For many, writing blog posts can be difficult and time-consuming. Unless you are someone who enjoys writing, creating a blog post can be something that you may not look forward to.
The good news is, you can make writing your post easier by organizing your workflow. That is why we created this guide.
If you still have not created your blog, quickly set it up with this post on how to start a blog.
As you may already know, the success of your blog depends largely on your content.
The content is arguably the most important part of any blog.
The more blog posts you have, the more you have to offer your audience and also attract more visitors.
Regular content makes it easier to promote your blog through social media and also adds to its value.
Writing more posts will also help you drive search engine traffic to your site.
More quality content will help improve your SEO and also give you more opportunities to attract traffic through search engines.
So what is the secret of how to write a good blog post?
With the right organization and planning, you can make writing them much easier.
In this tutorial, we will look at how to write a blog post with a simple 5 step formula.
Once you learn how to do that, writing the next ones should get progressively easier.
Sometimes writing your first post can be the hardest part.
Ok, let’s start.
1) Choose Your Post Topic
First, step in creating your blog post is to decide on a topic or subject for your post.
It is helpful to know some different types of content that you can make. With these pre-defined post types, it can be easier to come up with a post.
Types Of Blog Posts
There are many different types of blog posts you can choose to create.
Sometimes if you do not know where to start or have writers’ block, choosing a specific type of post to create can help you overcome that initial difficulty.
Here are some examples of different types of content you can write:
- List post: This type of blog post presents information in a list.
- How-to post: Explain how to do something.
- Review: Review a product or service.
- Definition: Explain something to your readers.
- Comparison: Compare two products and write about their similarities and differences, what you liked, and what you would recommend.
- Checklist: Create a checklist for doing something.
Using a blog post idea to structure your post around can help you get started.
For more types of a blog post, check this list of 25 post ideas.
Finding A Good Blog Post Topic
Your blog should not just be a collection of random posts that do not relate to each other.
They should all be based on your blog topic.
Also, you should try to create posts that will be useful to your readers. What people are searching for, what questions people are asking, and what problems people are having, all can be effective ways of finding a good topic to blog about.
There are some simple ways you can look for what are popular subjects for your niche.
Search Engine Queries
You can use the Google keyword planner tool to look at what people are searching for in your niche.
To do this, go to the keyword planner website and create an account.
Now type in a keyword related to your topic.
The tool will show you the number of searches for your given keyword along with related searches in your niche.
You can also judge how hard your keyword will be to get traffic for by looking at the competition level. Try to look for keywords with a good amount of searches and a low competition level.
Finding keywords with lots of traffic and a low competition level is a valuable way to get traffic. This is one of the reasons why focusing on a narrow blog niche can be valuable.
Social Shares
By looking at the articles that get the most social shares, you can also get a sense of what is popular.
To do this, you can use the BuzzSumo app. BuzzSumo shows you a total amount of shares for articles based on a keyword and also shows you shares per individual social media platform.
To get started, head over to the BuzzSumo website and type in the keyword you want to search for.
Once you type in your keyword and hit go, BuzzSumo will show you the results for your keyword.
Forums and Question Websites
Another useful way to learn about popular blog topics is to visit forums and question answering websites like Quora and Yahoo Answers.
Forums:
To find useful information on forums, you first have to find relevant forums for your niche. You can easily do this by doing a search on search engines such as Google. Here is an example of a search query you can use:
“Your Topic” forum
“Your Topic” inurl:forum
The “inurl” operator searches to see if the word forum appears in the URL of the page. Often a website will have a forum section of the site as a subdomain or as part of the URL.
When you come across a forum that looks like it is popular, you can start searching for questions. Often a forum will have a search feature and you can use that to further narrow down your search.
Question Websites:
In addition to using forums, you can use a question-and-answer website where people ask questions and get answers.
Quora has a search bar where you can search for your keyword or topic. Quora also has sections for different topics and this can be a good place to start.
Content That Will Last
You want to make sure your content is going to attract traffic for a long time.
Writing about evergreen topics will help ensure you continue to attract visitors from a popular topic.
You can look at the historic popularity of a topic using Google Trends.
Search for your topic and you will see a graph with the popularity of your keyword mapped out over time.
Choosing Your Topic
You may want to do some research and brainstorm some ideas before you decide on what to post about.
Remember, try to create posts that are relevant to your blog topic.
It helps to plan out a number of articles before you start your blog. Once you are ready to create your content, you can then choose articles to create.
Also, having your posts planned out will help you decide which ones will link to each other. It is a good practice to link to your other articles to both direct traffic to other parts of your site and also spread SEO page rank.
Once you have chosen what you want to write about, you can now start your post by creating your title and post description.
2) Write Your Post Title And Description
The first thing you should do is write a headline and description for your blog.
Writing the title first will help you define what your post is going to be about.
Your post headline is important for a couple of different reasons.
