You can find many tutorials out there to explain how to write a blog post. They educate you on what to and not do and the mechanics of a good blog post.
Read through them to learn how to start your first blog post and get something serviceable and useable. You could even get a couple of fans by doing this.
However, if you want something bigger, the goal is to craft a successful blog post that cuts through all the noise and wins you hundreds of fans or more. That requires something more than just a regular tutorial.
You need a step-by-step guide to become a successful blogger and craft your own blogs. It’s not easy to begin a new blog, especially if you’ve never done it before. However, you might find that it’s quite easy after you get the hang of it.
A few reasons that blogs fail are because they don’t reach the target audience and don’t follow the right format. You need to know the secret of creating headlines, writing excellent introductions, and providing captivating advice with a motivational closing and/or CTA.
Many bloggers pay out the nose to get information like this, but there’s no need to do that. You can start blogging now and create your first post within a few days if you follow these tips and focus on your goals. In fact, you may even be able to market and promote your blog to earn money for yourself!
Craft a Great Headline
The biggest mistake that bloggers make when they begin writing blog posts is to start without the post title. Without a great headline, you don’t have a roadmap for the entire blog post. You go in blind, which means the first blog post takes various directions. Readers feel confused and disoriented, clicking off before they even get through it.
Once you’ve written the entire thing, you try to tack on a great headline to embrace it all. That’s just not the way to go!
To write the best post possible, it needs to have conviction, be concise, and be full of clarity. Therefore, you should spend time in the beginning to craft a post title that sets a destination and defines what the post is all about. This way, readers are lured in and become eager to receive the advice you have to give.
The title of your blog is your map or a writing navigational system. It tells you which roads to choose and what to avoid so that your readers reach the destination you’ve set out for them efficiently.
To craft the best headline possible, follow these rules:
Pick the Right Topic
Do you want your first blog to be opened and read? If so, the headline must promise your readers the answer to what torments them or what keeps them from sleeping peacefully at night.
The headline can’t promise them a full trip to the moon. Readers know these tactics and avoid them. Just make sure that the first blog you create keeps the benefits narrow and specific. Readers feel compelled to click on it and get the solution they want.
How do you know what pain points your readers have? How do you tell which blog post topic should be pursued first?
The goal is to research the blog content you want to create. To do that, you must:
- Review comments on your personal blog and other blogs within your niche
- Send subscribers surveys or quizzes to ask them what their struggles are
- Use various tools to find popular or trending posts in your niche (make sure they give insight into the needs of the target audience)
- Read book reviews in your niche
As a blogger, you have one responsibility only – to serve the audience. When you know them well, you can do this easily.
Before you realize it, you know the audience very intimately, so it’s almost like you read their minds. A good blog post and headline reflect that.
Ultimately, the issue many people face as they begin writing blog posts is that they don’t draw readers in. Take this headline: “How to Create a Great Life.” It’s too broad, and no one is likely to lose sleep over it. However, they might not get enough rest because they’re worried about specific areas of their life that are still unfulfilled.
Here’s a pro tip: If you’re not sure where to start, consider writing a personal blog. This is all about you and can include topics that you enjoy or are passionate about. Think about daily tasks, random musings, and all the rest. That way, you can write about anything and can share your thoughts and life experiences with those who want to know.
Borrow from the Pros
You’ve done all of your research, so you know what the readers need and are ready to craft a good blog post. Now, you must turn the topic you want to write about into an excellent headline.
Do this before you start writing! What’s the best way to master headline writing skills? Borrow from the pros! This isn’t unethical and is actually efficient and smart.
Writing headlines is often a challenge because people don’t know what to say or do. It has to be short and punchy to create a successful blog post, even while the content in the body can be long and drawn out.
Regardless, many years of advertising and copywriting research have shown which headlines work well. They zap readers and move them out of their information overload comas so that those blogs are opened first. Why mess with the data?
To make the headline grab a reader’s attention, stick to what you know is likely to work.
