Writing a blog is a task that can seem incredibly easy one day, and then exceptionally difficult the next.
But, help is at hand!
Whether it’s because the inspiration just isn’t flowing or you’re finding yourself pressed for time, there are a few easy steps you can follow to make sure that even on your darkest blogging days, you can still produce an engaging and topical piece of writing.
So, without further ado, here are my 7 steps to writing the perfect blog!
Step 1: Planning
Find a topic
To do this, you must first ask yourself this question: Who are your target readers? Once you know who you’re targeting and what they would be interested to know, it’s much easier to find a topic to run with.
Keyword research will also have a significant impact on the topics chosen for blog writing. This can help to give each article focus, as well as helping with the website’s rankings in the search engines.
Outline your blog
An outline doesn’t need to be long or go into too much detail – it’s just a rough guide to make sure you stick to your topic and the points you want to cover.
For example:
- Introduction: Paragraph(s) explaining post.
- Section 1 – Planning a Blog Post: Things bloggers should do before putting pen to paper – outlining, research etc.
- Section 2 – Writing a Blog Post: Tips on actually writing a post.
- Conclusion: Wrap-up main points.
Research
If you’re using third-party information to write your blog post, choose authoritative sources. Official associations, government websites, and heavily cited research papers are all good examples.
Your authority will take a major hit if you publish inaccurate information.
Step 2: Titles
There are two main approaches you can take to writing blog post titles. You can either decide on your final title before you write the rest of your post, or you can write your blog post with a working title and see what fits when you’re done.
Your approach to headlines should also vary depending on your audience. Specific titles providing actionable advice with exact figures, for example:
“How Coca Cola’s CEO Built an App That Boosts Open Rates From 20% to 98%.”
Another attention-grabbing technique is posing a question in your title, such as:
“Can an Algorithm Write a Better Blog than an Actual Blogger?”
Step 3: Writing
There are two main approaches to writing a blog post. You can either sit down and write an entire draft in a single sitting, or you can chip away at it gradually over time.
Getting as much done in one session as possible makes it easier to stay focused on the topic. Get as much done as you can in a single sitting even if you prefer to draft a blog post over three or four writing sessions.
In terms of length – this entirely depends on the topic at hand. However, short posts of 250 words or less are more likely to be read than longer ones, as they can be digested more easily and don’t require a large attention span.
Step 4: Keywords
Aim to include three or four different keywords in each blog, with one occurrence of each. However, it is important to put quality before quantity; ensure that a blog read well and makes sense above all else, and don’t sacrifice this for the purposes of adding in an extra keyword.
Step 5: Images
One of the most important reasons to include images (or indeed, videos) in your blog posts is to break up the text. Many people scan blog posts, and interspersing images throughout the copy will make your post more visually appealing.
Photographs, diagrams, charts, infographics, tables, and any other visual assets can help your readers understand otherwise uninteresting topics.
Step 6: Links
When writing your blog, include at least one contextual link to another page on the website, and maybe a few to other industry websites/studies/news stories where relevant. This helps to boost the internal linking structure of the website.
Step 7: Editing
- Proofreading – Make sure there aren’t any spelling or grammatical errors in your blog.
- Avoid repetition – Once you’re done with the first draft of your blog post, read through it and check for words that can be replaced to avoid repeating yourself.
- Read your post aloud – If a piece reads awkwardly out loud, it will probably read awkwardly in your reader’s mind.
- Have someone else read your work – Ideally, ask someone with editing experience to proof your work to hear their thoughts on the flow of the piece and whether it makes sense structurally.
- Keep sentences and paragraphs short – Sentences and paragraphs should be as short as possible. They’re easier to read, making your audience’s job easier.