Your title is what shows up in search engines, RSS feeds, and on your blog feed. The more interesting and enticing your blog title, the more chance you have of attracting traffic to your posts.
Also, search engines take the keywords in your post title as an indicator of what your post is about.
If you are looking to show up on search results pages for a specific keyword, it is a good idea to include it in your post title.
Do not try to overdo it in terms of keywords or you might be flagged by search engines as trying to spam. Write a good summary of what your page is about and you should be on the right path.
Your titles should be attractive and readable for maximum traffic-attracting potential.
Post Description
Your article description helps tell your readers what your post is about.
The description is the short section of text that shows up in search engines under the title. To write a description using WordPress, you will need to add it with code or install a plugin.
Installing the Yoast plugin one of the easiest ways to do this, and it is a good idea to use it for general SEO anyways.
When you have the Yoast plugin installed, scroll down to the snippet editor section and click on “edit snippet.”
To write a description, write a brief summary of what your post is about. Make it interesting so you have a better chance of attracting readers.
Also, write your content description with your post keywords because search engines look at this when deciding what your post is about.
Once you have your title and description written, you can move on to laying down the foundation for your post.
3) Organize Your Post
A properly planned and organized post will usually be better than one that is poorly put together.
The next step to write a blog post is to map out your post and plan what you are going to write about.
While your content may vary depending what type of content you choose to create, most posts can follow the same general structure.
In general, a blog post will include these elements:
- Intro
- Main Content
- Conclusion or Summary
- Call To Action
With your content mapped out, it will be easier for you to write an organized, flowing article.
Let’s look at these elements in greater depth. For each section, map out the points you want to cover and add notes. This will help you later on when you go to write your post.
Introduction Section
The first thing you need to write is an intro.
Your post intro should provide a brief introduction and overview of what you are going to cover in your article.
This is the next important part after your post headline when it comes to keeping your reader interested.
If your introduction is intriguing, you have a better chance of keeping your visitor’s attention.
If you have an uninteresting or poorly written introduction, you risk losing your visitors.
Here is a useful guide to creating a good blog post.
Main Content Section
This is the main part of your blog post, and will most likely take up the majority of your time.
Your main content should be organized into sections to help your readers understand your content.
A well-structured post will also help search engines understand your content.
It is important to properly use HTML header tags to structure your content. For your main title, use H1. WordPress should automatically do this for you.
For your other main subheadings, you can use H2 tags. Both your readers and search engines will thank you for having a good site structure.
Writing quality content is important. The better your content is, the more links and shares you generally will get. If you need to, do enough research to provide high-quality, useful information to your readers.
Conclusion Section
Just like any conclusion, your post conclusion should wrap up your article.
You can provide a brief summary of your post and reiterate some main points if you like.
Now is your chance to also include a call to action or CTA to help direct your readers to what they should do next. This could be a number of things depending on what your goals are for your blog.
Perhaps you want them to visit a specific post or page, or maybe you want them to take a specific action like sign up for a newsletter.
Your conclusion is a good place to invite your readers to take additional action.
Also, to encourage comments, it can be useful to ask a question at the end of your post. It can be short and sweet, just something to help get a discussion started.
Once you have a mapped out your blog post, you can move on to the actual writing part.
4) Write Your Post
Now comes the moment we have all been waiting for, actually writing your content.
It is now up to you to add you own personal touch and provide informative content.
If you have chosen the right topic, you may already be an expert in your field and have tons to write about.
You may also have to do some research before you create your post.
Here are some tips you should keep in mind for how to create a good post:
Cite Your Sources
When mentioning other articles, include a link back to their page.
Doing this has a number of benefits. By linking to other useful articles, you provide even more value to your readers by offering further information they can read.
Linking to other high quality sites is beneficial to your blog’s SEO. Search engines can take into consideration the quality of sites a blog links to and also the types of sites that link to each other.
This can help them to determine the overall topic of your blog.
Lastly, if you link to other bloggers, there is a possibility that they might link back to your content or mention it to their audience if they like it enough.
This is a great way to promote your blog and will be covered later on in this post.
Link To Your Other Posts And Pages
As mentioned before, it is beneficial to link to other parts of your site in each blog post.
Internal linking will it help reduce your bounce rate and direct your readers to other parts of your site. It is also good for SEO as it spreads the ranking power around to your posts and pages.
Doing this is relatively easy. If you are blogging about a related topic, which you should be, you will find that common subjects come up.
When a keyword comes up that you have already written about, you can link to your article so your readers can learn more.
If you have organized your posts beforehand, you can even map out which articles will link to each other.
Include Lots Of Images
When writing your blog, make an effort to include lots of relevant images to space out your content.
It is important to include images in your blog posts. In one study by Buzzsumo of over 1+ million articles, it was found that articles with images got more than double the amount of shares.
Including images in your content also makes your post easier to read and more attractive. Rather than having a wall of text, images space out your content making it better on the eyes.