The headlines don’t have to be boring and complacent. They can and should reflect your style and voice. However, if your skills don’t match that of amazing writers, you can use proven templates as your guide.
Blogging is quite hard. Therefore, it’s best to use templates if you already have them available. The easiest ones to write are the “how-to” versions and list posts. They’re classics for a reason – they work!
Engage the Senses
Vague headlines are likely to leave your readers feeling empty. However, tangible ones help them feel like you understand them. How do you create them, though?
The easiest way to do this is to be in the reader’s shoes for a moment. How are they feeling? What might they see, smell, taste, or hear?
Engage each of the senses by using your sensory words. When your headline gives a voice to a person’s specific experience, they feel like your content is high-quality and written directly for them.
Instead of using regular words, such as “what to do when a migraine hits,” you can step it up and use descriptive words. “What to do to soothe blinding and pounding migraines” sounds much better and ensures that your blog post is clicked on and read.
Tease without Satisfying
One common mistake people make without realizing it is that they give too much information away within the headline.
Yes, the headline should lure your readers to the blog post and catch the attention of the reader while invoking curiosity. However, it shouldn’t offer the solution right then.
If you do that in the headline, readers don’t even click on the blog post because there’s no need for it. You might provide extra information that could be beneficial, but they get bored because they already have the answer.
When that happens, you lose, and so do your readers. In a sense, they are trading the richness of the advice for a quick fix. That’s not the way to have a successful blog.
Think about this headline: “Create a Monthly Budget to Save for Retirement.” Readers see that and think they have all the answers – just create a budget, and they can save money for their later years.
However, if you choose this headline: “Living Paycheck to Paycheck? Ways to Save for Retirement,” everyone in this situation becomes instantly interested and wants to learn more. You talk about a specific problem but give nothing away. With that, you promise a solution they wish to find out about.
Honor the One Commandment
You know that a good blog post starts with an excellent headline, and there’s really only one rule you should never break: Do not deceive.
This likely seems obvious, but writers do it without realizing it all the time.
How does something like that happen? In a sense, they over-promise things. This is a big no-no. The content in your post must deliver exactly what your headline promises. If the post only offers part of the solution, your readers feel misled and ultimately lose trust in you. Don’t do that to your loyal fans!
The most common way of misleading people is by promising a specific number of ways to do something and then only offering a handful of reiterating what you said previously. For example, you say you have five ways to bring in more sales, but you only provide four or have three with two more that are too similar to the others.
It’s like you’re cheating the readers out of what they deserve. They chose to click on your post instead of someone else’s; don’t leave them hanging!
Trim the Excess
If your goal is to overwhelm your readers from the beginning, then fill the headline with flabby or weak words. What are they? Unnecessary, empty words that don’t add value. They create clunky phrases and make readers wonder what to do next.
Many bloggers speak incorrectly when they write headlines. It’s okay to do that when writing your blog post (to an extent), but the headlines get watered down that way.
You can’t add bullet points to a headline, but you can create punchy, short ones that don’t dilute what you’re trying to convey. They should be concise (ruthlessly) and highly powerful. Cut out those weak words and use more power words where appropriate.
Don’t Be Sassy
The headline must make sense to every reader, regardless of the context they take it in or where they come from. People shouldn’t have to guess what the blog post is about or the benefit of reading it. You’re supposed to be telling them that and reading their minds instead of them trying to read yours.
Therefore, it’s a good idea not to use metaphors unless their meaning is pretty obvious. This also leaves off made-up terms, jargon, rhymes, and other things that try to be clever and complicated.
Though alliteration and rhymes can sound cute, it often makes readers feel like you’re working too hard. Focus on delivering the headlines and the benefits of the post without being sassy or smarty-pants.
You might think something like, “Raising a child that’s the apple of your eye” sounds fun and catchy, but it offers no benefit. The cute phrase might be understood by everyone, but it doesn’t make a lot of sense. Most parents don’t want their children to be like them; they prefer that they do better.
