I’ve never tried it as I tend to write each blog post as a stand-alone piece of content. But that’s certainly not the only way to do it!
I appreciate your comment, Sherman. Thank you for stopping by 🙂
Hi there Henneke,
This is the first time that I visited your blog, and truth to be spoken it has a lot to see here, I mean great content and believe me it won’t be the last visit.
About closing paragraphs, I can say without a doubt that they are very, very and extremely useful because I think that you immediately you grab your reader’s attention, right?
Cheers,
Clay Smith
Hi Clay, Welcome 🙂
In my view, the closing paragraph is less about grabbing attention (that’s what your headline should do) and more about inspiring your reader to implement the advice you’ve shared in your post.
Thank you for stopping by!
Closing paragraphs are something I always struggle with.
With your suggestions and examples in hand, I returned to my recent post and tweaked the ending to hopefully lead the reader to take action.
Thanks so much for this helpful post, Henneke!
I love to hear that, Marie!
Thank you for stopping by 🙂
Hi Henneke – Your advice also applies to closing paragraphs that link and provide a segue from one chapter to the next in a “how-to” book. Thank you for providing the examples, your insight into readers’ fears is spot on. They think “can I really do what this so-called expert is telling me is necessary?”
Hi Paul – You’re absolutely right (of course!)
Always good to “see” you 🙂
Thank you so much for referring us to your work away from Enchanted Marketing.
I first found you with your first guest post from Copyblogger. I eagerly followed your guest blogging adventures even before you went live with your own blog. And boy, did you have adventures! Quite an impressive list of site to guest posting.
Now that your own business is well-established. You still find time to post for Copyblogger and SmartBlogger (fmrly Boost Blog Traffic).
Just watching your choices is an education for me.
Thank you for your kind words, Lori 🙂
It’s been quite a journey from that very first guest post on Copyblogger in April 2014! I’ve actually not written for Smart Blogger / Boost Blog Traffic since January 2015 – they’ve just republished an old guest post from me earlier this year 🙂
Henneke, I’ve followed you for quite some time now. I think it’s time I checked out your courses. Your emails are an inspiration, and your posts are always invaluable. Do you have a writing course for an intermediate-level blogger? Or can you recommend one from any other coach who you believe can bring out the best in me?
Thank you for your kind words, Felix. You can find details and reviews of my blog writing course here: https://www.enchantingmarketing.com/blog-writing-course/
Feel free to email me if you have questions!
I agree, there’s an art to ending a blog post, Henneke. There’s nothing worse than one that just tapers off. For me, circling back to the beginning gives a satisfying feel like a sweet after a meal. Thanks for the great reminder.
Yep, a sweet or how about some cheese for dessert?
Good to see you again, Laurie. I’ve missed you!
Thank you for the inspiration, Henneke! Great having these tips in one place.
Glad you enjoyed this one, Irina 🙂
Hey Henneke,
For a blog post, to make it readable, a blogger should try the best from starting to the ending. The closing part influences your readers a lot.
Summing up your whole points in a paragraph can be really catchy. Sometimes, people get bored to see many points.
They try to find something easy to grab. If you’re the one with the writing skills then it’s going to be killer.
You have mentioned some great points here.
Thanks for sharing with us.
~Ravi
Yep, I agree – the closing paragraph influences readers a lot.
I’m glad you enjoyed this post, Ravi. Thank you for stopping by!
Thanks as always, Henneke. You really know us as your readers and you always over deliver in usefulness 🙂
I have a question, I’m hoping the answer is obvious: how do you decide how long your closing paragraph should be? If I look at your examples above, they are all excellent (of course!) and they are all longer than I customarily make my closings (when I am not too, a-hem, lazy to do them at all).
I’ve looked for a formula of sorts, but I can’t see one. I do see that you use powerful language devices, and the flow of the paragraph is really natural. But I think I would tend to leave quite a lot out and end up finishing them prematurely.
Do you have any advice on how to make them Goldilocks-right?