Sometimes beginner bloggers are unsure where to find images which they can use. They then choose not to add images because they do not know where to find them and are unsure which ones they can use.
Visit this guide on where to find images for your blog for a list of places you can find images that you can use for blogging.
Use Tools To Help Enhance Your Content
There are so many useful tools available that will help you when writing blog content.
From plugins to online apps, using resources can help make your task as a blogger easier.
Here are a few examples:
- Hemingway app: This site analyses your content and grades it on its reading difficulty level. It also shows you areas that are particularly hard to read so you can make changes.
- Yoast SEO: Yoast is one of the best plugins out there for SEO in general. When it comes to writing your posts, this plugin can analyze your content to see how well you are incorporating a specific keyword into your post.
- Thesaurus.com: For many, this one will be obvious. A thesaurus is a useful resource for writing and you can use this handy online tool.
You can also use tools to create content like videos, podcasts, visuals, and more. For a list of helpful resources, you can visit the blog tools page.
General Blog Post Writing Tips
There are some things that are useful to keep in mind when writing.
Here are some general tips you can take into consideration:
- Keep your writing easy to read: Writing content that is easily understood will help you connect with a wider audience.
- Use proper spelling and grammar: This one goes without saying. Using a good writing tool like Grammarly can help you make sure your writing is correct.
- Write information rich articles: Blog posts that provide useful information to readers generally will be linked to and shared more.
- Write long form content: Long form content provides value to readers and has SEO benefits. A study by serpIQ of more than 20,000 keywords showed that the average top 10 articles on Google were longer- more than 2,000 words. You don’t necessarily have to always write 2,000 word articles, but aiming for 800-1000 words is a good goal to set.
- Develop a unique voice: Your writing can become a way that your readers identify your site. While this comes naturally, it can be helpful to take some time to think about your style of writing.
- Write for your audience: It is important to know your audience and write for them. By identifying the type of user that will most likely come to your site, you can better cater your content for them.
Writing your blog post will take time.
The more you do it, the more natural it will become. Try to create useful content that your readers will appreciate.
As already stated, your content is important so spend the time to write a good blog post. It is not unnatural for bloggers to spend 3-5 hours crafting the perfect content for your audience.
5) Edit Your Post
Now that you have written your post, it is a good idea to spend some time editing it.
Go back and read it over to make sure it flows nicely. Look for grammar and spelling mistakes. Sometimes you will catch something that your normal spell checker won’t pick up.
Take some time and spend 30-40 minutes editing your article. You can improve the quality of the post just by making a little extra effort.
Here is a nice list of tools you can use, some already have been mentioned.
- Hemingway app: Helps you make your content easier to read and find hard to read passages.
- Grammarly: A great tool for catching grammar and spelling mistakes.
- Cliche Finder: Helps you find cliches in your writing.
Once you have done your editing, it is time to publish your post.
There comes a point where further changes can become redundant. Spending too much time trying to edit your content can waste time.
Finally…
Congratulations, you are now ready to complete the process and publish your blog post.
Do a final check to see that everything is ready to go and in place. Once ready, go ahead and post it.
Once you publish it, there are now some other important things you can do.
- Post To Social Media: Setting up social media profiles for your blog will help you tap into new traffic opportunities. When you publish an article on your blog, also post it to your social media profiles.
- Connect With Others: If you mentioned or linked to other bloggers in your post, let them know about it. There are many ways to do this such as directly letting them know through an email or mentioning them on social media platforms like Twitter. When you let bloggers know that you mentioned them, there is a chance they might link to your content, retweet your post, or mention your blog, for example. This helps get your blog traffic by exposing you to the audience of the other blogger.
- Respond To Your Post Comments: Responding to you post comments has a number of benefits. It shows your readers you read comments and are involved in the discussion. This can help encourage more comments. With more comments on your site, it adds to the value of the post as questions can be answered. Also, with more words on your page, you are adding content and keywords to your blog post which can benefit SEO.
Getting your blog out there is important and will help you drive traffic to your blog. For an in-depth list, visit this post on 150 ways to promote your blog.
Conclusion
Hopefully, you now know how to write blog posts. With this 5 step formula, writing them can be more simple.
As it has been said many times, your content is arguably the most important aspect of your blog. Take the time to learn how to write a blog post that will offer quality, engaging content for your readers.
Great content not only will benefit your readers, but it will help your marketing and social media campaigns, attract more visitors and drive traffic to your blog, and will also help your site rank better in search engines and benefit your SEO.
You should find that writing them will get easier over time the more you post. Naturally, getting started can be the most time-consuming part. Once you learn how to write your first post, it should get easier to write your next posts.
Always look for ways to further add value to your blog. For a list of useful resources and tools, check out this list of blog tools.
Spend the time to learn how to write a good blog post at the beginning of your journey as a blogger.
Initially investing the time to learn to write a good content will help you make your blog better on the whole and help you direct your blog to success.
Do you have any tips you use when writing blog posts?