Rock the Style
Consistency throughout the blog post is crucial because the audience trusts you more because they feel that you understand them.
This must start with the headline! If you usually keep the titles simple and write one that’s full of power words, it can confuse the readers.
As you continue writing, you can develop a writing style. Once you know what that is, use it consistently. If you do plan to make a change, do so gradually and slowly so that your audience learns about your brand and starts trusting it.
For example, your headlines mostly read like these:
- How to overcome your social anxiety
- How to live with more courage
- How to embrace uncertainty confidently
Then, you change them to:
- How to Squash Agonizing Anxiety Brazenly
The readers might think your blog got hacked and avoid it.
Bonus Tip:
When you write a headline, you should consider crafting five to 10 versions of the same one. That way, you can play with words more to get better at creating concise, clear, and curiosity-invoking titles that readers can’t resist.
Editor’s Note:
One of the biggest questions writers have is how long or short the headline should be. Have you ever noticed that some headlines in the search engine results pages (SERPs) are truncated with the ellipsis?
This is based on the headline’s pixel width. You can use a free tool, such as SERPSim to show the headline width. As a general rule, though, Google cuts off the headline at about 60 characters.
Since a truncated headline often results in fewer people clicking the link, the common search engine optimization practice is to keep the headlines at 60 characters and preferably less.
However, things aren’t always that easy. Recent studies show that longer headlines (14 to 17 words) generate more shares than shorter ones. Therefore, the mileage may vary; focus more on conveying your message than title length.
The Intro – Grab and Seduce
You’ve now lured the readers in with the headline, so you’ve got to keep them there with the best subject matter possible. This isn’t an easy task!
Readers are very fickle. They could glance quickly at the blog post and click off immediately. You’ve got to fight hard to keep them on your blog, and your introduction plays a big part in how committed they are to browsing.
Ultimately, you want to write to your target audience because those are the people who might buy from you, turn into leads, or turn into subscribers.
Put Yourself in Their Shoes
One common mistake is to sound academic in your blog opening. This is a sure sign of an amateur blogger. You have probably seen a blog post like that (or created one). They often start with statistics.
It’s important to provide facts and solid research in your blog. However, it often bores readers, especially when it’s in the introduction. The goal is to captivate, so you have to make them feel like you’ve read their mind.
How can you do that? The answer is to use empathy.
Step into the shoes of your audience and write from that perspective. Show the readers that you understand what they’ve been through and the questions they face. You’ve probably struggled with the topic you’re writing about, learning to overcome it. Most bloggers teach what they wanted to find out about.
Therefore, you must show your readers that you “get it” and “get them.” You’re not a corporate blowhard; you’re there with them and fighting to share the tools that helped you through it.
There are different approaches to this, such as telling a story, painting a fictitious picture, and much more. However, if you want to get more impact for the time you’ve invested in your blog, emphatic and emphatic openings are a great approach and can be used all the time!
Find the Character
To captivate your readers, you have to trigger their emotions in the introduction of your blog. As you start writing, think of those feelings you want the reader to experience. This can include:
- Courage
- Love
- Comfort
- Shame
- Disgust
- Joy
- Hope
- Sadness
- Anger
- Fear
- Etc.
Get into character to feel those things yourself while you write. That way, the words in your blog read with an authenticity that can’t be denied.
Play with your emotions a bit and map out the journey you want readers to take with their emotions. Infuse those feelings into what you write. Feel what the audience should feel, and the words in the blog exude such emotions.
You should apply this tip to the whole blog post. However, triggering the audience’s emotions is most critical in the introduction.
Lure People to Continue Reading
Do you want readers to commit to the blog? If so, you have to accelerate their experience in the introduction. Lure them to continue down the page. The faster they’re pulled down, the more committed they are.