Thank you for your lovely comment, Alison. I can’t imagine you being lazy! 🙂
The “ideal” length of the closing paragraph is related to the overall length of the blog post, but I’m sure quite a lot of variation exists.
My rule of thumb is that the closing paragraph is about 10% of the total word count. But when I checked it, they’re usually a little shorter than that (more around 7 – 8%).
The example paragraphs in this article are all from guest posts, which tend to be a bit longer than my own posts. The closing paragraphs on Enchanting Marketing tend to be a little shorter than these.
Does that help?
Great question, Alison. And thank you for that guideline, Henneke.
Excellent post Henneke! Not only is the content good, the style you designed it with is great too (citing other blog posts). I might have to borrow this technique. 🙂
Thank you, Marlene. Borrow as much as you like 🙂
Good to see you again! 🙂
Really exceptional tips, thank you. Saving this to Pocket… And it came at just the right time, as I am busy compiling a post for a client about adding call to actions in posts. This goes well with that, so I will probably link to this 🙂
Thank you for your lovely comment, Claire. Drop me an email when you’ve published your post?
Will do Henneke. I ended up not using this article as a citation for the post I was busy with, as it wasn’t entirely relevant, but I keep coming back here to see if I can write better endings, so I am sure I will be citing it at some stage 🙂 Give me some time and I will let you know when I do. I like to benefit the people who help me provide better content for my clients 🙂
I know my endings are never that good, but I’m going to go back and rework them using these principles. Having examples makes it so much easier to know what you mean!
A while back someone asked me whether I find opening or closing paragraphs more difficult to write. At that time, I sat on the fence and replied that both have their challenges. But now I’ve written this post, I actually think closing paragraphs are more difficult.
Thank you for stopping by, LJ. I’m glad you find the examples useful! 🙂
To be honest, I have mostly been lazy with the ending paragraphs of my articles. I never thought they are so important.
But, your point that ‘as writers, our job is not only to share tips but also to comfort our audience, inspire action……’ sounds quite convincing.
Besides, all the examples explaining the tips are fantastic. Thank you for another great and helpful post. 🙂
I don’t think it’s a sign of laziness when you don’t write closing paragraphs 🙂
Thank you for your lovely compliment, Samiskha. I appreciate it!
Hi Henneke,
Great post. Reading your stuff is always a treat. 🙂
Here’s to the next one!
Thank you for your lovely comment, Julian. I appreciate it!
I love, love, love the image of a circle, of circling back to your introduction. I just looked at something I wrote and the ending had landed in the completely wrong place. I think it looked more like a broken triangle. LOL! I also think your analogy of stumbling around is wonderful, and the examples of people who have felt like frauds. Although we’d like to think differently, we’re stumbling around most of the time…the trick is to learn to embrace the stumble! 🙂 Great post!
When others achieve great things, it seems to come to them so easy. But then I have to tell myself every time … I don’t know what’s gone on behind the scenes; I have no clue how much effort went into that and how many mistakes have been smoothed over and patched up.
Children aren’t afraid to stumble. That’s how they learn to walk, and dance, and draw, and write …
That is so true. Success always looks easy after it’s happened. And kids aren’t thinking about “success”.
Perhaps we should also ban the concept of success from our thoughts. It’s a rather vague term anyway 😉
I’m glad.
The way you write emphasizes one bold point.
You know your ideal reader.
I can assume it to be true for all persuasive writing.
Thank you, Joel. I do my best to do as I say 😉
Hello Henneke, I totally agree with you, most blogs I have gone through lack a crisp ending. All the insights they wish to deliver won’t linger with the end para or there won’t be an end para at all. As you mentioned, a well-structured and inspiring ending helps in reinforcing the message you intend to deliver. Each blogger should keep in mind that through his blog he is taking the target audience for a journey, a journey that provides useful information for their target audience. It is always better to end the journey in the best way possible, that they feel emotionally attached to you. Thank you for the good read.
Yep, that’s it … end the journey on a high 🙂
I appreciate your comment, Deebak. Thank you for stopping by.