If there are too many “bumps in the road” initially, they get off the track and might not return to the blog ever again. Here are a few writing tips to use in the introduction to lure the readers down on the page:
Start with a Question or Short Sentence
This is a copywriting technique that’s sure to pull your readers into the blog and post. You should start using short sentences and paragraphs in your blog. Otherwise, readers feel exhausted when they look at it.
Some people call this white space. There should be more white, blank areas in the blog than there are words. It gives readers a mini-break for their eyes and keeps them coming back for more.
Cut What You Can
When you’re writing, it’s easy to go off on tangents or use fluff words. Most blog writers do this because they feel it adds length and more words. While that’s true, the goal of the blog is to bring value to the reader. You’re not doing that if you’re adding things that don’t need to be there.
Slash however many words you can. If your first draft of the introduction is at 200 words, try to cut it to 100 words. The more practice you have at this, the more efficient the blog writing process is.
When you’re writing proficiently and efficiently, the words you use have more power. That is what grabs the readers and draws them to your blog again and again.
Set a Rhythm
Every piece of writing has a rhythm and pace, including your blog. You want the introduction’s beat and pace to be quick. Once you tell them what you promise, you can slow it down later in the blog post.
How can you achieve a quick rhythm?
- Use short sentences. Sentence fragments can be okay if that’s your normal style.
- Make the paragraphs one to three sentences long.
- Make each paragraph and sentence lure the readers into the one after.
- Use delayed transitions to help your sentences flow.
- Read your blog post out loud when you’re done to check flow. Do things move forward quickly, or do they stall?
The best writers are those that take their readers on a journey. This includes being fast and slow, urgent and easy, and loud and soft. Pay more attention to that, and your blog has more rhythm that infuses into the words.
Consider using one-sentence paragraphs in the introduction. Then, later in the post, slow things down with longer paragraphs or sentences. Just make sure it still flows because you don’t want to confuse the reader. If you switch from one-sentence paragraphs too long ones, people might wonder if you stopped and came back too late at night to finish the blog.
Make the Readers Beg
You want readers to beg for the solution you offer, and one way to do that is to add some fear to the opening of the blog.
What are your readers worried about? Do they know what could happen if they don’t solve the specific problem your blog addresses? What’s the worst scenario?
You can bring those fears out and expose them. When you do that in your blog, readers feel camaraderie with you because you understand them and their fears. You’ve been to that dark side and succeeded. With that, they are more eager to hear the solution you present to them.
Everyone has fears. Most people try to hide them, but you shouldn’t be afraid to voice yours. That way, they’re easier to overcome. You can do that for your readers with your writing skills.
It’s true that a fear of failure is painful. However, when you give it a voice, you validate it and make your readers beg for the solution to set those fears free.
Hint at the Promise
As you wrap up the introduction, you should hint at the promise. This is the place readers get to when they use and master the methods you produce. Ultimately, it’s the destination the blog promises to take them.
However, new bloggers often take this a bit too far, giving everything away. If you have one sentence in the blog that says too much and satisfies the readers, it sends them away from your article.
Readers get bored easily, so you have to keep them entertained and engaged. The point of your intro isn’t to give answers. It’s to set the stage for a good blog post that contains the hearty advice you provide.
If you’re talking about making assumptions and why it’s ineffective, you could hint at the solution like this: “Guessing about what people want is like throwing your darts blindfolded and hoping to hit the bullseye. Usually, it doesn’t work. Luckily, there’s a better way.”
Bonus Tip
When you write the introduction of your blog, try to draft two different versions and approach them from various angles to trigger other emotions. This highlights the techniques that work best for the audience and the content of the blog post.
However, here’s a word of caution: It doesn’t matter how powerful or eloquent the message is if the intro doesn’t satisfy the reader’s search intent. They click on that back button and don’t come back.
What’s search intent, though? This is the purpose behind the Google search. When someone types in a keyword, they expect the results to tell them what they want to know.
This tells Google that your post doesn’t satisfy the need, so it puts you lower in the results.
In a sense, search intent is huge for search engine optimization. When you do keyword research, you must figure out what the phrase’s intent is. That way, you can shape your headline, word count, introduction, body, and meta description.
You need to analyze the results of Google to have a handle on why people use specific queries that your blog post targets. This is time well spent, and there are various tools to help you. Figure out the intent people have and make the content and intro match that.
Offer Easy-to-consume Advice that Can’t Be Ignored
You’re off to a good start with your first blog post. The readers clicked the headline, you lured them into the blog with the introduction, and now you can deliver on the subject matter you promised them.
The goal here is for the readers to love you so that they continue to come back to your blog. This means that you must over-deliver. That way, you create a good blog post now and have a better chance of seeing them return for more.
Here are the ways to deliver easy to read advice that’s valuable:
Add Pitstops
Subheadings are your best friend, so use them. Your readers probably skim the blog to scan for important information. There’s just too much content out there, and it’s not always good.
Therefore, they scan your blog to get the most important points. Subheadings are the perfect chance to prove to your readers that your content is valuable. In a sense, you keep luring them back to the blog while they have every intention of leaving. Remember, blog writing is a battle that you can and should master!
Here are a few tips to get you going on subheads:
Use a Subheading (or Two)
Sprinkle your subheadings throughout the blog post. They can gently guide your readers along the route you want to take. That way, their experience is clearer, enjoyable, and easy on them.
Don’t forget that your blog posts should be focused on the reader’s experience. This is the only way to attract them back to the blog and to get them to sign up or buy something from you later.
When readers see tons of text as they’re scanning and not many pit stops, they get overwhelmed. It’s almost like being on a bus tour without bathroom breaks. That makes anyone anxious, and your blog readers are just like that.
Avoid Three Blunders that Cut Readers Off
Subheads use the same functionality as your headlines. They have to make the readers curious to keep reading the blog. Therefore, you need to follow the same rules when drafting them as you do your headlines.
These are the most common blunders people make with their blog posts:
- Plain Label Subheadings – You should never bore your readers, and labels are quite boring. Make sure you’re treating your subheadings like mini headlines so that they invoke curiosity and keep the readers on the blog page.
- Spoiler Subheadings – Just as with a headline, you can’t give away much information in the subheading. If you do this, the readers don’t feel compelled to continue reading the blog!
- Cryptic Subheadings – You can’t be too clever in your subheads. Readers don’t enjoy playing guessing games. Clarity should always come before curiosity!
Here are three examples of what to/not to do:
- The importance of sleep
- Create a steady sleep routine to reduce anxiety
- Refuse the meat and catch more Zs
The first one was very plain and doesn’t really do much for the reader. However, the second subheading tells you exactly how to reduce anxiety, which isn’t good. The third one makes no sense.
Instead, you could write each of those better, like the ones below:
- The best way to reduce your daily anxiety
- Beat anxiety without using medication
- What one thing to avoid for better sleep
Compare Subheadings to the Main Headline
Each subhead in the blog should deliver on the main headline of the post. If you think of the subheadings as your pit stops, they should all lead to the destination of the blog, which was the thing you promised in the headline.
However, if the subheadings go off the track, moving away from the destination, readers are lost and confused. If that happens, you should change your subheadings or the headline.
What if you were writing about how to silence the inner critic everyone has. You might include these subheadings:
- Focus on your thoughts
- Always prove yourself wrong
- Ask yourself one powerful question
However, if you then add a subheading titled: Be brave and quit your day job,” it’s too jarring and sudden. It’s like a sickening plot twist in the topic. It doesn’t deliver on your headline because it had nothing to do with your job.
Perhaps, the goal of the blog was to be about following your dreams without doubts stopping you so that you could quit your day job and pursue a writing career. However, readers who scan the subheadings don’t get that. They are confused; it might be best to change the main title to convey your overall message.
Follow Your Format
If you’re focused on different steps, methods, signs, or ways to achieve the blog headline promise, you should follow a consistent format. Otherwise, your blog post feels unpolished. Bloggers overlook that all the time, though it’s an easy fix when you become aware of it.
Start by separating the subheadings from the blog and list them alone. That way, you can see if your blog strays from the course.
For example, your blog talks about 12 ways to beat insomnia, and you’ve got a subheading for each of those ways. The subheads should follow a consistent format.
What if these were your subheadings:
- Exercise each morning
- Avoid caffeine like it’s the plague
- Wake up at the same time each day
- There’s nothing better than nighttime meditation
Something feels off here. The first three headings use an action verb at the start to instruct readers on what they should do. They’re also similar in length.
However, that fourth one changes the format suddenly, breaking the flow. It’s a sentence instead of a verb, and it’s quite long compared to the others.
The inconsistency here could seem innocent to you, but readers find it distracting!
Unleash Unexpected Information
Readers of blogs are addicted to information. Everyone is! They’re tired of the same advice, and that’s never likely to make it or go viral. The blog has to be bold, unique, and eye-opening.
As you start writing blog posts, a good rule of thumb is to list out the main points to see if you can add uniqueness, such as a new perspective, twist, or experience. It can be anything that blog readers don’t expect.
What do you know that is hidden from others? Do you have belief systems you’ve challenged in the past? How could you shed more light on the same problem? Are there methods that you use others aren’t familiar with?
Don’t go overboard here just to add some shock value. The advice you include must be helpful and authentic. However, regurgitating the same information doesn’t give you a challenge and can’t enlighten the audience.
Give your readers a bit extra for the information hangover they expect by giving them the unexpected.
Adding bits of research can help here. Most people know there are tons of blogs out there, but did you know that there are more than 600 million blogs today?
Follow a Formula
Every section of your blog post should be similar in length. The subheadings also follow a pattern, and each section should end the same way.
When you weave more consistency into the blog, you give readers a much better experience.
For example, you write a list post that uses five steps to achieve a goal. If the first step takes 500 words to convey but the second/third ones are only 100 words, it looks a bit sloppy. It’s almost like you didn’t really have five steps to talk about, but you gave it the old college try.
Your readers should always get the best because they deserve it. Look at each part of your blog and focus on the sections to create a guide or formula.
While the intro and conclusion should be shorter (between 100 to 200 words), the rest of the content should flow and be similar in length.
You might choose to start each subheading with a personal experience or bold statement. Then, add the advice somewhere in the middle. With that, you end every section with a call to action.
As you add formulas to each blog you write, they become easier to handle. Plus, they look professional and polished.
Be Generous
Most bloggers worry that they give away too much information in their blogs. You want your readers to sign up for your newsletter and buy your products. Therefore, it’s easy to hold back and skim the surface with the advice you give.
However, if you aren’t generous with the readers of your blog, they don’t get a good impression of the paid products. Therefore, you shouldn’t hold back. Work through each problem with them and offer powerful advice with complete solutions. When you wow them with generosity, they become loyal readers and then customers – and it’s all because of your blog!
Start and Stop Strong
Just as the conclusion and introduction should grab your readers, the main body of the blog post should start and end strongly, too.
Each section of the blog must have great content. However, if you offer five ways to do something, save the best one for the last subheadings. The first ones grab the reader’s attention, while the fifth leaves them satisfied and happy that they clicked on your blog and post.
However, if the tips decrease in value as the blog goes along, readers feel like the post deflates, also taking their excitement with it.
For example, if you write a blog about 10 ways to write 1,000 words in one hour, you might make the first one about being under pressure from a full bladder. The last one could talk about gambling with your online reputation. They both grab the reader’s attention and are very bold.
Close with a Bang
You have written a great blog post, but you’re not done yet. You should close it with a huge bang. This is where you can get behind the readers and cheer them on. Show them that they can believe in you.
They must feel that they can achieve the goals your blog promised in the headline. They can because they read the generous advice you just gave!
Follow these helpful rules to craft the conclusion of your blog post:
Give a Pep Talk
Show the readers how far they have come with your blog. They should know what they’re capable of and what their lives can look like when they implement the advice you provide. This is a motivational tactic that keeps them coming back to your blog again and again.
Give them a pep talk like the one you wanted when you struggled with the same problem. Then, empower them by raising the expectations. They can’t read the blog and ignore all of the information. Instead, they must take action right now.
Make them realize that no matter how much they struggle or what they experienced, the time to do more is now. This is one of the best ways to end blog posts, but it’s not the only one.
Avoid New Information
What is one common mistake most bloggers make? They suddenly insert more information about the subject matter into their conclusions.
This is like reaching the last few moments of a movie. You want to know how it ends, but then a new character gets introduced. That is very jarring to the readers, and no blog post should ever do it.
For example, you are trying to motivate others to repurpose their old blog posts and compare them all to musical classics. Ultimately, if they disappeared and no one read them because they’re old, the world might likely be at a loss.
However, while you bring the blog home, you throw in another way to repurpose content that wasn’t discussed in the body or a caveat to the advice listed in the blog.
That throws off the closing, and readers feel a bit upset because they don’t know anything about that information you just gave them. It could very well make them do the opposite of what the blog tried to motivate them to do.
Polish the Blog Post
You have now written your first post on your blog. The subject matter is excellent, and the blog content is full of bullet points and helpful information. Everything is spot on, so now you can take a little break.
Spend a day or so away from the blog and come back to it with some fresh eyes. Now, start the editing process. Most beginners don’t proofread their new posts, and this is a big no-no! Successful blogs always make edits and change things.
Here’s a checklist to help you:
- Use the knife – Slash out unnecessary sentences, words, stories, and paragraphs. Only include what’s essential to convey the message and nothing more.
- Motivate, not lecture – Tweak the statements that hint of condescension. Most readers want to feel like you’re on their side and focused on their success.
- Add emotion – Make sure you infuse the writing with energy, passion, and enthusiasm. Remember, if you’re bored with the topic, your readers are too!
- Make it easy for the eyes – Break up large paragraphs and get rid of run-on sentences.
- Break it down – Make sure that you clarify complicated words. If you can’t simply say it, don’t include it. The only exception is if you’re writing a technical piece that requires jargon.
- Speak the reader’s language – Add metaphors and examples to make those complex ideas easier to digest.
- Check yourself – Remove repetitive ideas and contradictory statements. They are there; watch out for them.
- Use bullet points – Use bullets to group your related topic ideas so that they’re easier to digest.
- Do the obvious – Make sure you check for spelling and grammar issues, as well as typos. There are many free tools to help.
- No stealing – Don’t plagiarize your blog in any way. If you must add quotes or specific information, give credit where it’s due. Use a plagiarism checker to avoid any issues.
- Optimize for on-page SEO – Optimize the on-page elements, including the page title, headers, meta description, anchor text, and think about mobile optimization.
- Read it – Read your blog out loud. This can greatly help you find phrases that don’t work.
Writing Blog Posts – Get Online and Pick a Name
Make sure that you name the blog. Once you know what to name it, check to ensure that no one else has it registered. Remember, you can’t use punctuation or spaces (dashes excepted) in the domain name.
If you find that your name is already taken, you can try different extensions, add small words, or include dashes between the words.
In other words, this is the URL that people type in or see as they search for keywords.
The blog domain looks like this: “https://www.theblog.com. If you’ve already got a domain for your company and want to create blog content, you could do a subdomain that looks like this: “blog.thecompany.com.
Now, the next step is to get the blog online. This sounds technical and hard, but the process is easy. To get going, you need blog hosting and blogging software. Usually, they are packaged together.
The blog hosting company stores all the files for the blog, delivering them to the users as they type in the blog name.
Many people choose to install WordPress as their blogging software. It’s easy to customize and use and is highly popular.
Along with that, BlueHost is a great web host. If you’re not sure what you’re doing yet, you might consider a WordPress blog and get a free domain name for now. That way, you can play around with it. Just remember that these domains have advertisements.
It’s also a good idea to have a content management system. This helps you create the website domain where you publish the blog. With that, it also manages your domains and subdomains.
Some companies already include a CMS for you, such as HubSpot. If you choose a WordPress site, you can get various plugins, such as WP Engine.
Customize Your Own Blog
Once you have the domain name set up for your own blog, you should customize its appearance before you craft your first post. That way, it reflects the blog theme of your content and overall brand.
For example, if you want to focus on sustainability and your environment, consider a green blog theme. There are countless free themes on WordPress.
Generally, a WordPress blog is what most people start off with. It’s easy to change the WordPress theme design, and you can easily create posts based on the subject matter you want to discuss.
Once you log in, you see the WordPress dashboard. This lets you make changes to your WordPress blog.
Everyone has different ideas of how their blogs should look. One good thing about WordPress is that you can change the design and layout with a few clicks. In WordPress, the blog layouts are called themes. What is a WordPress theme? They control the design of the blog. To change it, you go to Appearance and click on different things to change them.
Once you’re ready to publish the blog, you can tap on the domain host’s menu at the top of the WordPress dashboard and tap launch. If you’re using the free WordPress domain, the settings are in the same area.
Promote Your Blog
There are two primary types of content the blog must provide: dynamic and static content.
Static content includes things that offer your visitor the tools they need. It’s not designed to change very often, and they often consist of the main top-level pages that are accessed on a menu from the blog.
This content includes an about us/me page and a contact page. Depending on what you’re doing, you might need to have a privacy policy, disclaimer page, and terms of service page.
You also have dynamic content, which is where you create blog posts and publish content. Successful blogs craft content regularly at specific intervals. If you wait months to upload new content, you can’t build a following. Consider posting blogs weekly and drive more traffic to the posts to build your brand.
Other bloggers are also out there, so consider collaborating with them. Get together and do guest posting on each other’s sites. That way, your great blog post goes further, especially if the other person has a bigger following. With that, they attract more people to your blog.
It’s also important to optimize the blog for search engines. The blog must appear in the search results of various search engines as soon as humanly possible.
You can sign up for a Google account and use the search console. Add your blog by clicking the “add property” button and follow the steps. It’s also important to open your Google Analytics account. This helps you see how well your posts are doing. If there’s a problem with search engine optimization, you find out what’s wrong and can correct it.
Search engine optimization is crucial if you want search engines to find and crawl your content. That way, you rank better and higher on the SERPs pages.
Ultimately, keyword research is crucial for that. This way, you know those are the words people use when searching for information like yours.
New Blog Post Ideas
If you’re not sure what topic ideas to consider or write about, you might get stuck quickly. Learning how to write a blog post is more than just churning out information or blabbering about things you like.
Check out other blogs to get some blog post ideas for yourself. Here are a few options:
- Differences between *this* and *this*
- 10 best *activities*
- Top *niche tools*
- Common mistakes for *niche activity* and how to fix them
- Proven tips for *your niche activity*
- Comparison from one tool to another
- Which tool/product is right for you
- Tips and tricks for *niche activity*
From any of those, you can create a great blog post. Just make sure that you focus on keyword research!
Conclusion
If you’re ready to start blogging, now is a perfect time. This step-by-step guide has shown you how to write a blog post. New bloggers are sure to have fun crafting their first blog post now, and these tips are sure to help.
With so many blogging platforms and plugins out there, it should be easy to find the right blogging platform for you. Plus, you now have the tools to craft a good blog post and become a successful blogger.
Create some new posts now or start a new blog today. As you continue growing, you can branch out to offering a free eBook or two!
